Antelope...Lets See Them!!!

[corndog1]

 

[shrapnel]

We had a good morning…

 

[Carl]

I caught one!

 

[WNC2500]

View attachment 389358

I caught one!

Carl, he’s a tall one!!

 

[Bwambach]

2024 northeast Montana Antelope

 

[Hobbes]

My two sons' and mine.

Oldest son 15 minutes into opener, 80 yard shot.




My youngest and I went back this weekend. I felt we'd be lucky to find him one and two would require unexpected luck. We hunted this buck for a couple hours early but he crossed onto private so we left. We came back and hour or so later and he and a doe had crossed back and we managed a stalk that put us at 150 yards at 1:30 PM.




I started the disassembly and my son went for packs. We were back at truck in 2 hours. We had around 2.5 hours of daylight left and decided to drive to a couple others areas and glass as we worked back for the night. I wasn't expecting much, but got lucky and glassed a herd on a public section that were in a good location for a stalk. The shot was 150 max (probably less)after crawling to top of a ridge avoiding cactus.

 

[psinclair]

 

[psinclair]

One of my old softball teammates from back in the day came over from Kalispell and hunted with me for a couple days. He was pretty happy with this one..

 

[psinclair]

Another good friend from Helena. We spent the entire day waiting for this one to get to where we could make a play on him. I’m still pulling cactus thorns out my elbows and knees..

 

[Hammsolo]

Some beautiful bucks with good friends!

 

[Bowmannate2000]

Lots of really nice ones showing up on here this year!

 

[Huntmt28]

Found a couple last weekend, my son and myself. Had a good time!!

 

[Vic Colfari]

2025 antelope season is a wrap. My son took a doe on the opener, I found a nice buck late in the same day (spread out over two districts) and then I went back out this weekend to fill my doe tag, which happened fast first thing in the morning. It ended up being a great couple of hunts, and the freezer has my favorite game meat in it. Great time out with my son and solo.

 

[Vic Colfari]

2025 antelope season is a wrap. My son took a doe on the opener, I found a nice buck late in the same day (spread out over two districts) and then I went back out this weekend to fill my doe tag, which happened fast first thing in the morning. It ended up being a great couple of hunts, and the freezer has my favorite game meat in it. Great time out with my son and solo.

Finished cleaning up and bleaching the skull. Turned out pretty well. Getting a cheap power washer was long overdue to speed up the euro process.

 

[Bugle 'Em In]

My son caught up with his Friday evening and my wife on Sunday. Short, but fun season!

 

[Tmbrgost]

Finished cleaning up and bleaching the skull. Turned out pretty well. Getting a cheap power washer was long overdue to speed up the euro process.

Nicely done! Just curious on different methods, did you pop the horn sheaths off at any point or did you keep them on through the entire process?

 

[Vic Colfari]

Nicely done! Just curious on different methods, did you pop the horn sheaths off at any point or did you keep them on through the entire process?

I kept them on, wrapped up pretty tight with foil, and watched the boiling level pretty closely to avoid softening or discoloring the horns where they met the skull. For the bleaching, same idea, just used plastic wrap around the horn bases taped up tight to avoid any bleach getting on them. Power washed off the bleach paste, and let the whole thing air dry in the shade all day, and it was pretty much ready to go.
I cleaned off the horns with a damp rag and then used some diluted water-based black leather dye to bring back some of the darkness on the horns. I am working on my amateur taxidermist status one euro at a time...hopefully a bull or nice buck later this fall to keep up "practicing".

 

[Elktrack]

Nicely done! Just curious on different methods, did you pop the horn sheaths off at any point or did you keep them on through the entire process?

You have to take the horns off to get the new horn material that is growing underneath off. It’s just a bunch of hair and fleshy stuff that peels off and you’re left with the bone. If you don’t clean it off I imagine it would rot and turn into a stinky mess. The horns will loosen up and pull right off after a few minutes in the water.

 

[Frequently Banned Troll]

I kept them on, wrapped up pretty tight with foil, and watched the boiling level pretty closely to avoid softening or discoloring the horns where they met the skull. For the bleaching, same idea, just used plastic wrap around the horn bases taped up tight to avoid any bleach getting on them. Power washed off the bleach paste, and let the whole thing air dry in the shade all day, and it was pretty much ready to go.
I cleaned off the horns with a damp rag and then used some diluted water-based black leather dye to bring back some of the darkness on the horns. I am working on my amateur taxidermist status one euro at a time...hopefully a bull or nice buck later this fall to keep up "practicing".

That is gonna smell something terrible in the not so distant future and the skull is going to turn yellow. Come by with some beer and I’ll show you some magic tricks.

Your next step is to out that whole thing in a contractor bag and seal it up tight so the horns rot off. After a week or so They’ll slide right off and each core will have about 8 ounces of meat you’ll need to get out of there. You’ll want to degrease the skull before using bondo body putty to put the horns back on.

And don’t ever use “bleach” - use peroxide to bring it white, but if you don’t degrease it first- it’s always going to stay yellow.

 

[Vic Colfari]

That is gonna smell something terrible in the not so distant future and the skull is going to turn yellow. Come by with some beer and I’ll show you some magic tricks.

Your next step is to out that whole thing in a contractor bag and seal it up tight so the horns rot off. After a week or so They’ll slide right off and each core will have about 8 ounces of meat you’ll need to get out of there. You’ll want to degrease the skull before using bondo body putty to put the horns back on.

Can you sashimi the core meat, or just tartare? I'll take you up on the offer!