Well, as promised I said I would keep you up-to-date with my recent Oklahoma antelpoe hunt. I posted a question a few weeks ago asking if I should take the 300 WinMag or the 22-250. I opted for the 22-250 with 55 grain soft points and couldn't be more happy with my decision simply because it worked.

Additional info, I found out a few more details to the hunt and the hunting permits in the future. This year there were 50 drawn permits for either sex antelope and 50 doe only permits for the state of Oklahoma. Keep in mind this hunt only occurs in one county in the state of Oklahoma. The either sex hunt was from September 29 - October 2, 2005. I learned while speaking with the wildlife biologist, that they have flown the area this summer and realized they were way too low with their antelope head count estimates. Therefore, it looks like they (Okla Dept. of Wildlife) are going to issue more permits next year and even open up Texas county as well. Any way, this is what I heard and hopefully next year more permits will be issued.

Well, I wasn't drawn for my permit and you might ask yourself how I got a permit. In addition to the 50 buck and 50 doe permits drawn there was an additional 25 buck and 100 doe permits issued to landowners. The mother of a buddy of mine was drawn for one of the additional 25 landowner permits, which was then transfered over to my name.

So we started just before daylight on the morning of September 29. This was the sunrise I was greated with that morning. I knew it was going to be a good day.



Since I didn't make it out to the hunting area until after dark my friend had been around looking at his property scouting for a possible taker. He located 3 nice bucks within a short drive of each other the night before the hunt began. Here is a picture of one of the bucks and his herd that I passed on. It may be hard to see but the buck is on the left side of the picture walking away from us. To be honest with you, I can't believe this buck wasn't shot from the road. We drove by him several times in a 3 day period and there were several times he was within 50 yards of the road.



About 3 miles from where this guy was located there was my buck. He was the third one we had looked at that morning. It was him and 4 does. They were in some CRP grassland that made for an exciting stalk. we drove up to within probably a quater of a mile of them and I got out to make a stalk on them. However, as I was stalking them from one end of the property another hunter was stalking them from the opposite side. I never saw the other hunter and I don't think he saw me either but the antelope knew that we were both there. They left the country running about 2 miles over to another piece of property my buddy owned. We drove down the property line when I once again got out and crawled up to the end of a telephone pole line giving me a small strip of grass for cover. The buck crossed the property line and I was ready for a shot. I ranged the buck at 441 yards got ready and squeezed the trigger. Dirt went flying everywhere. I had shot just below him and once again they were off like rockets. So, I got back in the truck and we went around the section lines again.

This time we thought we knew approximately where they were going to cross so we drove up and I bailed out of the truck and hid next to another telephone pole. They antelope were across the entire section from me which would be a half mile. They started working my direction Walking, grazing, running, and even sometimes to stop and look around. It seemed like it took forever for them to close the distance. Then the buck decided it was time to get frisky and chase one of the does. Here they came. A doe, the buck followed by the other 3 does.

Finally, the buck got into a small shorting lane I was looking through because of the grass around the telephone pole and the tall grass in the CRP. I aimed at the point of his shoulder and pulled the trigger. This time before the gun had recoiled and I lost sight of the buck I saw his back feet already buckling underneath him. My buddies had been watching the whole thing play out from about a half mile away and came driving up. Sure enough we drove up and found him right were he was standing stone dead. I had hit him right at the point of the shoulder and junction of the neck. I walked back to where I was shooting from and ranged the buck at 307 yards.







His horns measured 13" 1/8 on the right and 12" 2/8 on the left (broken tip). But more importantly than the length was the character this old man had. He was an old warrior. The biologist estimated his age at between 12-13 years old. Other then his front teeth he only had nubs for molers. He had one tip broken off and had some scares on the back of his neck where he had been fighting.

Here is the broken tip.



This is a close up of the scares on the back of his neck.



The taxidermist wanted to come in and cover the scares on his neck with some hide from his side. I didn't want this done and gave strick instructions to keep the scares as they were and to just darken them in a bit when finishing the mount. I really love this guy's character and wouldn't change a damn thing about him. When I was checking in the antelope at the check station we saw several other nice antelopes but none with any kind of character. Besides he was the biggest bodied buck checked in and the second largest in weight according to the game warden weighing only 2 lbs less.

What we think has happened is the buck in the first photo is the one who came in and whipped the old man's butt. With them being so close together and with the younger buck with all of the does.

