Posted: 10/13/2014 10:06:40 AM EDT
|
Just got back from western Nebraska where I shot my first Antelope. We didn't see a huge amount of animals, but there definitely some quality ones out there. I missed two shots earlier in the morning (range finder wouldn't work in the early morning fog, I'll have to read up more on this) on animals that were much bigger than this one. This goat measured right at 12". Like I said there were much bigger ones out there, but this one was unlucky enough to get in my cross hairs. Rifle is a Winchester model 70, chambered in .270. I was shooting Winchester Supreme 130g Ballistic Silvertips when he gave me a standing broadside shot at around 240 yards. Scope is a Nikon Buckmaster 4-12 X 50 BDC. It's sad I have to wait 3 years to get another tag.....  |
|
Nice, just got my first a week ago in Colorado.
12" is respectable, doesn't seem to matter the species, the one out of range, or the one(s) that come around while you're handling your downed game are always bigger. Everyone told me the meat would be sagey to the point of nearly inedible, but that sure hasn't proven the case. ETA: pic 
|
|
Quoted: Nice, just got my first a week ago in Colorado. 12" is respectable, doesn't seem to matter the species, the one out of range, or the one(s) that come around while you're handling your downed game are always bigger. Everyone told me the meat would be sagey to the point of nearly inedible, but that sure hasn't proven the case. Now a 3 year wait for my next rifle tag begins.  |
|
Nice goat. I love to hunt antelope and love to eat them as well. Probably my favorite wild game meat.
As far as size is concerned, I hunted a good unit in Wyoming this year and looked over at least 100 bucks and never saw a great one. Most were between 11 - 13" and pretty much all looked the same. I've read others (serious guides and pronghorn hunters) theories on horn growth and they think horn size is still being effected by the tough winter and drought the previous years even though this was a good wet year. They think next year will be much better depending on this winter. This one just happened to be on public land in a stalk-able position. 
|
|
Quoted: Nice goat. I love to hunt antelope and love to eat them as well. Probably my favorite wild game meat. As far as size is concerned, I hunted a good unit in Wyoming this year and looked over at least 100 bucks and never saw a great one. Most were between 11 - 13" and pretty much all looked the same. I've read others (serious guides and pronghorn hunters) theories on horn growth and they think horn size is still being effected by the tough winter and drought the previous years even though this was a good wet year. They think next year will be much better depending on this winter. This one just happened to be on public land in a stalk-able position. http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j95/crodeo/ChrisLope_zps10c78772.jpg Many units are over hunted as well. It is a cheap tag for out of staters, game and fish knows who butters their bread, and more tags are being sold than can sustain mature bucks. I am friends with our local processor and taxidermist, and he has broken his record for antelope every year for the past 5 years. He is now taking in more than 350 antelope a day for the first couple of days of the season. It is almost a perfect storm of events that is hurting the population of mature antelope bucks. It is the cheapest "Western" hunt, which attracts many people from out of state who have a limited amount of time to tag an animal before they return home (Brown and Down). Ranchers hate "Prairie Maggots" and local business owners (large injection of money during hunting season) pressure WY G&F to offer more tags than is responsible, which G&F is more than happy to oblige because they are making more money on tags. This has severely hurt the chances of any speed goat to reach maturity. Most locals treat an antelope tag as something to do on afternoons when they are bored, they will drive around and glass. Everyone has had a really difficult time finding any antelope, much less shooter bucks. I have seen the evidence of this myself in the amount of immature animals my buddy has caped for shoulder mounts..... We are talking about anything from a 6" yearling with no prongs, to a two year old buck with 8-9" horns making up a majority of his antelope mount customers. This year I had to really hunt for a good mature buck... I mean REALLY hunt hard. Every dirt road was full of non-locals driving and glassing, I saw a total of 23 antelope in my entire hunt area (some private, mostly public) in the first two days I hunted. They just scattered and hunkered down after all of the pressure and shooting. I ended up shooting a heavy 14.5" goat with large prongs, but it fell short of what I was looking for. My point is that weather has little to do with horn growth anymore, and you are going to start to see fewer and fewer trophy quality animals coming out of Wyoming. Anyway, off of my G&F rant. Nice bucks, guys! Hunting speed goats is a blast, huh? |