First Time Hunting Pronghorn - My Story

[TeamDeery]

Nice looking goat. Good work!

 

[stonegraham]

After writing this, I will apologize in advance for the length. If brevity is your thing, you can skip to the picture at the bottom, but I've never been one to convey a message in 140 characters or less, or anything approaching that.

I'd never hunted antelope before. For my third hunting season as a Montana resident, I decided, almost as an afterthought, to put in for an antelope tag this year. Unfortunately, I got confused about the district and ended up with a tag in the district _adjacent_ to the one I wanted to hunt (note to the other Montana newbies like me: the deer/elk district numbers don't necessarily matchup to the antelope district numbers). But when I got the tag in the mail, I was looking forward to getting out with the rifle two weeks before the deer/elk opener.

The majority of the private property in the district is leased to outfitters or off-limits to non friends-and-family (I checked with most of them). But there is one good-sized ranch that participates in the block management program. I knew this property would probably be a zoo on opening day, but since beggars can't be choosers, I figured I'd give it a shot.

I don't know much about antelope, but somebody told me that they aren't as nocturnal as deer, so there isn't a huge advantage to getting up at oh-dark-thirty to begin your hunt. That sounded pretty good to me, so I slept late and arrived at the ranch around 8:15am. When I opened the sign-in book, I immediately realized that there is, indeed, an advantage to getting up at oh-dark-thirty to hunt antelope, but it has nothing to do with antelope and more to do with humans. There were 16 hunters who had all gotten up early and had already signed in before I got there. Feeling a little like I was about to walk downrange on a hot shooting range, I signed in and began my hike across the property.

Fortunately, I could see two groups of hunters from the parking area; one a group of four and one a group of three, so that made me feel a little better about my prospects of finding a corner of this property to myself. I hiked in about two miles to an elevated spot that looked good for glassing. I found a rock that was about chair height, so I sat there and glassed. I watched another small group of hunters cross over to the property from the adjacent public land for a few minutes. They were walking up a hillside when, all of the sudden, they stopped and dropped. About 400 yards in front of them, a little herd of 12 or 15 antelope came up over a ridge. I watched this group of hunters try to sneak closer, but eventually they spooked the herd. Instead of going back over the ridge from which they cam, or heading in the opposite direction from the hunters, the herd double-timed it straight ahead - toward me!

So, there I was, sitting up on this rock, out in the open, with binoculars in my hand and my rifle in my lap as this little group of antelope was closing the distance at a good pace. They were probably half a mile away when I first saw them, but now they were maybe 600 yards away and getting closer. But they were coming straight for me. How could I move without being seen? Fortunately, they were headed down a slope that led into a dry creek bed that would momentarily take them out of my line of sight. This was the opportunity I needed. When the last antelope went out of sight, I scrambled around the rock and threw my pack on the rock to use as a rest. Now, I was ready, glassing the area where I expected them to reappear on this side of the creek bed. But they didn't cross the creek bed directly. They followed it for a while, out of sight. When they reappeared off to my left, they were only 200 yards away and moving broadside! I simply picked out a decent buck, squeezed the trigger, and. . . dry-fired on an empty chamber! Cursing my forgetfulness, I quickly chambered a round and confirmed my cover wasn't blown. Then, I shot the buck pictured below at 175 yards.

I had been in my glassing spot all of about 15 minutes. It took about an hour to hike in from the parking area. So, here I was, on the first day of my first ever pronghorn hunt, doing a solo DIY hunt on an over-crowded block-management property, and by 9:30 am, my tag was punched. Beginner's luck is the best kind of luck!

I'll take beginner's luck any time it's offered. Having said that, I'm going to give myself a little credit for coming up with a plan that worked (it just worked a LOT faster than I expected). See, knowing this was the only BMA area I could hunt in this district, I scouted this property back in August. I figured it would be crowded on opening day, so I had a plan to try and benefit from letting the other hunters keep the animals moving throughout the day. I counted on the fact that 90% of hunters never walk more than about a mile from their truck, so I had already hiked to this little high spot about 2 miles from the parking area, at the extreme back edge of the property and near the public lands. I figured by the end of the day, the hunters would have pushed the antelope far from the alfalfa fields and other irrigated fields along the highway, to the back of the property where the elevation was higher, vegetation thinner, and hunter pressure lighter. I just figured I'd be there most of the day - so much so that I had my lunch and a book in my pack. I never expected to be back home in time to watch mid-day college football games, but I was happy to take it!y

what a great hunt and a nice strategy

 

[2ski]

I prefer the stories long as apposed to a brief one. So I welcome the good story.

Sounds awesome. Congrats.

 

[kit_man_du]

Congratulations.

 

[CPAjeff]

Great job! Do you think you could hunt them in a more beautiful area next time?!?!

Even if you didn't punch your tag, the scenery looks like it was worth the price of admission!

 

[TXLonghorn]

Thats a good story right there. One of the things I enjoy about this forum.

 

[Jpopejoy1980]

Nice. I tried for a Wyoming antelope tag this past year…unsuccessfully. Still waiting on my first hunt.

 

[huntin' lunatic]

Beautiful backdrop and beautiful buck. To me just being out there is worth the price of admission. Enjoyed the read. Good job!

 

[antlerman1]

great story

 

[djdoubl3j]

Nice job, sometimes crowded areas can help. Hoping to get my first soon as well.