Well, that is my 2005 Oklahoma Antelope hunt. I looked at the time the photos were taken. The sunrise picture was taken at 6:15 and the antelope pictures were taken at 8:45. Sure didn't take too long! So, it was off to shot prairie dogs. Man we found the stupidest prairie dog town in the entire west but that is another story.

Here is another picture of a pretty decent buck.

graybird,

due to circumstances beyond my control I am not going to get to hunt this year. I am reading others stories and looking at old pictures this year. Thanks for shareing. that is a really nice goat.

Is it just me or are these pictures a little fuzzy?

Very nice and very inspiring!

Great story and thanks for the pics as well, they look fine to me. 5 more days and hopefully I'll have the same luck.

Congrats!! That is a REALLY hard hunt to draw.

Bob

quote:

Originally posted by Bob in TX:
Congrats!! That is a REALLY hard hunt to draw.

Bob

Yeah, no joke!! The biologists said for every 1 buck permit they issue there are approximately 10,000 to 15,000 applicants.

Plus, it is supposed to be a once in a lifetime hunt once you draw. However, in some of the paperwork I have read says once you're drawn you can't put your name back in the hat for another 10 years. I really don't know which is true, but since I haven't been drawn in the 5-10 years I've been putting in for it, I'll worry about that problem later, if I'm ever drawn.

Regards,

graybird
Congratulations. That is a nice antelope and a great shot.
All the antelope I have eaten have been very good.

I am like you, I ould not want any taxidermy touch ups. I want them just the way I shot them, broken points, scars and all. Well done.

Thanks for sharing, that sunrise pic is just awesome!
Glad you had a good hunt and glad that you're not altering the trophy by way of the taxidermist.

I've been around quite a few very defunct deer and lopes by way of 22/250. It is quite effective IMO.

Mark D

Graybird... did you get a chance to see what the 55grainer did? What was the manufacture? Recovered it?

quote:

Originally posted by smallfry:
Graybird... did you get a chance to see what the 55grainer did? What was the manufacture? Recovered it?

I did not recover the bullet because I didn't want to mess around looking for a bullet and have the hair slip.

I don't know where the bullet ended but I know it didn't exit as expected. From a general guestimation, I think the bullet hit the spine in the neckline/shoulder area. If you look in the picture where the antelope is laying on his right side you can clearly see the entrance area of the bullet by the blood.

For ammo, I used a factory load from Sellier & Bellot. I realize this company may not make the best ammo in the business but it was my only choice at the time. In retrospec, I should have used a better bullet but it worked this time and in my opinion that is all that matters now.

Thanks to you all for your kind words and good luck to you this season.

I love the scars & the broomed tips! Great story and photos. Thanks for sharing. Nate

graybird

Nice goat! How much did he weigh?? I was at the check station Thursday night and the largest buck they had checked was slightly over 14".....heaviest weighed 91 pounds.

You are either mixed up about the permits or somebody gave you bad info! There were 50 buck and 50 doe "special hunt permits" issued.....the buck tags are NOT either sex.....my dad drew a buck tag and it stated buck only! The buck hunt was 9/29-10/2......the doe hunt will be in December. From talking to the wildlife guys, there were only 25 landowner permits issued.....if they were like the landowner permits issued 2 years ago, they were either sex permits......I did hear that they are thinking about opening Texas county next year.

The antelope hunt is a once in a lifetime drawing, however, the once in a lifetime restriction went into effect in 2002.....anybody that had drawn a permit before then has to wait 10 years before applying again. I drew the elk hunt in 2001 and that was the last year before "once in a lifetime" became effective for elk and antelope.

Dad got his buck about 6:30 Thursday evening.......we were in antelope all day. We saw two larger bucks than the one he took, but couldn't get close enough to either of them.....he ended up taking the dominate buck of the area after a perfect stalk......his buck had 13 does at the time of the shot and he was really beat up from fighting! The buck weighed 84 pounds dressed.

GonHuntin,

Yes, I think you are correct. The drawn hunts are for buck or doe only. However, the landowner permits, such as the one I had, were either sex for the early season and for doe only for the Dec - Jan hunt.

I must have misread the part about reapplying. I would say you are right and I just misread the information. What you have stated sounds more like the truth.

My buck weighed 86 lbs dressed. At the time I checked mine in, the biggest was 88lbs and the longest horns were around 14 1/2".

A friend's son tried to get in touch with me sometime Thursday right after school was let out because he spotted a buck 15-16" right on the Texas/Cimarron county border on the property of the landowner who I was hunting on. We went up there Friday while headed to Elkhart but we couldn't find him. I'm sure he was probabaly around there some where.

