Antelope Shooting

[VikingsGuy]

When I started grouse hunting years ago, I found an interesting article where a gentleman had tracked all of his, and his hunting partners', shots - hits and misses over two decades of Michigan roughed grouse hunting. His specific hit/miss numbers generally matched grouse hunters' general but unspoken sense that if you only wing shoot and don't take sitting grouse, if you hit 1 in 3 you are a decent shot - their erratic flight patterns and dense woods make this a far more difficult shot than open prairie pheasant where my guess is you need to hit 4 out of 5 to be basically competent in the field (and many would go 5 for 5).

So what do you think those numbers would be for WY antelope? The discussion is often about high wind and long shots - how much of this is fact and how much is impression. For those of you who have been around the block for a while what numbers would you put on these items:

Killing hit/bad hit with lost 'lope/outright miss?

Average wind speed during shots take?

Average shot distance (verified by rangefinder if possible)?

 

[Coyotes-R-Us]

Not WY but similar Mt.
100 to 200 yards wind is always blowing 10 to 40 mph.
I have not got a draw for 5 years in a row now but we had a 13 year run before that.
I don't think I had a miss at all ??
Long time to remember but nothing stands out in my mind.
One , onetime I wanted to try my 22/250 for antelope, I don't do that anymore.
A perfect DBL lung shot and a mile track job but still one shot...

 

[3855WIN]

Years ago, I was going on my first antelope hunt. I ask a neighbor for tips. He said, "bring lots of bullets."

 

[Chad Gus]

I've killed 3 out of the 4 that I've shot at. Ranged from 45 to 325 yards. The one I missed was 178 yards standing broadside oon one of those rare calm wyoming days. Missed him 4 times, still can't figure out how I missed.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

IMHO wing shooting grouse where it's all fast and a lot of reflexes involved and comparing it with shooting a rifle at a big game animal that is standing out in the open is sort of like comparing apples to elephants!

 

[VikingsGuy]

IMHO wing shooting grouse where it's all fast and a lot of reflexes involved and comparing it with shooting a rifle at a big game animal that is standing out in the open is sort of like comparing apples to elephants!

I agree, but one can still count apples and elephants separately, and each number can be interesting on it's own accord.

 

[406LIFE]

I've drawn the past 4 years. I have harvested 4 antelope, all with one shot, from 147 yards to 352. Not to brag, but my past several big game animals have been one shot kills. To me this is nothing like when I am in a duck blind and pull the trigger, or walking behind my dog flushing birds. I don't take a shot that I am not sure of, and I have been very blessed to not have an issue with a bad shot. I don't shoot running goats, I take my time, and I don't pull a trigger without playing it in my mind. Now, I have yet to have a 400" elk walk by, so I can't say I wouldn't spray and pray then, but I hope not.

I don't think comparing wingshooting to rifle shots is helpful. It send the train of thought down a wrong path. Instead, focusing on shot placement and discipline behind the trigger with a rifle so that the miss or the odd bad shot is a rarity.

 

[uncle sage]

My thoughts are and have been for many years, If you are going to hunt big game, these awesome wonderful animals, you owe it to them, to first do your homework in absolutely knowing where your first shot out of a cold barrel is going to hit at any distance you might be shooting at a animal. This includes any dial it up type of scopes or hash marks used to hit at distance. One should not buy something and take the word of the sellers, that all you need to do is sight in at 100 and then dial the distance. The hype needs to be confirmed with a tape measure, remembered, or recorded, and confirmed again.

For example, you range your target animal at 325 yards and feel that you can not get closer. From you target work back home, you know that at three hundred, your rifle prints holes say centered 8" low. So you get a good rest, figure where on the animal you would like to hit, raise what you believe is 8" above that small point, add a couple more inches for the extra 25 yards, and squeeze the one shot off using the best rest available. The results should be a dead animal one shot clean kill.

Like many, back when i started hunting, i had hand me down old equipment with open sights. I missed my share. Once i got my own first well scoped bolt action rifle though... and to this day, i have had really good success with one shot kills, i'd guess well over 90%. If one does the range work, learns how to and tries to get as close as possible, the killing or taking of the animal is fairly easy . To me, it's finding the one you want to shoot that is the difficult part.

 

[old man]

My thoughts are and have been for many years, If you are going to hunt big game, these awesome wonderful animals, you owe it to them, to first do your homework in absolutely knowing where your first shot out of a cold barrel is going to hit at any distance you might be shooting at a animal. This includes any dial it up type of scopes or hash marks used to hit at distance. One should not buy something and take the word of the sellers, that all you need to do is sight in at 100 and then dial the distance. The hype needs to be confirmed with a tape measure, remembered, or recorded, and confirmed again.

For example, you range your target animal at 325 yards and feel that you can not get closer. From you target work back home, you know that at three hundred, your rifle prints holes say centered 8" low. So you get a good rest, figure where on the animal you would like to hit, raise what you believe is 8" above that small point, add a couple more inches for the extra 25 yards, and squeeze the one shot off using the best rest available. The results should be a dead animal one shot clean kill.

Like many, back when i started hunting, i had hand me down old equipment with open sights. I missed my share. Once i got my own first well scoped bolt action rifle though... and to this day, i have had really good success with one shot kills, i'd guess well over 90%. If one does the range work, learns how to and tries to get as close as possible, the killing or taking of the animal is fairly easy . To me, it's finding the one you want to shoot that is the difficult part.

Agree 120%.

 

[VikingsGuy]

I don't think comparing wingshooting to rifle shots is helpful. It send the train of thought down a wrong path. Instead, focusing on shot placement and discipline behind the trigger with a rifle so that the miss or the odd bad shot is a rarity.

I was not intending to compare one with the other, only to tell one story as a way of framing a different but related question.

 

[belly-deep]

I've taken the majority of my lopes with one shot, but from what I've seen on the prairie, a full box of shells is probably the minimum most guys plan on going through.

 

[danadrums]

I've killed 3 out of the 4 that I've shot at. Ranged from 45 to 325 yards. The one I missed was 178 yards standing broadside oon one of those rare calm wyoming days. Missed him 4 times, still can't figure out how I missed.

Simple. A calm Wyoming day: bullets automatically know to compensate for wind in Wyoming!

One day in Wyoming the wind quit blowing for 3 minutes. All of the antelope fell over.

--Dana

 

[OhBoneCollector]

I've heard it before and will echo that there is a lot of truth in that wind statement!
Good post Dana.

I've only missed 1 lope in the past 5-6 years. Very heavy wind at 300 yards. I simply did not compensate enough. If he was not so big, I would not have taken the shot. Clean miss.

BTW: The OP is not comparing bird hunting to Antelope hunting....

 

[opslt79]

While I agree that wind can play a part, especially when it's 40 mph and sideways, I think most hunters that are new to hunting the wide open grasslands miss because they misjudge the yardage. To the naked eye, 300 yards can look a lot like 350 or 375 especially if you're used to hunting in the whitetail woods. That's enough to send one over or under an average size antelope. Since most pronghorn shots are taken at animals that are feeding or just milling around, my advise is to take an extra second and make sure of your range.

 

[shootbrownelk]

I've shot well over 50 antelope and can remember vividly 2 big bucks that I just plain missed at under 100 yds. I probably missed 10 or so on the first shot, but got them on the second. I never had one get away. I always try to get as close as possible. I'm no long range shooting fan.