Antelope hunting – Give me some advice.

One of my wish-list hunts is to bag a decent antelope and it’s time to make it happen.

Because of logistics and time concerns, I have basically ruled out a DIY hunt. I simply don’t think I have the time or the knowledge of the antelope and land to make it viable to do a self-guided hunt.

I am not bound to any particular state, but obviously I understand that due to tag availability, collecting preference points, etc, this may be a 2-3 year process. I’ve talked to some outfitters at sports shows, but it’s hard to get a real feel as they all say the same things. Also, they all have a few pictures of trophies, but they are vague when it comes to what the average is.

I want to make it clear that I’m interested in high-caliber animals. I’d rather hunt hard and be unsuccessful than bag a below average animal. I understand that in some areas the pronghorn has become a bit of a “meat hunt” species and is also seen as something of an add-on to do after the real hunt for mule deer is over. I’m not interested in either proposition and I don’t want an outfitter that defines success as meat in the freezer for every client.

Of course the budget is not unlimited, but I’m looking at the whole picture not just the lowest cost. Looking at websites, I don’t get a good feeling when I see outfitters talking about how “quickly” they can fill a tag. To me that just screams “meat hunter that whacks the first legal animal”.

On to my questions:

– What areas should I be looking at for guided hunts where the numbers are strong AND there’s better than average trophy potential?

– Specific outfitters to recommend?

– Advice about getting tag?

– Tricks and tips about tags, cost-savers, or other info to pass on about logistics.

Thank you.

Grouse

Bow or gun?

This would be for a rifle hunt.

Grouse

This past fall we went with Powder Horn Adventures in Douglas WY. dureing the archery season. Very nice guys and willing to do about anything to try and get you an animal. They don’t get very many bowhunters and that is a good thing. Seemed pretty clueless as far as hunting with a bow. With a gun I think they would give you a quality hunt. We saw some good bucks and did manage to go 3 for 6. With 2 nice bucks. One was P/Y.

Thanks Swim.

Does Powder Horn have a website?

What kind of numbers did you see?

Realizing that with archery there is a much larger gap between what you see and what you can get a shot at, what did you see as far as significant bucks?

Thanks.
Grouse

No website. There phone number does show if you google them. We saw around a 100 each of the three days. I think I saw about 5 bucks that I wanted to shoot. The owners name is Danny Cole.

I’ve hunted antelope here in Montana as well as Wyoming. We do shoot a few good bucks in Montana, however it doesn’t hold a candle to the quality that Wyoming has. If you looking to shoot a good antelope with out spending an arm and a leg or waiting years to get a tag Wyoming is a no brainer.

I pretty much thought it would come down to WY.

The hardest thing is that I’d like to hear about outfitters who really have access to trophy animals and a reputation for having the patience to get them. Success ratios don’t tell you anything about that aspect. Lots of WY outfitters are 100% success. . . which worries me given my goal.

Grouse

I hunt a private ranch in WY with some guys that gratefully asked me to join them. If I had no place to hunt and considering what outfitters charge I would consider the “walk-in” areas that are available in the state.Rifle hunting goats is not real difficult with a rifle but for me the hard part is patience. You see a lot of animals and you see lots of bucks and it takes some time to really judge a nice one.Too many times guys(me included) will shoot one the first day and then see nicer ones later.One guys trophy is different than anothers. Anything over 14″to me is a nice one.But I had buddies mount 12″ers and they were nice and they were happy. All are beautiful trophys and most all look alike unlike whitetails/muleys.