Antelope season

Antelope season starts in a week and a half in Wyoming for us pistol hunter's . So yesterday my freind and I hit the range . I sighted my 30-30 ack in at 1.5 inches high at 100 yards. Aaron put his 44 mag at about the same. We have been anticipating this year for a while now and are hopfully going to be prepaired. This will be our first attempt at antelope with handguns. I'll keep you all posted on the hunt.

Lars

Good luck on your hunts. You've accepted a rewarding challenge for sure. Have fun and make sure to post any/all stories.

good luck let use know how the 30-30 works i have been thinking
about that one for some time.
larry

dude...I am jealous!!! I'm itching to go hunting antelopes!! Maybe next year....

Good luck on the upcoming Antelope Hunt Lars. I sure how it turns out as you anticipate. I have been out to Western South Dakota a couple times Hunting Pronghorns but never with a Handgun.

With a little luck I can get out to Western South Dakota next year to try my hand a harvesting a Pronghorn with a Handgun. They truly are unique animals.

Larry

You should have a great time, good luck!

Hunlee is wondering if antalope meat is good to eat?????Word has it meat from them is not fit to eat so this would not be good fro Hunlee!!!!!!Please tell Hunlee about antalope meat and many thankyou from Hunlee!!!!!Hunlee is allso wanting to know where you going hunting?????Hunlee never hunt or shoot antalope so please give more information!!!!

hunlee

Hope you have better luck than I did. These Northern Nevada goats sure were spooky this year. I handgun hunted for four days, and even set up a blind over a waterhole. Range cattle and a flight of teal was the only critters that came to vistit me that day. I ended up getting a handsome little 12 incher with a Remington 700, 25-06 at 550 yards.

Congrats on your antelope Pasco! Hunlee, antelope is very good eating.

I have been doing some archery antelope hunting the last couple of weeks, and I could have killed some very nice bucks and countless does with either handgun you mentioned.
Be Patient & Good luck

Thank you pab1, my son and I had a good trip, roasted some hotdogs on a campfire and enjoyed the stars.

The key to good antelope meat is to get the hide off a.s.a.p. The hide has a "greasy-oily" feel to it and the buggers roll in doe urine. This seems to taint the meat if the hide is not skinned off the carcass. A couple of days of hanging also seems to help. I like antelope meat better than mule deer.

Best tasting antelope meat-yearling doe!

The very first time I went Pronghorn Hunting the old rancher where we were hunting told us to GET THE HIDE OFF AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. He told us the Hair is what taints the meat. He also told us to shoot em in the morning. He went on to say that Pronghorns love to run and the more they run the more they sweat. He said when they get all sweated up they are like a stinky old goat.

I made a skinning pole that attached to the trailer hitch on my pickup. We simply hoisted the Pronghorns up on the skinning pole when we got back to the vehicle and skinned them. We then quartered the Pronghorns and packed the quarters in a cooler on ice until we got back home.

I have a buddy that would rather eat Pronghorns than beef. He said it is the best meat you can eat. Well I didn't quite think so so we had ours ground into North Country Sausage Links (kind of like a polish sausage) and that turned out great, but then I grew up eating sausage.

I did have a Pronghorn Roast that was slow cooked in a crock pot with potatoes, carrots, peas and according to the cook his special seasoning (one of the ingretients was onion soup mix I think) and it was great. It melted in your mouth.

Again good luck on the upcoming hunt.

Larry

Good luck on your hunt Lars. Hope you have a good one.

Fair Winds and Following Sea!!!!

Hunlee as they have all said goat meat is rather tasty if you take care of it. Skinning the critter as well as pulling out the wind pipe and scent glands help with taste. Also you should rince the carcass if possible and put it on ice. This year I hope to turn mine into braughtworst and some bacon, MMM! MMM! good! As to your question about hunting them. You can usually draw a doe tag for about $30. I've gotten mine 2 years in a row. Buck tags went up to over $200 this year so i'll wait another year for that. But I've got 2 points now , so a draw should be easy.In Wyoming you can buy preferance points outright or try a draw to get them. Maybe next year we should do an antelope hunt for all who can go. I love to plan hunts!!!