Congrats to your father. Are you going to share some pics?

Take care,

Graybird
My dad is 67, has heart disease and has had 2 heart bypass surgeries.....the last one only 7 months ago...he has lots of other health problems too......the only way he could make the hunt was if I went along and did the leg work. That was fine with me since I love spot and stalk hunting and I got to do everything but pull the trigger!

We saw our first antelope at 8:30 Thursday morning, they were about 2 miles away and bedded on the side of a ridge facing north......the wind was from the south but the only way to get close was by going around and trying to come over the ridge behind them.......as you probably know, there are very few landmarks in that country......nothing looks the same when you try to come around behind a ridge.......we tried the first time and couldn't find them, so we got on the 4 wheelers and went back to the place we originally spotted them from......yep, they were still there.....so.....back around and try again......I missed my guess and we topped the ridge a few hundred yards east of the bedded goats.......everything would have worked out, we had time and cover to move in, but another buck decided to show up at the bottom of the ridge and the bedded buck we were after went to meet him.......so, we watched the two bucks at 600-700 yards for 15-20 minutes hoping that the one we wanted would move back up the ridge to his does.......no such luck, the does went down the hill instead.......there was no way to get to them from the side of the ridge we were on without being seen, so we circled back around to try to get in front of them and ran into them on the way......we jumped off, sat down in front of the 4 wheelers and watched the 2 bucks put on a show......the little buck would approach the does and the big buck would run him off......this went on for 2 hours and we stayed there hoping that the little buck would lead the big buck into range......never happened.....dad could have killed the small buck easily but he wasn't what we wanted......we finally decided we couldn't get closer without spooking them, so we decided to move off to another part of the ranch knowing that we could find these goats later........

We were back into goats within 30 minutes, but still couldn't get close enough to anything he wanted to shoot.......by this time it was around 5:00 and dad was wearing out........I told him to stay with the 4-wheelers and let me do some sneaking and peaking.....I was starting to worry because I didn't think he could take another day of this type of hunting......about 5:30, I found a satellite buck up on a ridge about a mile off and figured there must be more goats at the bottom.......I started the 1/2 mile walk back to the 4-wheelers and dad met me.....I explained the situation and we moved in a bit closer...... I stayed low and made it to where I could see down into the draw below the satellite buck......sure enough, there was a buck and 13 does feeding in the bottom .......I backed out and signaled dad to stay low and come to me.....I explained the situation and told him this would probably be our last chance for the day......we glassed the group and decided to get closer.......we crawled on hands and knees for the last 75 yards or so and laid down behind some yucca......the antelope were still over 500 yards away and I was hoping they would feed close enough for a shot.......the plan worked perfectly, we were able to use the yucca for cover and actually sat up to glass.......I bent one yucca over at the top for a rest, dad scooted in behind it with me right beside him........he decided to take the buck and, when it looked like they were as close as they would get without winding us, he got ready to shoot...... the laser said the buck was 200 yards and dad made the shot.......the buck never took another step........I doubt that either of us will ever forget that stalk!!

The bucks horns were just average size for out there, but the memories are number one in our B&C list!!

Graybird: You are the man! Wow great Antelope and great pictures!
I am so happy for you!
Some bad news up my way for Lope Hunting! Yesterday (October 4th) a fall blizzard swept through my Antelope area and dumped 12" to 14" of snow on my ranch! Opening day is October 9th!
Yikes!
Nothing tougher than trying to scout and spot Antelope than doing it in snow!
Its supposed to get to 64 degrees by Friday and that will melt the snow but turn it to Gumbo - sheesh!
Enough about me I am just thrilled you got such a nice Antelope and had such a great Hunt!
You really did well!
Be sure and score your trophy the best you or someone familiar with B&C measuring can - as our informal contest is going strong!
Now to the injuries on the neck of your Antelope - they could very well be scars but we took in three Antelope last year to a major Taxidermy shop there in Miles City, Montana. We were having them mounted. One of the Bucks had the same exact looking "scar" as yours does - but much more extensive. My friend did have to buy another cape for his horns! The taxidermist relayed that indeed the Bucks do get scars from fighting but what our Antelope had on his neck was "mange"! My taxidermist learned of this after coming down with the mange himself many years ago! It is easily cured by (or on) human skin but the poor animals can't get the meds! My taxidermist has caught the mange 3 times now! The animals eventually loose more and more hair and freeze to death! This is especially common in Coyotes and Fox here in Montana.
I have seen the same exact dark, dried skin and lack of hair on the backs of Antelope near the spine as well as on their flanks. In the past I attributed this to their scooting under and through fences and thus the resulting injury!
But like I say, I do not know exactly myself what your Antelope has. That small an area will indeed add character to your trophy and I hope it looks as good on your wall as it does in your pictures!
If you get an itchy spot on your body be sure to mention "mange" as a possibility to your Doctor.
Again good shot with a good caliber on a great Trophy!
Many happy returns!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

