Antelope Hunters - How Blessed Am I?

[HappyCamper]

Sometimes we can have an incredible blessing in our lives and not even realize or appreciate it. One I discovered recently is my opportunity to harvest an antelope almost year after year, something I now realize is unheard of for most hunters.

One blessing I never took for granted was being raised on my family’s small, rural property with exceptional hunting opportunity. This happened to be within a mostly private antelope unit that the state awards a high percentage of applicants rifle tags since access and harvest can be limited. I believed anyone who wanted an antelope tag could get one. This paired with the common misconceptions about antelope (such as poor flavor or being inferior to other big game hunts) led me to not appreciate the species or my opportunity.

Thankfully, after harvesting two antelope as a teenager and quitting on the species, I decided to pick it back up in 2019 when introducing my wife to hunting. My general absence from hunting during my college years and the incredible experience I had that season led me to catch the antelope bug though. This year will be my fifth consecutive year pursuing antelope and am only now realizing what a blessing it is. I hope for those of you who read can be reminded of our incredible privilege we have as hunters in the USA.

I would like to know how often some of you have the opportunity to pursue antelope and what examples you may have that demonstrate our remarkable hunting opportunities.

 

[seeth07]

Until I went outside of WI, I didn't realize how "easy" I had it as a child growing up in the private deer woods of WI. The most difficult part was learning patience and waiting out the boredom. I find it valuable now though as I hunt western states where I can put that good patience I have to good use at times.

 

[Khunter]

Sometimes we can have an incredible blessing in our lives and not even realize or appreciate it. One I discovered recently is my opportunity to harvest an antelope almost year after year, something I now realize is unheard of for most hunters.

One blessing I never took for granted was being raised on my family’s small, rural property with exceptional hunting opportunity. This happened to be within a mostly private antelope unit that the state awards a high percentage of applicants rifle tags since access and harvest can be limited. I believed anyone who wanted an antelope tag could get one. This paired with the common misconceptions about antelope (such as poor flavor or being inferior to other big game hunts) led me to not appreciate the species or my opportunity.

Thankfully, after harvesting two antelope as a teenager and quitting on the species, I decided to pick it back up in 2019 when introducing my wife to hunting. My general absence from hunting during my college years and the incredible experience I had that season led me to catch the antelope bug though. This year will be my fifth consecutive year pursuing antelope and am only now realizing what a blessing it is. I hope for those of you who read can be reminded of our incredible privilege we have as hunters in the USA.

I would like to know how often some of you have the opportunity to pursue antelope and what examples you may have that demonstrate our remarkable hunting opportunities.

No photos? Not a happy camper. give it up! LOL

Lope are a fave to hunt. Hunt lope about every other year, Have drawn tags in NV, CO (home state), WY, AZ, UT, NM

Want to amp up that fun? get super close during the lope hunt. This is at about 10 feet with a decoy. Pvt land is perfect and safe for that.

 

[HappyCamper]

Until I went outside of WI, I didn't realize how "easy" I had it as a child growing up in the private deer woods of WI. The most difficult part was learning patience and waiting out the boredom. I find it valuable now though as I hunt western states where I can put that good patience I have to good use at times.

Agreed, and giving myself those challenges out of the normal stomping grounds has added a new depth of enjoyment and appreciation for hunting.

 

[HappyCamper]

No photos? Not a happy camper. give it up! LOL

Lope are a fave to hunt. Hunt lope about every other year, Have drawn tags in NV, CO (home state), WY, AZ, UT, NM

Want to amp up that fun? get super close during the lope hunt. This is at about 10 feet with a decoy. Pvt land is perfect and safe for that.
View attachment 287770

I’ve never used a decoy but I may have to try this year. I really enjoy the challenge of getting within 200 yards of them using topography but seems like that would be a fun way to experiment. Do you have a certain decoy you would recommend? This is my best buck to date:

 

[fishing4sanity]

Nice buck and unless that pic is deceiving, it looks like he never missed a meal!

 

[WildWill]

We have a few pronghorn here in Oklahoma but none in my area of the state. Didn't consider them growing up as I didn't have access to them and when I began hunting out west elk was my main concern. In Oklahoma there are OTC archery tags, landowner tags, and once in a lifetime draw tags. I drew my once in a lifetime doe tag in 2015, I know guys who have waited 20 years and still haven't drawn a buck tag. Filled my tag in 2 days had a absolute blast and liked the meat even more then deer, and knew I'd be going pronghorn hunting again. I've had antelope tags 6 of the 8 years since then and killed 7 additional pronghorn. In that time tags have become much harder to draw but I'll be hunting them again this year in Colorado and will continue to hunt them as often as I can. Absolutely love the Prarie they call home.

 

[Bowmannate2000]

We have a few pronghorn here in Oklahoma but none in my area of the state. Didn't consider them growing up as I didn't have access to them and when I began hunting out west elk was my main concern. In Oklahoma there are OTC archery tags, landowner tags, and once in a lifetime draw tags. I drew my once in a lifetime doe tag in 2015, I know guys who have waited 20 years and still haven't drawn a buck tag. Filled my tag in 2 days had a absolute blast and liked the meat even more then deer, and knew I'd be going pronghorn hunting again. I've had antelope tags 6 of the 8 years since then and killed 7 additional pronghorn. In that time tags have become much harder to draw but I'll be hunting them again this year in Colorado and will continue to hunt them as often as I can. Absolutely love the Prarie they call home.View attachment 287847

That's an incredible photo!

 

[ccc23454]

This got me thinking so i opened up th photo app to look at my history as i have shot a fair amount of antelope in a couple states but dont have a tag this year and feels like its been awhile since thats happened. I do use decoy with bow but refuse to sit in a blind. So looking at just buck tags back to 2015.

