# Antelope or elk



## APD (Nov 16, 2008)

can't decide what to do with my limited time. i have a type 7 antelope tag starting the 10th and having never seen an opener, i'm curious. last year i waited until the 3rd week of the hunt to go and didn't see any huntable animals in my unit. 

i need to balance that with my elk archery tag. i may be able to get to do both if i can take some time off work but it's a long shot. fri-sunday may be my last shot at elk unless i hunt the extended. i can always hunt antelope later in the season but that didn't seem to work out for me last year. i'm guessing they got heavy pressure early on and found the private areas or became nocturnal. it definitely didn't seem as easy as i've been told it is to hunt speed goats.

so, what would you do?


----------



## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

What unit are you chasing speedgoats in?


----------



## APD (Nov 16, 2008)

100, north of evanston


----------



## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

What do you consider "huntable"? In my experience the animals take only about 30 minutes opening morning to remember being chased around last year, and antelope are not nocturnal. There are definitely migratory shifts that happen. I like hitting the opener or waiting until the last three weeks of the season for SW Wyoming units. Good luck!


----------



## APD (Nov 16, 2008)

johnnycake said:


> What do you consider "huntable"? In my experience the animals take only about 30 minutes opening morning to remember being chased around last year, and antelope are not nocturnal. There are definitely migratory shifts that happen. I like hitting the opener or waiting until the last three weeks of the season for SW Wyoming units. Good luck!


i guess geographically huntable. the few i saw all hung out on private lands, mostly under the power lines. they were a little jumpy but not as bad as i thought they'd be.

thanks to CPAJeff for all the help. it's much appreciated.


----------



## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Hope you filled your tag today. 100 type 7 tags can be hard to fill for a few days after opening morning.

I have a 100 type 6, send me a PM if you want to take a ride. Later in the season is better.

.


----------



## APD (Nov 16, 2008)

wyogoob said:


> Hope you filled your tag today. 100 type 7 tags can be hard to fill for a few days after opening morning.
> 
> I have a 100 type 6, send me a PM if you want to take a ride. Later in the season is better.
> 
> .


goob,

yes, i got lucky and filled both of my tags right at 3:30 near woodruff on the boarder of unit 100. it was quite an adventure and learning experience which included red/blue lights, cows a plenty, dangerous and impassable roads, getting lost many times, 1 mountain lion, way too many antelope bucks to count, not enough does (5) and many lessons learned.

first mistake was not observing the 35mph speed limit in peoa. luckily that officer was understanding and gave me a break. after that it was the cows on sr102 by the gas plants. man those things are stubborn. the road turned to a two track on my after a while and got curvy, steep in spots and bumpy. as i neared my destination i was suspecting this might not be where i want to be. a quick check of the gps revealed that my phone had led my astray to the east end of the unit. my phone called it bear river divide. i did some quick thinking and drove down into washed out canyon to get me back to 30 where i could reset and come into the top of the unit. that road was an adventure in itself but it got me back to a maintained gravel road within about 15 minutes. there i mad contact with a couple other hunters scouting that said " you must be lost. not much reason for anyone to be up there". well, they were right. we chatted for a bit and i headed for hwy 30 so i could beat nightfall and get some scouting in. now here is where two days of hunting elk and not much sleep comes into play. i turned on a road just a little too early and ended up taking a detour, which initially worked out in my favor. first thing i saw was a herd of 30 head of antelope. must be in the right place since every 1000 yards i was seeing more lopes. i continued up the canyon as dark fell and i made a plan to get on the animals the next day. those antelope were less bothered by me than i expected. out of 50 antelope there were only 5 or 6 bucks but that would change.

after a broken sleep night i woke up around 530. excited and hopeful i got dressed and ate muffin before pulling out the glass. i was surprised at first to see that i was the only person up here. As i glassed there were two groups about a mile below me lined up to watch a water hole, or so i thought. with no hunters orange in sight i was perplexed. unfortunately, there were no lopes either. but i continued to glass and saw a possible reason quickly. about 350 yards away from where i slept there was a large male cougar sitting at the edge of a bluff overlooking a portion of the canyon right were i saw lopes yesterday. within 30 seconds he slipped away not to be seen again.

by now there was sunlight coming into the canyon and i got a laugh out of my earlier hunter observation. these guys weren't wearing any orange because they were closely placed fence posts. yeah, lack of sleep i guess. i began looking further down canyon and noticed a few vehicles coming up, which i expected to see at some point. luckily the sun had highlighted some antelope by then and a plan was made to get one. just as i made a move an large buck had me in his sights at 600 yards. i watched for a while as i started hearing shots from below. there went the herd i saw last night at the mouth of the canyon. seconds later i heard some atv's coming and there went the single lope near the road. it took off to the west. the only antelope i could see were miles away and i wasn't doing any good sitting behind my binos, so i set off on foot to the west form about 2/3 the way up the mountain. it didn't take long until i was spotting buck after buck. after a mile and a half, i saw some lopes down low about 2000 yards away. i saw them earlier but wanted to finish checking the ridges i was into first. nothing up high so time to go low. i played the ridges to stay out of sight and get within about 600 yards before going to a belly crawl. they had bedded by this time and were on alert, so i stopped at 500 yards and pulled out the rifle scope for a better look. there was a handy pile of sand there that didn't appear inhabited, so i used it as my rear bag and sculpted it to fit. now nice and stable, i could see this was a bachelor group with one nice sized buck in the upper 60's/ low 70's. i was bummed but continued to watch as they got out of bed and did some practice soft spar exercises. it was about this time i started to feel the residents of my rear sandbag crawling into places they shouldn't be. it was time to head back to the truck after a quick dance and shake. along the way i saw 1 more bachelor group and some for the same bucks i had seen before.

