Surefire, any time you want to start a thread about your spaniels, I will be very happy to read it. I've had Brittanies, and may try a French Brittany for my next dog, but who doesn't love a springer?

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Surefire, any time you want to start a thread about your spaniels, I will be very happy to read it. I've had Brittanies, and may try a French Brittany for my next dog, but who doesn't love a springer?

Hi Bill; I guess this topic/thread is not the place to discuss Springers. Where do AR members go to talk about dogs?

We are on our 7th Springer, and sadly, our breeder in Ft. Collins quit the business and moved away in Jan. I think he'll help us buy our next one though. Currently, we have three, and have had four at one time.

Love our ESSs!

quote:

Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
To me, ANY day hunting speed goats, bucks or does is a GREAT DAY!!!!!

Crazyhorse; We think alike I guess. I truly love hunting them. I like the stalk. I like using my small bores. I like the meat. I like the country in which they're hunted. I like the short sleeve weather time of year. I like the number of tags/opportunities to hunt that Antelope provide. It's just a winner all the way around.

We've bird-walked this topic, literally, so I suppose we should talk 'small bores' once in a while! What is your favorite Pronghorn caliber? Many work of course; it's a small animal. My number one is 25-06. I love to hunt them with my 280 Rem. too. Both work extremely well, and the ammo I use is 115gr. (25-06) and 140gr. (280 Rem.), both Win. Ballistic Silvertips @ over 3,000 fps, seem ideal to me for these little game animals. It's all I've ever used in fact. 90% of the time, they simply drop in their tracks. The other 10% of the time, they will run maybe 50 yards tops and pile up. I won't use those bullets on bigger animals, but I love them on Pronghorns (and Deer). The shots can be long, over 300 yards, but I've shot them at short distance as well. The two loads I mentioned help when the range is between 300-400 yards, and work fine when they're close also.

And you're right; bucks or does are GREAT to hunt!

Surefire, the Dogs forum is at the bottom of the Hunting section. Feel free to start a Springer thread!

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Surefire, the Dogs forum is at the bottom of the Hunting section. Feel free to start a Springer thread!

Found it! Thanks Bill.

OK, I'll start one!

I shot an Antelope this past September. It was 90 degrees when I dropped him and I had to rush to get it on ice.

While looking for recipes online I stumbled across this website that has several different recipes for wild game. So far i've tried several of the recipes and in fact we are just about out of Antelope.

http://www.nevadafoodies.com/p...rn-antelope-recipes/

quote:

Originally posted by Palladin8:
I shot an Antelope this past September. It was 90 degrees when I dropped him and I had to rush to get it on ice.

While looking for recipes online I stumbled across this website that has several different recipes for wild game. So far i've tried several of the recipes and in fact we are just about out of Antelope.

http://www.nevadafoodies.com/p...rn-antelope-recipes/

Wow. That's a lot of Pronghorn recipes! Thanks Palladin8.

Regarding the antelope, I have hunted them in
Wyoming, Montana, and New Mexico over the last 40 years. Great fun! I used one of two rifles in each case: .244 with 85 gr bullet and .257 Imp with 100 gr bullet. The bullet make is a matter of indifference since the antelope is such a fragile animal.

I noticed no difference to the animal in the use of either rifle, they dropped at the shot.

Truth is I have never used what could be considered a "Small Bore" on a pronghorn.

The smallest I have used was a .7mm Rem. Mag.

I know the bigger bores aren't necessary, and my wife uses a .257 Robert's with great success.

I have just never been a fan of small bore rifles but I am a fan of pronghorn hunting,

I love to stalk antelope. I have shot them here in Colorado, in Montana, in Wyoming, and in California. I have used a bow, a .280 Remington, a 7x64, and a .25-06. I have a late season antelope doe tag for Eastern Colorado and am seriously considering using my .62 caliber flintlock Virginia rifle. My favorite antelope calibers are the various .25s, especially the Roberts, and the 6.5s. I have a 1903 Springfield action sitting here that will likely end up a 6.5-06 for that purpose. As to the taste, I have never had a bad one of my own, though a couple of the sage-eaters had a strongish odor when cooking.

quote:

Originally posted by loud-n-boomer:
I love to stalk antelope.... My favorite antelope calibers are the various .25s....

Me too!

So, today, I wrapped up the Antelope season. We had six tags and #6 fell this morning. We got to hunt in Sept., Oct., Nov., and today, Dec.

I very much like the stalk. I put in a 2 hour sneak to get close enough. It was great. Stalks are usually not that long, but that's hunting. Took my final doe tag out of a herd of around 50.

Rifle? My Ruger Express in 25-06, Winchester 115gr. Ballistic Silvertip. It was my longest shot to date on an animal, at 360 yards. Double lung, ran 20 yards and did a sommersault, dead on ground contact. Entrance wound was about a 3" diameter, and exit was a 1" circle. I know some of you can shoot at much longer distances, but I'm not that good. The wind was about 15-20 mph, and I was lucky enough to be shooting about 20 degrees off of straight downwind. I'm no genius at doping wind, so I was happy for the angle with the wind speed and the distance I had to shoot.