2015- 2 bucks
2016- shot a good buck thats mounted (only lope mount)
2017- didnt get a tag
2018- spot and stalk with bow, decent buck
2019- nice buck
2020-bow hunted low quality area, numerous blown stalks no harvest
2021- drew 2 premium tags, shot 2 great bucks(both bucks had kicker points)
2022- good tag in a distant state, shot good buck at 10k'. (In penalty box 1 state)
2023- didnt get a tag, (In penalty box 1 state)

8 bucks killed in last 9 years, I think have been pretty antelope tag blessed, dam are they fun to hunt (except with a bow, that just sucks!) My math says 2024 should be a good antelope year for me!

 

[HappyCamper]

This got me thinking so i opened up th photo app to look at my history as i have shot a fair amount of antelope in a couple states but dont have a tag this year and feels like its been awhile since thats happened. I do use decoy with bow but refuse to sit in a blind. So looking at just buck tags back to 2015.

2015- 2 bucks
2016- shot a good buck thats mounted (only lope mount)
2017- didnt get a tag
2018- spot and stalk with bow, decent buck
2019- nice buck
2020-bow hunted low quality area, numerous blown stalks no harvest
2021- drew 2 premium tags, shot 2 great bucks(both bucks had kicker points)
2022- good tag in a distant state, shot good buck at 10k'. (In penalty box 1 state)
2023- didnt get a tag, (In penalty box 1 state)

8 bucks killed in last 9 years, I think have been pretty antelope tag blessed, dam are they fun to hunt (except with a bow, that just sucks!) My math says 2024 should be a good antelope year for me!

I’m impressed by your success with a bow. It’s always good when not having a tag is the anomaly, sorry that’s the case this year. Hope you have some other good hunts planned to compensate.

 

[HappyCamper]

Nice buck and unless that pic is deceiving, it looks like he never missed a meal!

I think you’re right…looking back all my bucks look rather round.

 

[Khunter]

I’ve never used a decoy but I may have to try this year. I really enjoy the challenge of getting within 200 yards of them using topography but seems like that would be a fun way to experiment. Do you have a certain decoy you would recommend? This is my best buck to date:View attachment 287774

Like the montana decoys brand like in my photo, immature buck, and last year used the extreme decoy brand bow mounted decoy for the first time and liked that a lot as well.

they don't make them anymore but had a lil luck with Be the decoy hat and shirt too.





This one was decoyed in from 225 yards to 25 yards archery.





This one was decoyed in from 225 yards to 25 yards archery.

 

[Snowhunter11]

It took me 8 years to draw my first antelope tag in ND. I hunted bonus whitetail/mule doe in that particular unit for ~8 years as a way of scouting for speed goats. Long story short I had a good idea where to find them. 1/2 day in we were tagged out! Almost underwhelmed.. the meat was excellent. Another 8-10 year wait in ND I imagine. I have applied in MT now. I intend to start for WY soon as well. It’s good to be thankful for your blessings. Good opportunities can come and go in a heartbeat. Live it up!

 

[Djfan]

I prefer pronghorn to deer, as well. The numbers are way down so I haven't hunted them in three years. I will again.

 

[The Hedgehog]

I shot my 1st antelope in 1984. Have had a buck antelope permit every season somewhere every year since 1990, usually in MT. This is the 2nd year since 1990 that I have not had a MT buck permit. I do have a doe tag. Have also hunted twice in AZ, once in SD and WY 9 times. It’s one of my favorite things to do.

 

[HappyCamper]

Like the montana decoys brand like in my photo, immature buck, and last year used the extreme decoy brand bow mounted decoy for the first time and liked that a lot as well.

they don't make them anymore but had a lil luck with Be the decoy hat and shirt too.

View attachment 287885



This one was decoyed in from 225 yards to 25 yards archery.

View attachment 287886



This one was decoyed in from 225 yards to 25 yards archery.

Nice buck! Thank you for the decoy suggestions.

 

[CPAjeff]

Growing up I didn’t hunt them. Heard stories about how nasty the meat and I also wasn’t that interested in big game hunting. 2009 was my first year to get a tag after a buddy talked me into it. Since that time I’ve shot a handful of bucks and plenty of does. Antelope hunting is one of my favorite fall adventures!

 

[HappyCamper]

It’s good to be thankful for your blessings. Good opportunities can come and go in a heartbeat. Live it up!

Amen! Sounds like ND is pretty stingy with their antelope tags?

 

[wolfpup]

Grew up in eastern CO and have family land. Growing up it was an easy first animal because they were plentiful. I loved hunting them but my dad can't cook wild game worth a damn. I shot a couple during high school and turned 100% into jerky and since I was active in sports, that was an easy and tasty way to consume it. Only took one during college and I wasn't much of a cook myself but choked it down. About 10 years ago I figured out how to process and cook these things. Since then, it is my favorite animal to eat. Now my wife hunts and since I still have family and friends in the area, we can draw tags easily and each year we harvest 2 -4 each year. As I age, I really appreciated my friends who let me hunt their land and also how amazing it is to still have access to our family land to chase these critters.

 

[HappyCamper]

About 10 years ago I figured out how to process and cook these things. Since then, it is my favorite animal to eat. Now my wife hunts and since I still have family and friends in the area, we can draw tags easily and each year we harvest 2 -4 each year. As I age, I really appreciated my friends who let me hunt their land and also how amazing it is to still have access to our family land to chase these critters.

I agree on you the quality of both the meat and hunt. Just curious on how you utilize the majority of the meat in self-processing? After I get the common steaks cut and a bunch diced up for stew meat/etc I’m never sure how to use what is left (grind). Maybe it’s just me but antelope grind never seems to be compete with other animals.