GonHuntin: That smile on your fathers face sure made my day! I hope you two can have many more Hunts together in the future.
I only got to Hunt a few times with my father as he suffered from land mine induced foot injuries he endured at Normandy in WW II.
He never took another painless step the rest of his life after that incident. 60 years of pain is a lot of pain and missing out on things - he had loved to Hunt while he was growing up! My father absolutely relished my Hunting tales and the pictures I took of my Hunts! He did live to be 82 years of age and passed on last September!
Enjoy every minute you can with your dad!
And again many happy returns of this Hunt for you two!
Great photo by the way!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Graybeard, you've made me re-think my opinion on the 22-250 selection (I was a fan of the 300 Weatherby).

Your buck has character! He earned them scars and broken tip. It was part of his life so let him display them for ever in your taxidermy selection. He was a scrapper and obviously didn't take a backwards step when it came to where he got to sprinkle his DNA amongst the ladies. And you got to harvest him late in life...a true trophy. Him and you are now bonded

Hate to say I told you so, but antelope are easy to kill, I just can't see clobbering one with a .300. I always said I'd take my .220 Swift, but it isn't legal in Wyoming for antelope. I've killed enough big Mo. whitetails with the Swift to know it will work on them, that said I only use it to shoot does to eat or for my kids when they were really young. No doubt you had a good deal of faith in your shooting with the varmint caliber, all in all a nice old goat with character.

GonHuntin, nice story and great pic of the Pronghorn with your Dad. Stories and photo's like that sure make me wish my Dad hunted, that would be special.

I'm glad for you and your Dad, I hope ya'll have many more hunts together!

Best Regards--Don

As someone said before me ... that smile says it all. Sounds like an excellent hunt and memories that will last undoubtly for a lifetime.

Isn't it funny how many antelope are out there? On the landowner I was hunting on there were 4 people, including myself, with permission to hunt the properties. We all tagged out by noon on Friday. Guess it bodes well for proper game management and sounds like the game department is also aware that the numbers are now starting to sky rocket.

I'll be heading back out there in the first weekend of Dec. for pheasant and quail hunting. Then again sometime around Christmas because one of my hunting buddies has a doe landowner permit. I'll pass along any info on the buck season.

VarmintGuy - I'll keep in mind the manage on the goat. I've seen manage a couple of times on coyotes and also on a dog we had a few years ago. Although the manage and the scars on the goat look similar, I'm not sure it was manage. I'll keep a heads up on it though, thanks. I'll also see about measuring the goat although I'm sure he won't measure up the animals you have up north. Sorry about your luck on the snow. Maybe this weekend will work out better for ya.

On another note, while I was at the hunter check station the guy behind me brought in a 'lope with a hole in it's side I could easily placed my hand inside. He shot the goat with a 30-06 at around 250 yards with a 140 grain ballistic tip. I'm not kidding when I say the hole was probably 6-8 inches in diameter. I would think that anything over a 25-06 or 270 for antelope might be a bit of overkill.

Thanks to all about the nice comments and congrats again to your father GonHuntin.

Loper Hunters: I Hunted Antelope for several years in a couple of states and I went from a small caliber advocate (yes Antelope are not difficult to kill with good shot placement!) to a 300 Winchester Magnum user!
The reason?
Wind!
Yes until you have spent several days out on the prairies with 30 to 40 M.P.H. winds CONSTANTLY blowing and the frustration of trying to guess windage in these howling conditions you can't begin to appreciate a big Magnum for this duty enough!
I hate the big Magnums but I used this 300 Winchester Magnum for a couple years worth of Anteloping.
Then it came to me one night in a Hunting dream!
Why not use the moderate calibers again and just stalk the Antelope until you can approach the Antelope with the wind at your back! That way you won't have to hold into the wind 3 or 4 feet at 300+ yards! Yes on rare occassion the Antelope do "wind" (smell) you but until you are seen moving or positively identified they usually will not bolt.
This tactic works for those howling wind times!
And howling wind times are not all that rare during Antelope season in Montana and Wyoming!

