birddog 68
Well-Known Member
I agree that any guide worth a darn should be able to get you within 400 yards of a PH. As far as caliber goes I would bring whatever I shoot best in the.243 to.280 range.
Good caliber for hunting Pronghorn in WY or CO
- Thread starter Kent kacir
- Start date
Help Support Long Range Hunting Forum
wyrshunter1
Active Member
The only reason I can see for a guided hunt is access to easier private property eastern tags but your Trophy quality will suffer compared to the Rawlins/Rock Springs, Flaming Gorge areas. I wonder too how many bucks a guide will let you pass up before he tells you to shoot one. If you are going to take a week and all the expense of a western hunt I don't know why you wouldn't want to get out and take your time and do it yourself if you draw the right area. Other than land and access and buck assessment the guide doesn't bring much to the table and you don't need private access in the top rated units to find a good scoring or unique buck. Just bring a cooler along with dry ice and get him skinned and quartered and cooled ASAP. The best and worst meat I have ever had has both been antelope so even that is a crapshoot, but if the meat is strong just jerky it.
As far as a rifle anything flat shooting and forgiving of ranging mistakes will be great. The .25s are probably the local Wyoming Antelope favorite over the years. If you reload I believe you can form the .257 Weatherbys from 7mm but you can't ever go wrong for Pronghorn with the simple 25-06 in whatever shoots best from 75s to 120s. The 25-06 AI is the ultimate compromise between the 2 unless you don't reload. The goat won't know the difference if you use .22-250 of .243 either unless you are trying to make a long shot in the wind which is almost guaranteed to be blowing.
If you have a few days to hunt you can probably find about any shot you want but if you ID a buck that stands out you will need to make some longer shots and it will be windy. That would be the only reason to think about a bigger bullet. If that's the case stick with O Conners .270 with a 130 or a Rem Mag with a 139 or so or a 6.5 PRC if you just have the itch for a new gun and don't mind mortgaging the house for 50 rounds of brass. ( I have a PRC and love it but it nothing but an excuse for another .270 at anything under about 700 yards.)
A Creedmore would be fine with a rangefinder but I still struggle to wonder why anyone would want to spend money on a gun to disadvantage themselves in such a way on a real hunt unless they are really small or extremely recoil adverse with so many fun options. If you want a challenge bring your smoke stick or crossbow instead..lol (That actually would be fun).
As far as a rifle anything flat shooting and forgiving of ranging mistakes will be great. The .25s are probably the local Wyoming Antelope favorite over the years. If you reload I believe you can form the .257 Weatherbys from 7mm but you can't ever go wrong for Pronghorn with the simple 25-06 in whatever shoots best from 75s to 120s. The 25-06 AI is the ultimate compromise between the 2 unless you don't reload. The goat won't know the difference if you use .22-250 of .243 either unless you are trying to make a long shot in the wind which is almost guaranteed to be blowing.
If you have a few days to hunt you can probably find about any shot you want but if you ID a buck that stands out you will need to make some longer shots and it will be windy. That would be the only reason to think about a bigger bullet. If that's the case stick with O Conners .270 with a 130 or a Rem Mag with a 139 or so or a 6.5 PRC if you just have the itch for a new gun and don't mind mortgaging the house for 50 rounds of brass. ( I have a PRC and love it but it nothing but an excuse for another .270 at anything under about 700 yards.)
A Creedmore would be fine with a rangefinder but I still struggle to wonder why anyone would want to spend money on a gun to disadvantage themselves in such a way on a real hunt unless they are really small or extremely recoil adverse with so many fun options. If you want a challenge bring your smoke stick or crossbow instead..lol (That actually would be fun).
Sounds like you answered your own question: Within its effective range, just about any center fire will kill an antelope. But I would add, regardless of your rifle/caliber/ability, try to get as close as you can - remember this is hunting ,not target shooting. I have killed dozens of antelope over the years, and the more memorable hunts were the ones that included good stalks. The farthest I ever had to kill a goat was 340 yards. Good luck on your hunt.
W
Wyo37
Guest
6mm creedmoor seems about like the perfect pronghorn cartridge. Id use one, and will this year to shoot one at any range i practice out to, without a second thought. Have killed them with 308win, 270win, 6.5 creed, and 243win.
Out of all of them the 243win was the lightest recoiling/quickest killing cartridge.
