What to look for when e-scouting?

[ImBillT]

Drew my first lope tag. It’s in eastern NM. It happens to be a pretty tough tag to draw, in a quite a large area, with only a few tags issued, and only three days to hunt. As such, there’s a reasonable chance of a good being in the unit. I’ve seen pronghorns, but I’ve never hunted them, and couldn’t even begin to cover the area in three days. Is there anything I should be looking for that sets one area of flat country apart from another? There are some irrigated agg fields that I’m sure will have some, but is that the first place people look and thus the worst place for a good one? Water is semi limited. Is there a distance from water that is too far to be worth looking? Any tips would be appreciated.

 

[Huntnut60]

Congrats on the tag. I’m a non-resident who has been lucky enough to draw 2 NM antelope tags in the last 20 yrs. Is your tag ranch specific? Most of eastern NM is private I believe. If it’s private, how many tags were issued for the ranch? That might give you some idea what to expect from other hunters. Only thing you can do is drive the designated area. The ranches I hunted on allowed me to scout the ranches a couple days ahead of time.

 

[pojoaque40]

When scouting for antelope in eastern NM, you're not looking for animals, you're looking for access. Find the biggest grouping of square miles in public and find a way into it legally. Find the locked gates, find the water holes, find the broken country that will give you a stalk. Looking for animals is waste of time; they're gonna be where they're gonna be. You need to avoid wasting your precious hunting time in areas where you can't get to them. Limit you hunt locations via scouting and then hunt those available areas.

EDIT: I should clarify that animals may be in part of a the unit and not another. For instance in the unit i'm going to hunt here in three days; they're all in the northern half. But once you've found the general area they are in, scout for access.

 

[ImBillT]

When scouting for antelope in eastern NM, you're not looking for animals, you're looking for access. Find the biggest grouping of square miles in public and find a way into it legally. Find the locked gates, find the water holes, find the broken country that will give you a stalk. Looking for animals is waste of time; they're gonna be where they're gonna be. You need to avoid wasting your precious hunting time in areas where you can't get to them. Limit you hunt locations via scouting and then hunt those available areas.

EDIT: I should clarify that animals may be in part of a the unit and not another. For instance in the unit i'm going to hunt here in three days; they're all in the northern half. But once you've found the general area they are in, scout for access.

Thank you!

 

[Bluffgruff]

Send me a PM. I spend a lot of time in NM, and a lot more looking at maps for antelope in NM.

 

[HuntingStudent]

IMO Bucks during the rut have only a few priorities: 1) Breed 2) protect territory/does 3) food water. However, #1 and #2 are always about knowing where the doe are (#3). A buck will range up to 5 miles for their territory (and water). They will also try to have a spot where they can go to get away from hunting pressure or to take their doe to get them aay from other bucks. This is typically a terrain feature. All of this revolves around access though. Dont be afraid to get a mile or two off the road.

Lastly, glass with the sun to your back.

 

[ImBillT]

IMO Bucks during the rut have only a few priorities: 1) Breed 2) protect territory/does 3) food water. However, #1 and #2 are always about knowing where the doe are (#3). A buck will range up to 5 miles for their territory (and water). They will also try to have a spot where they can go to get away from hunting pressure or to take their doe to get them aay from other bucks. This is typically a terrain feature. All of this revolves around access though. Dont be afraid to get a mile or two off the road.

Lastly, glass with the sun to your back.

Great stuff!!! As a dumb pronghorn newb, is Aug 15th during the rut in NM?

 

[HuntingStudent]

depends on the section. Peak rut is typically last week August/first week in September. Further south means a little later rut. All that is plus or minus a few days. You know, moon phases or something like that! Haha

 

[Mnbogboy]

In addition to all the above methods the "street view" option in Google Earth (which is not available in all areas) will give you actual photography of the areas where it is available. It may show you the actual vegetation types close to your area and a decent perspective of the "hills" you may encounter.
No matter how much other "e-scouting" I have done the actual photography of the area you are in helps bring it all together for me. It helps with the surprises a person often gets once you get there.

 

[Brian in Montana]

I've never hunted NM, but in a very general sense I tend to focus on water holes and high-ish spots, relative to the surrounding landscape to glass from. In MT 8-15 is a little early to think much about rutting behavior, but you're likely to find them congregating in the vicinity of water, especially if it's been a dry summer. "Congregating" for pronghorn is a rather different concept than for a human, think 1.5 mile radius, or maybe 2. Covering 2 or 3 miles is nothing for antelope. One thing you could always do is set up in a vantage point 200yds downwind of a water hole and just wait to see what comes in. But with only 3 days spot and stalk is probably the best option. Keep your interests mobile.

 

[bigharge]

Lots of good info already but I’ll repeat what was already said, “keep the sun at your back”. Good luck

 

[EWO]

I always use waterholes as a starting point during e-scouting. When I try to figure out where to camp, drive and inspect waterholes for tracks or antelope. They need a lot of water in those hot and dry environments.

 

[ImBillT]

Well.........broke down on the way. My dad should be here shortly. He’ll tow me back home, where I can switch trucks, leave in the weee hours and still be back by sunrise.

I was hoping to get a 4-6 hrs of scouting today. I did turn up four bucks last weekend, and got pics of one. He’s better than I was hoping for, but he’s also the first one I spotted. I hate to shoot the first one I saw without spotting more than four, but I also hate to leave him around for someone else to shoot if he’s a first day buck for eastern NM.

Whatcha think?

 

[Arcola]

First day buck anywhere if you ask me.