raiderbowhunter
New member
Well, I finally found success while hunting for pronghorn in MT. I moved up here too late last year to put in for a tag, so I was pretty excited to put in for and draw the tag I wanted this year. I spent all of archery season getting within 75-100 yards of goats with my bow and decoy, but with my self imposed limit at 40 yards, I never came to full draw.
Once rifle season opened I just knew all the pressure would push the goats onto neighboring private property that was off limits. Ha. The first week of rifle found me perusing fields before and after work with binos and a spotter occasionally. Then on Thursday evening I found a few does in a field and decided I would take a doe to fill my tag and get focused on elk.....so I proceeded to make a 20 minute stalk to get into range of the does. Mind you, I was wearing blue jeans, a t shirt and my beloved hunter orange vest. Crawling through the sage and cactus I got within 200 yards of the antelope. I got setup on my bipod and was sitting there questioning my decision to go for a doe when I spotted a white rump to my right. I moved my binos in that direction and sure enough, there was a decent buck just milling around feeding slowly away. I have no clue how he never saw me while I got into position on the does as he had enough elevation on me to see the entire thing.
I quickly checked the wind and made a reversal on the stalk I had just completed and worked my way through the sage and grass to get to the fenceline of the field he was in. First range on him after beginning my final approach was 300. (way too far for me) So I continued to crawl until I made it to 225. I got back into shooting position as he fed with zero knowledge of me pulling down on him. Got my breathing calmed to where I could hold super steady on him and squeezed that trigger. One solid hit and he fell into a pile where he had just been feeding.
I know he is no monster pronghorn by most western hunters' standards, but I am very proud of him. I just about have him ready to mount on a euro pedestal I built as well. I look forward to hunting these animals more and more in the coming years, and will hunt more for larger horns next year for sure.....unless I spy more does that are easy to get to and my trigger finger is itching......
Once rifle season opened I just knew all the pressure would push the goats onto neighboring private property that was off limits. Ha. The first week of rifle found me perusing fields before and after work with binos and a spotter occasionally. Then on Thursday evening I found a few does in a field and decided I would take a doe to fill my tag and get focused on elk.....so I proceeded to make a 20 minute stalk to get into range of the does. Mind you, I was wearing blue jeans, a t shirt and my beloved hunter orange vest. Crawling through the sage and cactus I got within 200 yards of the antelope. I got setup on my bipod and was sitting there questioning my decision to go for a doe when I spotted a white rump to my right. I moved my binos in that direction and sure enough, there was a decent buck just milling around feeding slowly away. I have no clue how he never saw me while I got into position on the does as he had enough elevation on me to see the entire thing.
I quickly checked the wind and made a reversal on the stalk I had just completed and worked my way through the sage and grass to get to the fenceline of the field he was in. First range on him after beginning my final approach was 300. (way too far for me) So I continued to crawl until I made it to 225. I got back into shooting position as he fed with zero knowledge of me pulling down on him. Got my breathing calmed to where I could hold super steady on him and squeezed that trigger. One solid hit and he fell into a pile where he had just been feeding.
I know he is no monster pronghorn by most western hunters' standards, but I am very proud of him. I just about have him ready to mount on a euro pedestal I built as well. I look forward to hunting these animals more and more in the coming years, and will hunt more for larger horns next year for sure.....unless I spy more does that are easy to get to and my trigger finger is itching......