Lars

Hunlee think a hunt wood be very fun!!!!!Hunlee will keep watch for upcommin hunt!!!!!You hunt antalope in Colorado over Wyoming????Hunlee has heard antalope in Wyoming are in great number running a long the prarrie!!!!!Colorado wood be good for Hunlee as wood Wyoming......Hunlee have nice long ranger 7-30 water barrel!!!!!!!Said barrel of Hunlee is 17 inch long with nice 3-12x power Burris scope with billistic plex cross hair!!!!!7-30 water barrel of Hunlee wood be good for hunting antalope!!!!

hunlee

Leaving Sept 23rd for Wyoming for a week of chasing Speed Goats.
Have several pistols tuned and ready. I have applied and drawn the last three years for Antelope in the Laramie and Casper areas for a Buck tag. Took a nice buck in 2006 with my XP100 in 260. Took a doe last year, waiting for the big buck that didn't show. No problem. The meat is very good. I took my antelope from the field, directly to the processor within an hour. They turned out great.
Can't wait to get on the road for this years hunt. Hope to see Ernie and some others there.
I'm taking my XP100 in 7-08 w/3x12 BPlex this year with a 6.5 Rem Mag Encore as backup. Will have a buck tag and a doe tag.

Mike

I am jealous. I applied with a good friend for tags. Unfortunately, we were not drawn. Good luck ont he hunt. As others have said post stories and photos.

i only had antelope one time and i think it was cooked wrong
over something it tasted like sage and real gamey. so i truned
more down i think that was the wrong thing to do.
larry

Larry,
Antelope is my least favorite big game meat, but it is my hunting buddy Steve's favorite choice of game meat. If you follow some of the guidelines mentioned above it is pretty good.
Young animal shot in the AM, skinned quickly, etc helps.

thanks xp i will remeber that if i get some more or get to
hunt myself some day.
larry

Antelope is my least favorite meat, as a matter of fact I almost gave up Antelope hunting, because I won't shoot something I don't eat. But a butcher here in town (Cheyenne) makes it into Italian Sweet Sausage that is to die for! You will need the following:

1. GOOD pair of Binoculars and spotting scope.
2. Range Finder
3. GPS...you don't know how many times I've dropped an Antelope in the middle of the prairie, gutted it out and went back to the truck and had a hell of a time trying to find the Antelope again.

I had that happen with a deer in the thick woods. I have had to track deer on my hands and knees before and if I hadn’t left my orange hat/vest, that I keep in my bag, over on a limb or tree next to it I may have never found it again.

I like to hike back into some hills with bowls and glass from a ridge to find some goats undisturbed. I work the wind, glass, and check a few with range finder. This way they are calm, feeding or napping. I set up, range the one I want and wait for the shot. I try to take the high shoulder/spine hit and drop them right there. I dress them out as soon as I can get to them, haul them out on my back or a cart and take to processor. They are not running or crazy with adrenaline and the ones I have taken have been good. It is a little more work than glassing from the road and chasing them after the shot but it is fun all the same.
Can't wait until next week.

Mike

Good luck Lars!!

My brother got a speed goat about 10 years ago in Wyoming. It tasted good.

We'll be in a blue nissan extended cab pickup. Hope to see ya there. Up in the basin. And colorado aint a hair on wyoming's ass!!!

Lars

The one speed goat I shot taught me a big lesson. #1 like everyone else said get the hide off quick, #2 wear gloves and DON'T touch the meat after you touch the hide and the big one that ruined my meat #3 get it to a cooler to hang for 2 or 3 days. I shot mine during the second season that ran along with archery deer and elk so after I shot it we hung it like we would a deer or elk under a tarp but it was early september and warm. We continued hunting for 3 more days before we left the mountain and that meat wasn't fit for a dog.

I forgot to mention that Antelope is one of my favorite to hunt.
.
Here in Wyoming, they are everwhere. You go along...nope too fat, too skinny, nope...too ugly, looks too much like Hillary...wait!...maybe I should put it out of it's misery!...Naw...meat would taste terrible...probably has a liberal dose of fat...

Hee heee heeeeeee!!!

Yep that was the wrong thing to do Larry. I have never had it, but everyone I've talked to said it's great. Same thing get the hide of quick and get it on ice as soon as you can.

Good luck on your hunt 03. I've put in for the draw several times but have yet to draw a tag.

Maybe we could plan a pig hunt too? Ya can't hunt enough is my motto.