it was only about 11am when i decided to drive higher and get back into where i should have been originally. checking the maps and gps i had a plan to get there. i'll fast forward to where this road deteriorates and gets into sage brush taller than my truck. now i've got some new pinstripes, just crossed mud that i barely made it through and run right into an impassable ditch. so, i gotta go back. it was a 2hr detour but i made it back out to the main hwy. it was time to refuel and go in the right way.

with a mile on the right road i saw 4 bucks and 3 does. one large buck had the does and was actively managing his harem. i watched for a while and but knew these were not for me. 3000 yards out in the flats, 3 buck sentries and moving up the hill was a recipe for a blown stalk. so, it was time to move on. along the way i met a man who was looking for a record buck he thought he shot earlier in the morning. he gave me a tip about a herd that runs a 10 mile stretch that may contain some does.

along the way there i saw two more large bucks standing 75' off the road on a knoll. i'm still trying to figure out where the does go. they're like ghosts after dawn. this is takings some time, so lets fast forward. i get off the main road and drive in a half mile, taking a split to the left. as i turn behind a ridge i spot something at 1200 yards. i grab my binos and see a herd of at least 10 antelope. they saw me as well and quickly slipped over the ridge. i grabed the gun and pack, and put together a plan. i'd use some trees and a ridge to hide my approach, going fast when i can and slow where it counts. i made the ridge to discover they were gone. i slowly repeated this process two more times. i glassed every time i got close to the ridges and went silently but started to think i was chasing ghosts. to my fortune i saw the top of a head in a drainage. this one did not contain a black cheek patch;-). i ranged the opposite wall at 175 and the lope was bout 30 yards closer. unfortunately, i was not able to improve my position to shoot. i could neither go to the ground, knee or stand. i would be busted either way. so i knelt down and calmed the nerves while thinking the shot through. i felt good about it and slowly stood with the rifle to the shoulder. out of my opposite eye i saw a buck now standing and staring right at me. the clock was ticking so i held as best i could and took the shot. Bang, DRT! the herd got up and ran my way. the first lope up the hill had no black patch on the side of the cheek. i had already cycled the bolt and placed the cross hairs on the doe at about 75 yards. she stopped and looked at me when i whistled. it was just long enough to take the shot. she wet 20 feet and was down.

Now the work begins. i punched two tags and signed them right at 3:34. processing the first lope in 20 minutes i hiked it back 3/4 of a mile to the truck and got it on ice. i was able to drive to within a couple hundred yards of the next lope. i had already cut half the hide off to allow some cooling. this one was quick as well and on ice in less than 1.5hrs from when it was shot.

This was a great trip. i really want to thank CPAJeff for all the help learning this area. he took a lot of his time to help out a stranger and it was much appreciated. thanks jeff!


----------



## stillhunterman (Feb 15, 2009)

wow, sounds like a heck of a time, congrats on a job well done! :grin:


----------



## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

Great write-up and congrats on the antelope success!! My very first antelope hunt was in this unit, and I have loved antelope hunting ever since. Are you hooked on antelope hunting yet??


----------



## APD (Nov 16, 2008)

CPAjeff said:


> Great write-up and congrats on the antelope success!! My very first antelope hunt was in this unit, and I have loved antelope hunting ever since. Are you hooked on antelope hunting yet??


oh yeah! just had my first backstrap steak. it was as good or better than elk backstrap. if they were more available in my area, i'd hunt one over deer anyday. and i'd offer to help pack one out over elk.:mrgreen:

question for you... is there an imbalance in the sexes with antelope or do the doe have the opening day marked on their calendar? i saw black cheek patches everywhere i looked. it was unrepresentative of the opener eve.

this was a very different type of hunting experience compared to what i'm used to. everything from the terrain to the mannerisms of the game. they sure look noble when overlooking the terrain. a bedded buck just showing its head looks like an entirely different animal than when you see them full body. very suave/ GQ looking;-)


----------



## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

I think the does do have opening day marked on their calendar! I went out with my brother to an adjacent unit, and his opening day experience was very similar to yours - lots of bucks and few does. 

They are a lot easier to pack out than elk and taste 10x better than any deer I've ever had. Next to a bull elk bugling with his cows, in my opinion, a buck antelope overlooking the sage is the most majestic sight I have ever seen. Glad you are hooked!


----------

