Antelope rifle

[gonpce]

I am planning an antelope hunt next fall and wanted to buy a new rifle. All shots should be within 150 yards. Am considering a pedersoli or great plains both with a fast twist and paper patched bullets. I would appreciate any suggestions from guys with experience with these guns or at that distance. The muzzleloader I have now is a 100 yard gun at best.

 

[Spikebuck]

Get in touch with Idaho Ron on the bullets and his Hot Rod Hawken.

See Herb's post in the Hunting Stories forum on hunting antelope with his Hawken.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Which Pedersoli?
Their whitworth springs to mind.

B.

 

[gonpce]

The pedersoli is their hawken hunter with 1/24 twist and factory peep. I'm hoping to shoot a paper patched bullet accurately out to 200 yards

 

[Sean Gadhar]

If you work at it a bit, sub 150 yard stalks can be done. Even sub 100. I found I just had to except a 75-80% fail rate.

 

[azmntman]

Never hunted goats (cant get drawn here). But if I did I would sit water or use the OIT of sitting still as a rock in a field with a bit of cover and every 15 min waving my hat in a circle. They say the goats cant stand not knowing what the heck is going on and wander into 30-30 range (which should be close enough for a muzzleloader?

 

[Wes/Tex]

Flagging works best from late September to mid October. Just tie a handkerchief to the muzzle and wave back and forth till ole George notices...then just up and down occasionally to keep his attention as he closes in. Appears to appeal to their curiosity, territoriality and herd dominance...or that's the current consensus at present. yes, it's a play on 'Curious George'! :wink:

 

[wtilenw]

If you work at it a bit, sub 150 yard stalks can be done. Even sub 100. I found I just had to except a 75-80% fail rate.

I completely agree about the stalking being possible, and really the challenge of muzzleloader hunting an antelope is in the stalk to under 100 yards. Some areas have more terrain to take advantage of and that helps so much it's insane. Sitting in wait at fence crossings and waterholes is also very effective in producing opportunity.

 

[Idaho Ron]

I am planning an antelope hunt next fall and wanted to buy a new rifle. All shots should be within 150 yards. Am considering a pedersoli or great plains both with a fast twist and paper patched bullets. I would appreciate any suggestions from guys with experience with these guns or at that distance. The muzzleloader I have now is a 100 yard gun at best.

I am all for plan for the worst and hope for the best. I am shooting paper patched bullets in all my rifles and they are sighted in out to 250 for my 50's and 300 for my 45. That said I have not shot the first shot at a Antelope over 100 yards. I use two methods. One is hunting water holes. That works well if you can do it. The other is not as well know. Hunting scrapes with a decoy.
My son shot his first antelope with a fast twist Renegade and a paper patched Lee 500 S&W bullet.
We set up a blind on a area that was loaded with scrapes.

We set the decoy on the scrape and let it do it's magic.

He has a 100 yard shot and i saw the bullet skip across the ground for a couple hundred yards.

My last Antelope I used a water hole. The buck came in and I had an 90 yard shot. But I didn't have a side shot on him. He came straight in and all I had was straight on drinking.
I shot and the bullet hit the top of his shoulder blade and turned and went down the back and exited. The buck went down hard and I reloaded. It got up and wobbled off. I reloaded and set the sight for 150 yards. I watched the buck with the range finder and when he hit 150 yards I called with a cow elk call. He turned and looked back. That bullet put him down.

Where I am going withg this is I planned for the worst and hopped for the best.

A Lyman Great Plains Hunter 50 with the 1-32 twist will shoot a paper patched 460 grain Lee 500 S&W bullet well. I have heard form people that have used them and they said they shoot great. Using the Lyman peep sights and globe sights with Lee Shavers inserts those rifles should be good to go out to 200 yards easy.
Another one that I think would be awesome is the Pedersoldi Missouri River Hawken 50. That one has a fast twist. A friend of mine has one. I haven't shot the paper patched in it yet maybe some day.

The whitworth or gibbs would be an awesome antelope rifle. in a 45 I would use the RCBS 11mm rifle bullet paper patched and an over powder wad. I would use 80 grains of Pyrodex P make sure that the 80 grains volume weighs 64.5 on a scale.

Getting close can be done and I have done it many times my self. But I do plan for if something goes wrong I can reach out if I have to.

 

[gonpce]

I really appreciate all the advice. I certainly would like a shot at 100 yards or less but want to be prepared for a longer shot if necessary. Might be my only trip out west,

 

[Idaho Ron]

I fully understand. Let me know if you need any more help.
Will you be using a guide? DIY?

 

[Griz44Mag]

Never hunted goats (cant get drawn here).

Goats????

" from wiki -->
"Antelopes comprise a wastebasket taxon (miscellaneous group) within the family Bovidae, encompassing those Old World species that are not cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison, or goats; even so, antelope are generally more deer-like than other bovids. A group of antelope is called a herd."

I hunted antelope in Texas and New Mexico with PawPaw since I was a wee tot (late 50's) until he passed on in '86. We rarely ever got that close to them. They are wary and take a lot of walking and stalking. The hunt was always with a saddle ring 30-30 iron sight. This must be a managed land or canned hunt area to be able to get that close. Keep us posted on the hunt, sure stirs up a lot of great memories for me. I never thought they were very good eating, but a week with my grandfather was pure gold.
Griz

 

[Griz44Mag]

Here's another funny fact. My son who is here for Christmas informed me that the American antelope is not an antelope or a goat! Here's another quote from an on-line source (Britanica)

"The pronghorn is a unique North American mammal. Its Latin name, Antilocapra americana, means "American goat-antelope," but it is not a member of the goat or the antelope family and it is not related to the antelopes found in Africa. ... The pronghorn has horns, not antlers."
Found this to be quite funny that most of us have called them antelope our whole lives.

 

[jrmflintlock]

They are very unique critters in that they shed their horns! Not annually like deer shed their antlers but every few seasons. People don't find very many because rodents and coyotes eat them like candy. Being softer than antlers they chomp through them right quick. They also don't shed them at the same time like deer so going out to look for them is futile. I have found 2 in my 20+ years a a biologist in New Mexico. One I still have on my desk and the other was pretty badly deteriorated it eventually crumbled. As they deteriorate, you can really see that they are made up of a strange material. Very similarly to compressed hardened hair. Very cool critters!!!

Getting within 100 yards in the wild is not an impossible feat. Doing so does not mean a canned or private land only proposition. I have never been luck enough to draw a tag in NM or anywhere else for that matter, but I have counted coup on many over the years!!

I agree, better to plan for the worst and hope for the best!

Keep us posted on your decision and progress in load developments!!

 

[Griz44Mag]

I have found 2 in my 20+ years a a biologist in New Mexico.

Just a tad off topic, sorry, but what part of New Mexico? I have family in the Roswell to Seven Rivers area, and a brother near Carlsbad.

 

[jrmflintlock]

I know that country some but I was up in Taos and spent a lot of time over by Raton and southern CO.

 

[BrownBear]

We see them regularly down in the bootheel. Lotta private land down there though.

 

[gonpce]

The hunt will be diy but I'm going with a cousin from mo that has been to that unit in Wyoming before

 

[azmntman]

WY :shocked2: Heck when I told my sister in WY and I couldnt get a tag she suggest I come up and hunt there. Where would I hunt I asked" "well most the guys from our church go behind wal-mart"

You should be just fine :grin:

 

[Alaskan Woodsman]

I would love to hunt antelope in WY. Please keep us posted. Using a side lock MLBPR would be the best. Any cool weather hunting available in WY for them? Seems kind of dumb to shoot game when its 80F