Lars

I plan on going out first weekend in October with my Contender 30/30 and my flat top Ruger 44. As far as the meat goes I usually have the whole thing turned into sausage, either Italian or Breakfast, as well as bratwurst. Like SS 308 I also live in Cheyenne and chances are we use the same processor. You definitely want to get it cool in a hurry and the hide off. When I want a steak or a roast I will take elk every time however the fat 4-H steer in my freezer as of tonight should make some very good eating.

If you have an antelope (or deer) that tastes a little gamey, try soaking the meat overnight in milk.

I've used that system with elk, and it seems to help with the gamey flavor some. Antelope's my favorite big game meat. We bone it on the spot and put it in plastic bags for the trip back to the vehicle where a cooler is waiting. Meat comes out of the bags and into the cooler, and that's that!

Almost all my game meat is cooked in a crock pot, or burgered/jerkied.

IMO, a nice antelope mount is second to none for wall appeal.

My Uncle had a cooler in the truck when he shot his antelope. He did what has been recommended here and dressed it out in the field as quickly as possible. He cooked it on the grill as steak and it was divine!!!!!!

Duane

I have found that getting the meat to cool down as quickly as possible is the first step in quality tasting wild game. I then quarter the animal and place it in a cooler covered in ice for at least two days. Let the meat soak in the ice water and it will remove all the "gamey" taste. Just make sure there are still a few solid ice cubes floating in the cooler and you should be fine. When you drain the cooler, it will look like cherry Kool-Aid as the cold water draws nearly all of the blood out of the meat. The meat will also cook faster on the grill.

lhunter03, A few years ago I booked a Wyoming antelope hunt with an outfitter I met in Africa, but before the season began he left the business.He refunded my deposit and as of now I have 2
preference points. I know absolutly nothing about antelope hunting or where the good areas are in Wyoming. Please let me know how everything works out so I can start putting this hunt together...

Jamesfromjersey, let me know what you're looking for and I may help. I've hunted Antelope, with a handgun, here for over 10 years and have some good spots.

Let me know!

P.S. You won't need a guide!

Hey Steve, how about some pics of any antelope mounts you might have.
Vin

I'll post some pictures of my mount of my first Antelope I shot with a handgun.

Cool, we love to see it.
Vin

Sorry Vin--i'd love to but i can't with my el cheapo 'puter. Ernie's got 1 of my crawl-stalked antelope that i took with my old 7-08 XP. Not mounted tho.

Probably don't need it anyways--SS will no doubt get some nice pics on here.

No problem Steve - But your statement about the antelope mount being second to none for wall appeal... not sure if I would agree. Ive seen some VERY impressive whitetail mounts that compliment the wall nicely. Would love to see them side by side, Im sure antelope mounts are quite impressive too. They dont get very big though... do they? Ive never been out west. Would love to hunt out there one day.
Vin

The most appealing aspect of the pronghorn is that it has that exotic look that you would expect to find on the African plains. Oh, and the pronghorn is one of the only truly native game animals to north america.

Just got back! We smoked two goats and what a thrill. It really means somthing to get a goat on public land with a hand gun. I got mine at 250 yards and my buddy shot his at 75 yrds. The problem with hunting in unit 47, north of medicine bow, is that there are so many bucks that you dont get many shots at those good eating doe's. We hunted very hard and are pretty tired. All in all it was an awsome hunt I'll post pictures tomorrow. Oh! and we also caught a poacher red handed with 3 dead goats and 3 wounded one's. Fish and game was very greatful for the tip. Hate to see people getting a way with that sort of thing.

Lars

Congratulations on the successful hunt. Look forward to seeing pictures!

First rate law abiding hunters informing the Game Wardens!!! The law is the law!

Lars, you did the right thing. Those poachers give us law abiding hunters a bad name. Good job! And good job on the hunt too, looking forward to the photos tomorrow.
Vin

Congratulations! It sounds like you guys had a great hunt! Good job for turning in that poacher too. Lets hope they caught him!

Congratulations on your successful hunt. I'm sure you brought back many great memories with you. Thanks for turning in the poachers; no place for them in the field.

Congrats on your antelope hunt. Thank you for getting involved and turning those poachers in. If I can draw a tag next year hopefully I'll be going to montanna for antelopes.

Pics are in boy's, But I have no idea how you post a link. There in ther though.

Lars