Rookie Anteloper

[bklimek]

Heading to Wyoming, unit 46, in August. I'll be Antelope hunting for the first time. Looking to the experts that have done this before who are further along the learning curve on what I need to know..ie (equipment must have, how to prepare, hunting strategies, etc). I know its not a top unit but want to educate myself as much as I can so I'm not eating tag soup.

[Archerysniper]

Lots of practice out to 60 yards

Lots of bottled water

A good blind

A very comfortable chair for the blind

Lots of reading material

Good optics

Range finder

Leather gloves and knee pads for stalking (hard to see cactus)

Pop out decoy if they are rutting

Thermo cell with lots of refills

A cooler for the blind that can hold lunch snacks and about a dozen bottles of water freeze half of them, it got to be 114 in our blinds last year

A plan to care for your game right away and get it cooled ASAP

Extra arrows and broad heads,some people in our group were running low after missed shots

[DonBo]

Extra arrows and broad heads,some people in our group were running low after missed shots

I don't know who, which one you talkin' about.

Archerysnipers advice is as good as any you'll hear. Most August hunts are over water and a good comfortable blind and chair is a must. It will be hot, or they won't be using water.

Leather gloves and knee pads are invaluable if you do spot and stalk.

Not much rut action in August, but it will pick up as the month goes on. A decoy would be fun to play with if the rut is on, but don't put all your eggs in that basket in August.

Definitely have a plan to cool down an animal in a hurry. Did I mention it will be hot?

Antelope is my favorite big game critter to hunt. It's just flat out fun. The terrain is awesome, the animals are beautiful and you'll see a ton of them. Opportunities are plentiful. I'm jealous. Enjoy your hunt!

[bklimek]

I'm back on the grid. Appreciate the advice. Any recommendation on knee pads, velcro, etc.?

Do the goats get spooky if a blind pops up in a different location from one day to the next? We'll mainly be hunting public land and won't be keeping our blinds out over night. Any advice on spot and stalk methods? Haven't had a lot of experience in that area.

[Archerysniper]

For spot and stalk, think small and learn to shoot long range efficiently they see everything. I took mine spot and stalk last year,the draw he was following would have but him at 32 yards however he sensed something and started to skirt us and my shot ended up being 52 yards. They can see almost all the way around their head and their eyes are like 8x magnification.

For knee pads I wore my work ones that are velcro straps and canvans with gel over them, you can get them at home dumpo.

Also scent control is not important, they can wind you however they use their eyes way more. I wouldn't hesitate to try a stalk at a antelope directly down wind.

As for the blind,Don knows more. I know when he killed his last year he set the blind that morning and had multiple opportunities that day, even some really close action.

[vman11]

We hunt Wyoming every August. Most of our goats have been shot off of water, but we've all killed bucks spot and stalking.

Bring light/airy gear. You'll be sweating. Bring a black shirt and hat for the blind. I always wear cargo shorts to help stay cool. A cooler of goodies each day is a must. Haven't had to worry much about scent control. We sit 2 to a blind and take turns as the shooter. Time passes faster, allows for taking turns with naps and makes ranging the yardage of the animal a breeze. You give up some room in the blind but in my opinion all of the pro's I listed above outweigh the cons.

We haven't had much worry about new blinds spooking antelope. Most of our blinds are set up the afternoon we arrive, and more often than not we've killed multiple animals out of that same blind the next day.

I'm not sure if you're camping or staying at a hotel, but if you have access to electricity I highly recommend bringing a small chest freezer. I make ice a few weeks prior by filling milk jugs or creating blocks by freezing ice cream pails and stack the freezer full. A small chest freezer packed with ice will make the trip to Wyoming from MN without melting one bit. We also bring 128 quart big game freezers for the field. Before heading out in the morning, we transfer ice into the coolers in prep for a kill. I would also recommend big game bags for your quarters. They keep the meat clean and dry, and cool the quarters quickly. Wash them after the trip and use them next time.

Dressing your antelope as quickly as possible is important. People scoff at the idea of eating "sage brush" antelope, but I think people who've had bad experiences haven't properly handled their meat. 2 guys makes the process fly. Keep the meat free of guts and dust and get it on ice immediately. Do that and your meat will taste as good or better than whitetail.

Put wet wipes, paper towels and a jug/pail of water in the back of your truck. It's dry out there, and this will go a long way in cleaning up after the kill or if you need to rinse off a dirty quarter.

I strongly agree with being capable with your bow. We're dialed in at 60 yards before we leave. Most water hole shots are less than 40 yards but ensuring your comfortable at 60 probably gives you good confidence at 40 or less. We've had awesome luck with rage broad heads, they slice through ribs and shoulders like they're not even bone.