VLD Pilot
Well-Known Member
WOW !!!
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Antelope rifle recommendation
- Thread starter VLD Pilot
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KyCarl
Well-Known Member
Well they are your rifles. I would take the one I shoot best?
VLD Pilot
Well-Known Member
I'll be taking a 284 with 168 vlds in case the wind gets gassing
wbm
Well-Known Member
There ya go.
just country
Well-Known Member
morning, 257 and 7mm wbee. very flat shooting. gbot tum
codyadams
Well-Known Member
I live here in southwest Wyoming, and pretty much everything stated is accurate. I use a .260 AI, which runs on par with your 6.5x284, I'm sending 140 VLD's at 3070 fps, and I'm excited for the 156 to come out, as that should help the wind bucking even better.
I have killed somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-20 pronghorn, and have taken friends and family out on two or three times that many sucessful hunts, every year I get 2 doe tags and if I'm lucky score a buck tag. The 140 VLD does very well, but last year my cousin used a 180 VLD out of his 7mm rem mag, and it performed identicle. It's all open and flat, so judging wind can be easier than in the mountains, most of the time a kestrel will give you accurate wind readings all the way out, assuming your in the same terrain the goat is in, as in your not shooting from a covered patch of willows out to open plains. Still, make sure your wind judgeung is honed up.
Try to go out early, not because the goats are more active, if your in a decent area it should be more like pronghorn shopping instead of hunting, but because the wind usually hasn't picked up yet. My average pronghorn shot is around 500ish, ranging out to 876 as my farthest.
Also, the cooler morning is better for the meat. Out of the 30+ pronghorn I have eaten, the best ones are the ones that are cleaned out the quickest. We have gone as far as to hang them in a rack in the back of the truck, skin them, wrap them in a sheet and ice them in the field to cool them fast. Try not to shoot a goat that has been running like crazy either. When a spooked goat runs, it goes alot farther than a deer. Also, if you can get them near an alfalfa field where they are feeding, the meat is usually better than brush goats. DO NOT AGE THE MEAT. They are not a deer. They will only get more gamey. So be prepared to butcher and cool the meat within a day of taking your goat. These are a few things I have learned in 20ish years of hunting pronghorn. When people say they don't taste good, it's because they either overcooked it (a detriment to all wild game imo) they didn't take care of the meat properly, they gut shot it, or it had just ran 20 miles. If you avoid these, they taste great. In fact, my wife that grew up near L.A. and never ate wild game before she met me, says she prefers pronghorn steaks over elk....I think it's good, but I dont share this same opinion ha ha.
Good luck with your hunt, and have fun!!
I have killed somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-20 pronghorn, and have taken friends and family out on two or three times that many sucessful hunts, every year I get 2 doe tags and if I'm lucky score a buck tag. The 140 VLD does very well, but last year my cousin used a 180 VLD out of his 7mm rem mag, and it performed identicle. It's all open and flat, so judging wind can be easier than in the mountains, most of the time a kestrel will give you accurate wind readings all the way out, assuming your in the same terrain the goat is in, as in your not shooting from a covered patch of willows out to open plains. Still, make sure your wind judgeung is honed up.
Try to go out early, not because the goats are more active, if your in a decent area it should be more like pronghorn shopping instead of hunting, but because the wind usually hasn't picked up yet. My average pronghorn shot is around 500ish, ranging out to 876 as my farthest.
Also, the cooler morning is better for the meat. Out of the 30+ pronghorn I have eaten, the best ones are the ones that are cleaned out the quickest. We have gone as far as to hang them in a rack in the back of the truck, skin them, wrap them in a sheet and ice them in the field to cool them fast. Try not to shoot a goat that has been running like crazy either. When a spooked goat runs, it goes alot farther than a deer. Also, if you can get them near an alfalfa field where they are feeding, the meat is usually better than brush goats. DO NOT AGE THE MEAT. They are not a deer. They will only get more gamey. So be prepared to butcher and cool the meat within a day of taking your goat. These are a few things I have learned in 20ish years of hunting pronghorn. When people say they don't taste good, it's because they either overcooked it (a detriment to all wild game imo) they didn't take care of the meat properly, they gut shot it, or it had just ran 20 miles. If you avoid these, they taste great. In fact, my wife that grew up near L.A. and never ate wild game before she met me, says she prefers pronghorn steaks over elk....I think it's good, but I dont share this same opinion ha ha.
Good luck with your hunt, and have fun!!
Charles De Salme
Well-Known Member
Agree with Cody. I have been hunting antelope for over 25 years now in New Mexico. My go to rifle is a 26-06 using Berger bullets. If it's real windy I'll break out my 7 mag.
Better off hunting in the morning when it's much cooler. As Cody mentioned try not to shoot them in the run. Their red blood cells take oxygen out of the meat. Gutt and skin ASAP.
Good luck
Better off hunting in the morning when it's much cooler. As Cody mentioned try not to shoot them in the run. Their red blood cells take oxygen out of the meat. Gutt and skin ASAP.
Good luck
dls guide
Well-Known Member
Any of your choices should work fine. I would probably choose the 6.5x284.
Any of the 3 will work fine.
VLD Pilot
Well-Known Member
Taking out a 6.5-284 for the longest ranges. Taking a 243 for closer shots. Both good options
HARPERC
Well-Known Member
Thread just had me thinking about the days of 5 tags apiece, and taking everything in the safe.