Out of all of them the 243win was the lightest recoiling/quickest killing cartridge.
Starlite
Well-Known Member
Fully agree. The 95-105gr pills are very doable out to 500M easy.
WildRose
Well-Known Member
Any of the 6.5-.30 cal's will do that job pretty well although I would not use the 6.5L for game that size beyond about 400yds.
Unless things have changed a whole lot most PH's are killed between 80-200yds with only about 5% at greater than 400yds so pick whatever you shoot best and most consistently out to your max range.
If you're not used to shooting in the wind on rolling plains you'd do well to plan a PD trip or predator hunt well prior and go spend some time familiarizing yourself with both.
That kind of terrain can be extremely deceptive when it comes to ranging and of course the wind is the toughest thing any of us will ever attempt to master.
The only time the winds on the plains lay down is when God is taking another breath or changing direction.
Starlite
Well-Known Member
While in the military and a member of a shooting team, one of our coaches said "once you've mastered shooting in a blizzard your 10% there". Now that I've been hunting more since retirement I look back on that statement and realize just how wrong he was. It's more like 1%. Just when I feel I've got something down pat Mother Nature kicks me in the junk. 
When I see questions like this I typically do a few things. One I narrow it down to 3 or 4 calibers that fit my need. Two I will then look at ammoseek as I do not reload so having at least a decent amount of ammo to choose from is important. Three I will look at said calibers on Gunbroker. Not necessarily to buy from there but to get a sense of the popularity. I always rule out 6.5 CM just my personal opinion. So if you have a rifle company that you prefer I would look at the options you narrowed down to see if they have one available in the calibers you have looked at.
An example of this would be I like the 6 CM but what advantage would it have for me in a hunting application say over a .243. Up to 500 yards not much of a difference. When it comes to rifles to choose from there is much more of a selection for the .243 as a hunting rifle. The flip side if I wanted one for 1000 yards for punching paper the 6 CM has both advantages with the ballistics as well as factory rifles to choose from.
Either way good luck with your hunt and please share what round and rifle you chose as well as pictures of your Pronghorn!
Brent
An example of this would be I like the 6 CM but what advantage would it have for me in a hunting application say over a .243. Up to 500 yards not much of a difference. When it comes to rifles to choose from there is much more of a selection for the .243 as a hunting rifle. The flip side if I wanted one for 1000 yards for punching paper the 6 CM has both advantages with the ballistics as well as factory rifles to choose from.
Either way good luck with your hunt and please share what round and rifle you chose as well as pictures of your Pronghorn!
Brent
While in the military and a member of a shooting team, one of our coaches said "once you've mastered shooting in a blizzard your 10% there". Now that I've been hunting more since retirement I look back on that statement and realize just how wrong he was. It's more like 1%. Just when I feel I've got something down pat Mother Nature kicks me in the junk.
Good words, I enjoy going shooting when the winds a rocking, the rains pelting and the snow's coming down sideways. Kind of helps me to feel better come game time.
Several of my friends basically refuse to go to the range unless the weather is pretty much perfect. I think they should reconsider their ways.
If you are comfortable with your 6.5CM than I say use it.
I have used a 25-06 and a 7 Rem mag. The 7 was more gun than needed but I was having issues with the 243 I had intended on using and had the 7mm as my back up since it was the only other rifle I had what I felt a good long range load worked up.
The 7 Mag destroyed both front shoulders and that means almost half the edible meat on the goat. Slight gust of wind was all it took to push the bullet from lung shot to shoulder in 450yds.
I've not used a guide on either one of my Antelope hunts but neither one of my Antelope were Boone & Crocket class animals. But they did make it in the "Spoon & Crockpot" record book for some of the best tasting game meat i've eaten.
I have used a 25-06 and a 7 Rem mag. The 7 was more gun than needed but I was having issues with the 243 I had intended on using and had the 7mm as my back up since it was the only other rifle I had what I felt a good long range load worked up.
The 7 Mag destroyed both front shoulders and that means almost half the edible meat on the goat. Slight gust of wind was all it took to push the bullet from lung shot to shoulder in 450yds.
I've not used a guide on either one of my Antelope hunts but neither one of my Antelope were Boone & Crocket class animals. But they did make it in the "Spoon & Crockpot" record book for some of the best tasting game meat i've eaten.
The "Spoon & Crockpot" is the important record book.
