Antelope rifle recommendation

[medic201]

I'm partial to my 25/06 Ackley. I had one experience with a 308 that completely bloodshot the offhand shoulder.

 

[just country]

morning, 257wbee. 100gr. Barnes TTSX. gbot tum

 

[werth338]

I took my 6.5-300 last year with 143gr ELD-X. Took about two steps and fell over. With ranges and wind, I would take fast and flat.

 

[littlewhaler]

I hunt the goats in Wyoming with 25-06 and don't like bt bullets..they expand too quickly at high velocity and blow out huge holes in these small animals. If you want the meat and a nice shoulder mount you need a stronger bullet, smaller holes but not pencil holes on the exit side. These are surprisingly strong animals and they often shock me on taking a perfect shot and watch them walk fifteen-25' before they drop. Usually they smack down but not always..any of the 3 rifles you mentioned are very capable of hunting the prairies and taking antelope and varmints at long range if u select appropriate bullets.

 

[VLD Pilot]

7mm-08 Nosler 120 gr. Ballistic Tip @ 3120 fps. I won't include the yardage... you wouldn't believe me View attachment 96091

What backstraps ???

 

[manitou]

Backstraps were fine. A little higher and they wouldn't have faired so well.

 

[johnmyers]

Full custom 7-06AI shooting 168gr HVLD Bergers at 3000fps 350yd shot dead on impact. Really bites the wind well and .25 MOA accuracy

 

[Pa Grizz]

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!!

My wife prefers pronghorn over anything.The first one I shot she cooked it every night until it was gone .My second trip when I got back I had to lock the freezer so it would last a little longer

 

[baddaddy]

257 Bee with a 80 grain TTXS @ 3750 fps.

 

[HunterLV]

Been shooting them for years with the wife's Model 7 in .260 Remington.
I HIGHLY recommend the 130 grain Berger bullets from Copper Creek.
Great accuracy and awesome knock down power.

 

[Cowboythunder]

I took this buck using a B-78 in 6mm Rem. It shoots an 85gr. Sierra GK #1530 at 3125fps. Only a 200 yard shot. I'm no expert but have killed a few and the 243/6mms sure work nice in my experience. Any of your options are good but I find myself reaching for the smaller guns with antelope.

 

[rld346]

Heading out to Wyoming on an antelope hunt this Sept /Oct. Looking for rifle advice. 243/9twist, 260/8 twist, 6.5-284/8 twist. Those are my 3 options sitting in my safe. I have both smaller and larger options but chose those being what I feel are best. The 95 bergers shoot best in the 243. The 260 and 6.5-284 like the 140 class bullets. Shots are expected from 200-1000. All 3 guns can achieve the range accurately given environmental conditions allow shots. Any help on best choice for bullet weight/ caliber / cartridge would be great. Thanks.

Last October I used a 6.5 CM, Browning X-Bolt, to harvest a buck in NE WY. The 140gr Berger worked like a champ, although I was only 200yds or so.

 

[ATH]

Any of those guns will work. I've used everything from 243AI to 300WM. I'd be biased towards whatever bucked the wind best. Antelope are easy to kill if you hit the vitals.

My experience with Bergers mirrors a photo earlier in this thread. Saw several shot in my hunting group with 270s and 243s and Bergers. All hit in chest, experience ranged from penciling through and long tracking to explosive and ruining a third of the meat on the animal. Not the kind of consistent, controlled performance I want on game. AMAX, Accubonds, and ELDs for me.

 

[DAbersold]

I drew both a buck and doe tag in Wyoming this year. I will be taking a 30-30 Ackley Improved 14" bbl Contender. Any of your mentioned rifles will work. Just because they are antelope doesn't mean you HAVE to shoot them at long range (although I'm sure it's fun to do). I've shot them in both Wyoming and California and my longest shot has been about 125 yds.