Hi All-

I just got back from spending three days chasing goats in SE Montana. The weather was perfect and three of us filled nine tags in the three days. I took my 72 year old father and friend Mike with me, neither of which had ever seen an antelope before. It took them a while to get used judging distance, but after a couple of misses they got the hang of it.

I really wanted to make sure my father got a good buck, which he finally did. He took this one with one shot at 277 yards. It measured 13.25 and 12.75




I bought him a Browning A-Bolt in 7mm WSM for this trip, as I just couldn't bear the thought of him out on the plains with his "Minnesota Manure Spreader" Remington 742 30/06. I loaded 140 gr. Nosler Accubonds at 3100 fps for him for this trip. They worked, but I really wasn't too thrilled with the results. The photo below is of the ENTRANCE wound a small doe he shot at about 200 yards. The animal was quartering towards him and the bullet hit a rib. As far as I can tell, the bullet exploded on impact, ripping the gaping hole you see in the picture.



There was almost no penetration. The animal dropped instantly, but I still think this is less than optimal. The scond doe he took was at about 100 yards. The bullet hit a rib on impact, tore apart the heart and lungs, but failed to exit. I guess I expect a 140 gr 7mm bullet to exit on a 90 pound animal. I think the rest of those rounds will be relegated to practice.

I took my buck on the second day.




I took him broadside with a 130gr TSX at 389 yards. The rifle is a 6.5mm WSM. It was built by territorial gunsmiths on Minneapolis, on a MRC 1999 action with a Lilja barrel. The stock was make by Lone Wolf. Using RL25, I'm able to get 3300 fps with the 130 gr TSX. I built this rifle specifically for antelope and couldn't be happier. I ended up taking three animals with this rifle/bullet at distances from 100 yards all the way out to 389 and it performed flawlessly. There were no issues with bullets penciling through and meat damage was minimal.

My friend Mike took his buck on day three.



Mike was shooting a Browning A-Bolt in 30/06. For this trip I loaded him some 180 gr Ballistic Tips. I didn't chrony these loads, but I would assume they were somewhere around 2750 fps. He took this animal at 85 yards and a couple of does at 200-250 yards. Surpisingly, the bullets performed flawlessly. My only grip would be that they tended to wreck quite a bit of meat. I'm really surprised that they held together better than the Accubonds.

Pete

Pete, nice buck, great shot, and thanks for the bullet report. I love the TSX bullet and from your account so do you!

Chuck

Looks like you all had some great shooting at a real variety of ranges. Thanks for the detailed report.
Frank

Congratulations. Very nice pictures. That AB performance is a bit disturbing. Just curious, if the Doe was quartering to him, why didn't he place the bullet in front of the onside shoulder?

I wouldn't be too surprised at those 180 Btips and their performance. I've never had a problem with them. It is a good bullet and at 30.06 velocities, will pretty much dump any deer sized game or smaller.

Did you guys use a guide/outfitter? Self hunt? How did you arrange it if it is a self hunt?

Glad to hear the TSX met your expectations.

Doc-

It wasn't quartering towards him at that much of an angle, maybe 30 degrees. He did hold a hit a bit to far back though.

This was a self hunt. I've been hunting the same ranch for the last four years. I had worked out a lease arrangement with them, but this year they wouldn't take my money! They said that they won't charge their "friends" to hunt, so I guess I've been doing the right things.

After we filled our tags we went to one of the local bars for a couple of beers. After buying a couple of rounds for the house, I ended up with two more properties to hunt. Most of the ranchers in SE Montana are happy to have hunters come and thin out the antelope as they do quite a bit of crop damage. So long as you remember to always close gates and never shoot in the direction of their stock, you'll typically get invited back.

Pete

Pete, love that photo of you and your dad... that's something to cherish!

Congrat's all around.

Talentrec: Congratulations to all on your wonderfully successful Hunt!
And thank you so much for posting your pictures and relaying the particulars on your Hunt!
I have Hunted SE Montana for Deer and Antelope since the late 1960's and LOVE that area!
This year though myself and three partners Hunted central Montana for Antelope and we went four for four tag wise!
Alas our weather and road conditions were so deplorable and dangerous we did not get to Hunt Coyotes at night or Turkeys at all, after our Antelope harvests!
It looks like you had great weather and solid ground to walk on!
I had a ranch I Hunted Antelope on "for free" for 20+ years! About 7 years ago a retired baseball player was Hunting on it "for free" (to keep the Antelope numbers in check!). After his Hunt the player went to my rancher friend and asked to "lease" the Hunting privileges of the ranch. My rancher friend retorted "you don't need to pay - you can Hunt here for free"! With that the player wrote a check for $15,000.00 to "lease" the exclusive Hunting rights to that ranch FOR THE NEXT YEAR! The deal was the ball player, his brother and their two sons would be the only ones allowed to Hunt Deer and Antelope on that ranch for $15,000.00 per year!
My dear friend the rancher could not refuse that type money so he said yes I will agree to that but I have a "friend" who comes all the way from Seattle to Hunt Antelope here each year and I want him to be able to Hunt here also.
Agreed to, that was.
So I and the other 4 folks Hunted that amazing place (57 sections) for several years. That ranch had hosted probably 25+ Antelope Hunters and 50+ Deer Hunters each year up til then!
Alas a couple years ago another guy came down the road and offered my friend the rancher $8,000,000.00 for the ranch and my friend could not turn down that kind of money and the place sold.
I have not Hunted it since! So cherish your ranch privilege and your friends for a long time (I hope) to come!
Long live Minnesota!
Long live Montana!
Thanks again for the great recap and pictures.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

VarmintGuy-
I'm glad we hunted the week we did. They had 14 inches of snow the week before. Luckily, things had dried out some. There was still "gumbo" in low spots, but it was dry for the most part. The weather was actually a little on the warm side, but I guess that's better than snow. I've hunted out there for the past five years, and for the first time the wind was never more than about 10 mph. It sure made the shooting easier!

We didn't see any coyotes this year, but there were a lot of turkeys running around. I left the dog (and shotgun) at home because we were short on room in the truck, but I wish I wouldn't have because there were a lot of sharptails around.

Now if I could just draw an antelope tag and deer tag in the same year...

Pete