Graybird: I once was assisting one of my Hunting partners who's main Antelope Rifle (Sako) had gone on the fritz and he was forced to use his Elk Rifle for Anteloping!
The problem was his Elk Rifle was a custom 30" barrelled Ruger #1 in caliber 338/378 Weatherby!
He killed the Antelope all right - but it took about 12 to 14 seconds for it to lie down and die! Decorum prevents me from describing the horrific exit wound this Antelope had! It was about twice what you describe on the Antelope you saw!
I have seen 223's kill Antelope instantly (DRT) on several occassions!
This 338/378 Weatherby was not a good Antelope Rifle!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

quote:

Yes on rare occassion the Antelope do "wind" (smell) you but until you are seen moving or positively identified they usually will not bolt.

In my case, I was shooting towards the north and the wind was out of the south blowing probably around 10-15 mph. The 'lopes were in direct line with me and the wind. Since I had gotten in front of them and they were more interested in my buddies sitting in the pick-up about a half mile away they never checked up and probably would have gotten even closer. However, I had a good rest, was comfortable with the shot and my shooting ability with this little rifle, didn't want them to get too close since they were coming straight at me and might possibly see me, and decided to take the shot.

Although smell might be one of their detection mechanisms, from what I have read and others have said, I would venture to guess SIGHT is their best defense method.

Reading your post again, your statement sounds exactly like what my PH in South Africa said last summer. African animals are not like a whitetail or elk. They have 3 senses: sight, smell, and hearing. If they only are able to see you, hear you, or smell you they won't jet. However, you add one of the other sense and they will disappear like a ghost. Where with a whitetail or elk they only need one radar to go off before they shag it to the next county.

Just wanted to post a few pictures of my completed antelope trophy from this last fall. As seen from the picture, I had the mount done as a wall pedestal. I wanted a little something different just because that is the kind of guy I am. I hope you enjoy the pictures.



Here is the general location of the the antelope to some of my Africa species. The African animals are just above the couch in my living room.

Graybird

Glad to see you got your antelope mount! I have a whitetail done on a wall pedestal that is about like your antelope.

Reading this thread again is bittersweet.....but I'm glad you brought it to the top.

I took my father to western Oklahoma for opening day of turkey season in April. We made the drive the day before and were all set to hunt the next morning but he passed away the evening before the season opened. I will always be grateful that I got to take him on the antelope hunt and I will always treasure the memories of the many hunts we shared. He never got to see the mount of his antelope, it wasn't finished until the week after he died. It is hanging on my wall and I'm looking at it as I type this.......each time I look at it I am reminded of the excitement of the stalk, the anticipation of the shot, the smile on his face and all the fun that we had......those memories are priceless!

Life is short.....make the most of the time you have!

GonHuntin,

I certainly send my deepest sympathies to you and your family. But you will always remember the times you had instead of sitting back kicking yourself saying I/we should have done this or that. Now that I live so far away from home, I really appreciate and enjoy the rides around the farm, opening up the gates, and feeding cattle with my dad. I guess as you get older you soon tend to appreciate the 'smaller' things in life.

Sincerely,

Graybird:

I enjoyed getting to follow this thread thru.. thanks for posting the mounted head...

Gonhuntin'

Also sorry to hear about your father... my family's prayers are with you and your family...

I have to admit... when I pass away, if it is the night before opening day of a hunting season and I am being taken by my son... I want my son to know, that I felt God was smiling on me... If I had to go, I would want it to be out hunting or getting ready to go hunting.. and being with my son... I know post mortem would be tough on him, but I hope it would be easier for him to know, if I had to go, I would much rather it be like that, than coughing and being racked in pain in some hospital bed....

you made your dad's final day a good one! I am sure he thanks you for that... he is probably waiting in heaven dreaming of the day when you and he can go hunting together once again, and never having to worry about parting company...

it is obvious : You are a son a dad was very proud of...

seafire

Graybird: Seafire/B17G said it all for me as well.
The VarmintFamily all send there condolences and sympathies also.
My father passed away a couple Septembers ago and I had occassion to be out on the coast a couple weeks ago. I visited his resting place. He has a wonderful view of Mt. Rainier from his plot in the Tahoma National Cemetery near Maple Valley, Washington.
Enjoy the memories of your father each day as we near Fathers Day!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
Dale Gibbons