I got to use all three of my favorite small bores on the six animals: Ruger Hawkeye 280 Rem., Dakota 25-06, and today, the Ruger Express.

It was a great day. A great season. I gave thanks for a full/successful season and more importantly, a safe one.

Now, one tag left...elk. The game is afoot.

Good shooting and hunting to you all!

Grew up in far west texas on a ranch crawling with Antelope, herds of 100 or more everywhere, I didn't like the meat then and still don't. its a dark meat and taste like horse meat, which I don't care for either..I live primarily on elk and deer and an ocassional moose to keep my cardiologist happy, but Ive always mostly ate wild game, with beef and lamb tossed in...

Today, with proper management, depending on who you talk to, the antelope in that area in W. Texas that all but died out and are apparently making a comeback..They over populated, were managed wrong by game officials, and nearly lost..Most ranchers Ive known and grew up with eat deer regulary but don't eat Antelope.

The whys and wherefore I do not know, but I do know that they were way too many at one time and that alone tells the story.

I like deer meat chicken fried, with biscuits and white gravy and lots of picco de gallo on the meat, along with mashed potatoes. The West texas ranch ladies do it justice and my wife being the champ..Same with elk, but a backstrap split. oiled, and stuffed with cream cheese, chopped Jalapenos, cilantro onion, over a pit of Mesquite will get my attention in a hurry..

Ray (Atkinson) I bet you don't go out in the pasture behind your house in Filer,Id and get that mesquite to use for cooking.

Surefire7---Larger entrance than the exit? A shrinking bullet? Tell us about that.

Carpetman1: Yes, larger entrance than exit. I've noticed this several times with the Winchester Ballistic Silvertips. I think it expands instantly on contact, and then blows apart inside the animal, exiting a smaller piece of whatever is left of the bullet on the way out. I've also noticed the entrance hole usually takes out three ribs, or actually one whole rib, and half of each rib to each side of the whole one, in a circular shape. Really a devastating bullet on small game like Pronghorns.

Of course, if the bullet slips between the ribs instead of a direct hit, the entrance hole is not as spectacular!

quote:

Originally posted by surefire7:

When I was in Zimbabwe, I was hunting Lion, my friend Elephant, and my other buddy Buffalo. We were all successful. When my friend got his Elephant down, we watched the show. The skinning, cutting, etc. Immediately, many small fires were started, and Elephant strips of meat were layed upon them. Everyone was happy at their work as they cut, chopped and ate. None of the PHs ate any of it and I was content to just 'watch' the event.

When all was finished, the help all jumped on the big loading trucks and we were in the process of pulling away, when the big truck of workers stopped at our Toyota hunting truck. One of the skinners bent over and handed me a piece of barbecued salted Elephant meat with a big smile on his face. I didn't want to eat it necessarily, so I took it and smiled and said 'thank you!' The trouble was, the truck didn't pull away. It sat there with about a dozen camp help waiting for me to pop that Elephant into my mouth, all with wide smiles, awaiting my declarations of delight. I was stuck. So, I did. I don't know what I was expecting, but the surprise on my face obviously showed clearly. My eyes widened, and I too had the same smile that they all had. It was really good.

Anybody know how many stomach's an elephant has?

Antelope on CRP oats or wheat is awesome. On sage diet, not so much. The best tasting medium game is Axis deer. NOTHING comes close.

Caribou in velvet is to die for. Caribou after the velvet sloughs off is fit for your dog team only.

Elk is the gold standard for the lower forty-eight.

Mountain sheep is surprisingly delicious.

Deer venison is good only for summer sausage and hot sticks to eat while pheasant hunting.

Chukar is the best eating of all north American game birds. Ruffed grouse is very good.

Wild Turkey bears no resemblance to its domestic cousin. It is moist, and pink.

Feral pigs are delicious if the boar is at, or below 200 pounds. Best is to run a boar down with dogs, castrate it, and let it go. if you find and kill it the next year, well it is great eating. Again, the wild meat is pinker, and moister than the factory made animals.

I was raised on a West Texas ranch with a lot of Antelope on it..The meat is too dark and taste like horse meat, I don't prefer either at all..I do like lamb, Spanish or hair goat kids just weaned, deer, elk, Moose, mt. sheep and all African PG, Buffalo, Bison, I like it all..I also in my old age prefer to shoot young females of most species, Eating big bulls all year is tolarble but not my cup of tea any more. I still trophy hunt from time to time but less all the time, Ive become a subsistence hunter in my old age...

As to your choice of calibers, I have never owned a 25-06 but Ive shot some game with it over the years and on more than a few occasions..Thinking back I probably had more one shot drop on the spot I kills with the 25-06 than any other caliber on deer size game??? Its just an awesome caliber..but I have a 250-3000 that's considerably less but still works like a charm..