Buffalobob
Well-Known Member
This pertains to public land. You should understand that I am no great expert on antelope hunting but I am the only one who will actually tell you how to do it so you are pretty much stuck with what I happen to know. I know enough to be able to kill them which is no great feat of skill.
Antelope are like people. There are dumb ones and really dumb ones and then a few really smart ones. The really dumb ones will all have small horns and the dumb ones will have small to medium horn. Only smart antelope have big horns.
So what you will need is a good fast rifle and some high BC bullets. Unless you pay the Voodoo lady the wind will blow at about 15-25 mph everyday. You will need a wind meter. You will need a good pair of binoculars and a good laser rangefinder. Ranging antelope in flat open sagebrush is a true test of a rangefinder. Some days on some places you cannot range even 500 yards with a Bushnell 1500. You will need a four wheel drive vehicle. You will need to order the BLM maps or the Wyoming Atlas and Gazetteer so you know where the public land is. You should go up on the Wy F& G website and try to find the "walk in areas" for your unit. Walk in areas are a mixture of public and private land where you are granted access to the private land. There is sometimes a WMA and you might need to download a permission slip for it. There is all manner of sticky prickly stuff that grows in Wyoming so you will need boots that will withstand cactus spines.
A buck antelope will have horns and it will also have a black ear patch kind of below the ear and down on the jawbone to throat area. Its snout and face will be dark. Some does will have small horns a few inches long. If you are interested in a trophy sized antelope you are out of luck because I am not knowledgeable about that. Generally speaking, if the fork of the horn is two or three inches above the tip of its ear it will look nice in a picture. If it is five or so inches up then you need to shoot before somebody else kills it. During the rut the buck will often stand alone about 25 yards from the herd. The herd is lead by a doe. Does come in three varieties, the very old, scrawny and tough ones, the medium age decent shape ones, and the fawns.
Hunting usually consists of driving down dirt roads and jeep trails and glassing for a herd. Contrary to what people have led you to believe, antelope actually like to drink water and eat fresh green grass. You will find them where you find water and tender grass. Now an antelope will not hesitate to reach down and take a big bite of cactus as a little snack. Once a herd is spotted then you drive to a place where the truck is hidden and park and get out and get your gear. Antelope have extremely good vision and can see you from a mile away. They also have pretty big ears and can hear you for a long ways. A big buck is not going to stand around while you set up in plain sight of him. Remember he didn't get big by being stupid. Some people resort to knee pads gloves and elbow pads and crawl into position for the shot. You will need to plan your approach to the place you wish to shoot from so that you are not seen nor heard. A bipod is advisable and some kind of rear bag. A decent shot is about 500 yards in windy conditions. To go much beyond that you need for the winds to abate.
Now if you wish to set up and just wait for a shot you can do that also. I do it, but then I am retired and I am just looking for a certain shot. Once again, you will want water and green grass and there needs to be some antelope using it. You should set up on some high ground and have your truck hidden somewhere. You will need to be hidden and still yourself. Antelope move around a good bit and you should not have much trouble getting a shot that you want. I sat for three days with 50 – 75 antelope always in front of me waiting on the wind to die down. Antelope came and went but there were constantly a lot there.
After you shoot the antelope you can do one of three things. You can just gut it out and take it to a butcher. You can gut and skin and quarter it and put it in a cooler. Of you can skin one side and bone it down then roll it over and skin at the other side and bone it down. Boning it out in the field does not take much time. I carry 1 mil plastic tarps so the meat doesn't get dirty and gritty.
If some of the people who actually know a lot about antelope hunting want to add some stuff that is fine with me. I just write this thread because a lot of people have asked me for help in where to go because they have never hunted antelope before.
Antelope are like people. There are dumb ones and really dumb ones and then a few really smart ones. The really dumb ones will all have small horns and the dumb ones will have small to medium horn. Only smart antelope have big horns.
So what you will need is a good fast rifle and some high BC bullets. Unless you pay the Voodoo lady the wind will blow at about 15-25 mph everyday. You will need a wind meter. You will need a good pair of binoculars and a good laser rangefinder. Ranging antelope in flat open sagebrush is a true test of a rangefinder. Some days on some places you cannot range even 500 yards with a Bushnell 1500. You will need a four wheel drive vehicle. You will need to order the BLM maps or the Wyoming Atlas and Gazetteer so you know where the public land is. You should go up on the Wy F& G website and try to find the "walk in areas" for your unit. Walk in areas are a mixture of public and private land where you are granted access to the private land. There is sometimes a WMA and you might need to download a permission slip for it. There is all manner of sticky prickly stuff that grows in Wyoming so you will need boots that will withstand cactus spines.
A buck antelope will have horns and it will also have a black ear patch kind of below the ear and down on the jawbone to throat area. Its snout and face will be dark. Some does will have small horns a few inches long. If you are interested in a trophy sized antelope you are out of luck because I am not knowledgeable about that. Generally speaking, if the fork of the horn is two or three inches above the tip of its ear it will look nice in a picture. If it is five or so inches up then you need to shoot before somebody else kills it. During the rut the buck will often stand alone about 25 yards from the herd. The herd is lead by a doe. Does come in three varieties, the very old, scrawny and tough ones, the medium age decent shape ones, and the fawns.
Hunting usually consists of driving down dirt roads and jeep trails and glassing for a herd. Contrary to what people have led you to believe, antelope actually like to drink water and eat fresh green grass. You will find them where you find water and tender grass. Now an antelope will not hesitate to reach down and take a big bite of cactus as a little snack. Once a herd is spotted then you drive to a place where the truck is hidden and park and get out and get your gear. Antelope have extremely good vision and can see you from a mile away. They also have pretty big ears and can hear you for a long ways. A big buck is not going to stand around while you set up in plain sight of him. Remember he didn't get big by being stupid. Some people resort to knee pads gloves and elbow pads and crawl into position for the shot. You will need to plan your approach to the place you wish to shoot from so that you are not seen nor heard. A bipod is advisable and some kind of rear bag. A decent shot is about 500 yards in windy conditions. To go much beyond that you need for the winds to abate.
Now if you wish to set up and just wait for a shot you can do that also. I do it, but then I am retired and I am just looking for a certain shot. Once again, you will want water and green grass and there needs to be some antelope using it. You should set up on some high ground and have your truck hidden somewhere. You will need to be hidden and still yourself. Antelope move around a good bit and you should not have much trouble getting a shot that you want. I sat for three days with 50 – 75 antelope always in front of me waiting on the wind to die down. Antelope came and went but there were constantly a lot there.
After you shoot the antelope you can do one of three things. You can just gut it out and take it to a butcher. You can gut and skin and quarter it and put it in a cooler. Of you can skin one side and bone it down then roll it over and skin at the other side and bone it down. Boning it out in the field does not take much time. I carry 1 mil plastic tarps so the meat doesn't get dirty and gritty.
If some of the people who actually know a lot about antelope hunting want to add some stuff that is fine with me. I just write this thread because a lot of people have asked me for help in where to go because they have never hunted antelope before.
