Hello all, I will be out with my 10 year old daughter this Sunday for the antelope General opener chasing speedgoats. Will be hunting in district 450 behind Cascade..........lots of goats there! Luckily, I was drawn for the either sex tag and also purchased two leftover doe/fawn tags......... some good meat for the freezer! Depending on my success pictures will follow......... wish me luck

fish4ever

Good Luck. Stryker

Good luck!! Our troop( eight regulars) will be out too. #480 (roy)(( in the mud)).And Pictures "WILL" follow.

Here is last years

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Good luck!

How does antelope taste, anyways? I've never had antelope before.

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Jim
Big Sky Fishing.Com Administrator

Well as far as I concerned It's the best eating of all the big game. But like any thigh else it's how you take care of it! Most Antelope are shot when it's 80* and 300miles away from any water or ice. If you can cool it and don't "RUN" it to death they are great,(soft meat slightly sweet)very similar to Mutton are Veal.

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Here is where I came There is where I went Home is where I want to be!

I was out in 450 today, my 14 year old son got his first buck at 7:15 and my doe was taken by 8:30. We alway try to get out of there ealy and miss out on all the flying Ammo. Lots of banging going on, it sounded like a shooting range so we headed for home with are tags filled. I love opening day because your success rate is so good Let me know if you filled all three of those tags today?? if you did you are going to have one tired 10 year old.

Well, let me do some catchup here with all of these posts. I am following all of the replies in order and then will tell you about opening day and yesterday Oct 10 also.
First of all Thanks for the good luck streak Stryker I think it helped
"D" I hope your opener was great with lots of luck and thank you for the good luck wishes. I work a couple miles past Roy. It is a great area for antelope!
Jim, Antelope taste great and I would piggy back on what "D" said he is right and thank you too for the good luck wishes
Fishohn, congratulations on your hunt and your son's first buck and your doe, it sounds like you had a great time!
Well I was out in 450 also with my daughter and you are right bullets flying everywhere! I call it the Cascade War out there Sounded like world war 3. Which ranch were you hunting on, we were on the Ogden Ranch.......
The antelope were at full runs during the first hour of the opening day. My daughter and I had a blast. I thought the herds were kind of thin and sparse compared to previous years even though we were seeing some antelope but mostly on the run. I wouldn't take any running shots so didn't have my first opportunity at a fully mature doe until 1 pm at 200 yards broadside. It was a great shot Got her field dressed and headed back deep into the ranch property to get away from all of the road hunters and we did see more antelope but very distant 600 to 1000 yards and running so no opportunity. We hunted all day trying to fill at least one more tag and found a good haystack to sit near at about 5:20 pm and so we sat and planned on staying there until the end of shooting hours when at about 5:45 pm, a herd of 3 antelope does appeared 600 yards and were feeding toward us so I waited and then ranged them at 450 yards, then 395 and they stopped there but did not see us. Then they proceeded to turn and start feeding away from us and I should have already taken the shot but then ranged them at 430 yards. I wanted to fill that other doe tag at least so decided to take the shot and aimed high on the back and put her down and it was a good shot and no meat lost Got her dressed out and loaded up and got out of there at sunset. We were there 14 hours but left with two does. My daughter turns 11 this November and she is a pretty good shot and is hooked for good, she had a blast. She is excited about going through hunter safety this next spring and will be able to hunt next year. Well, on Monday, Oct 10 I returned to see if I could find a nice buck to shoot since I was lucky enough to draw that 450 either sex tag. I saw a decent buck and had a great stalk going on it when 2 other hunters saw it and ran after it actually chasing it over a ridge and out of sight. As I turned my back on that buck and was up high I was glassing below me and spotted a small herd of six antelope about a half mile away bedded in tall grass about 3 feet tall. All I could see was their heads. 2 fawns, 2 does and 2 bucks. I determined my approach and since there were some small rolling hills between us, I was able to sneak low to within 300 yards of the bedded herd. I continually glassed them and they were all faced away from me so I would sneak closer then glass and continue on closer to them. Finally I was 100 yards away but in a low area where I was lower than I would like to be so I continued to move to a slight rise in the ground and I could see them well from there while they were bedded. I ranged them at 66 yards!!!! I was glassing them and could tell that one of the bucks looked decent about twice the length of the ears with good diggers. I waited from 10:45 am until about 11:15 when the smaller buck and his doe stood to feed. At 11:35 the two fawns stood to feed so now four of them were standing and feeding and then at 11:45 the last doe stood and started to feed. Those five antelope had winded me and could not see me sitting on my but in the tall grass but kept looking right in my direction since the wind was blowing in their faces. at 12 pm exactly the bigger of the two bucks stood up to feed and all it took was one good shot behind the shoulder. He dropped so fast I didn't see him fall. The rest of the herd came running straight at me as I glassed them to make sure the one I shot at was not in the running herd of 5. As they ran even closer to me they finally did see me at 30 to 40 yards and stopped and just stood there looking back wondering where their buddy was. If my two doe tags were not filled already I could have filled them right there! After standing there for a few minutes, they finally snorted and took of running away. I collected my gun, binocs and rangefinder and proceeded downrange and found the buck laying there in his tracks Field dressed him, drug him out and loaded him up into my truck. It turned out real good for me, I was fortunate. The buck was 13.5 inches tall with good diggers and 6 inch bases. I am happy about it. I am posting pics. You will not see pics of the second doe I shot since it's appearance was not in good taste.

fish4ever

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Hey Fish4Ever

Sounds like you had an awesome hunt. Thanks for the great post and pictures.



Sneaking within 66 yards of antelope is a pretty darn big feat - especially in open ground like you were hunting in.

Where is the ranch located at where you hunted??

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Jim
Big Sky Fishing.Com Administrator

Good going guys. Nice to see and hear the kids are going out with ya.

Welcome to the site fishohn. What part of the state are you in?

I don't think we can hunt them over here? But if you could I feel it would be like taking candy from a baby. We have heards of them in the foothills and you have to walk up and smack them on the but to get them to run from you.

Good luck on what is next in line to kill. Stryker

Hello Jim, Stryker............we had an awesome hunt and I am thankful for it. Jim, you are welcome and truly it was my pleasure posting it and I am anticipating a good post from "D" also.
Really, timing was just right and in my favor. I was hunting on a typical block management ranch...the Ogden Ranch it is in region 4 under the Smith River block management access about 20 miles behind Cascade (75 miles north of Helena off of I-15) which consists of 12 ranches or so. The hunting was hard with lots of people on opening day which is typical there. It is good to have some people to move the animals around but there were too many and the antelope herds were only about 1/3 of the size this year. Too many tags being issued I am afraid. They had 1000 doe/fawn tags for sale after the draw! All of the land owners want the antelope killed dead since they are losing money on their wheat, alfalfa..............
You are right though 66 yards is quite an accomplishment and I have never been closer to antelope. That buck didn't have a chance. I was lucky since I was able to stalk them from their back side while they were bedded a half mile away. I kept low while I hurriedly approached them and once I got within 200 yards I took short low steps and glassed them every so often to make sure their position didn't change and it didn't. A big plus was that tall grass I was sitting in. They did smell me but couldn't see me. I was so excited waiting for the herd to get up to feed and finally patience paid off.
I ate the backstraps tonight for dinner........barbecued them.........they were great!
Stryker, you probably can hunt them where you live. Antelope tags are draw only unless they have leftovers after the draw or a large surplus of tags like they normally do here for doe fawn tags.
Next in line, general opener gun season for deer elk. I can't wait it opens on Oct 23

Fish4ever