Pronghorn Antelope
The pronghorn antelope lives in the vast western plains from as far south as Texas and north into Alberta. The prairie speedster as he is sometimes called, has a reputation for staying in the open and covering a lot of ground in a hurry when approached. Pronghorns are relatively small with a good buck field dressing in the 120-130 pound range. The combination of their small size, wariness, and tendency to stay in open country made them very tough targets for bowhunters until about 25 years ago.
Bowhunters are nothing if not resourceful. They found that the number one weakness of pronghorn antelope is their need to water on a regular basis in the arid country they usually call home. Find a place with good numbers of animals, and limited availability of water, and you have the makings of a successful bowhunt. All you have to do is hide by the water long enough, and the animals will come to you. As easy as that might sound, appreciation of the effort involved only comes after several hours cramped up in a small hole on the desert floor with the sun beating down on you. You can sit 12-14 hours per day, several days in a row, and still not have that dream buck come in. Trust me when I tell you that thirteen hours in a hole under the blazing sun can seem like eternity the first day, and becomes an unimaginably long time by day five!
Once outfitters, guides, and bowhunters started hunting antelope out of pit blinds the numbers of record book animals taken every season soared. The Pope & Young club has raised the minimum score for entry twice for antelope, raising the bar from 57 inches to 67 inches. Before I go further, and to be fair, there are easier ways to hunt antelope at water holes than baking your brains out under the blazing sun. Many remote water holes are serviced with windmills, and these windmills make handy places to sit and wait for animals to approach. While still out in the sun, these elevated perches let air circulate around the hunter and increase the field of view. Both things make the time go by faster and the day more enjoyable. Some more ambitious outfitters construct pit blinds with walls and a roof. This gets the hunter out of the sun, and improves the ability to move undetected. More recently there have been a number of quality portable blinds marketed that have become the "state of the art" in the way of hide and seek hunting.
For those that have a hard time sitting still in a blind waiting for something to happen, there is another way to bowhunt pronghorns. During the September rut, bucks are very susceptive to decoying. The technique involves finding open places with good bucks and sneaking up fairly close. Once with-in a hundred yards or so the hunter (or his guide) sets up a buck decoy to challenge the resident buck for the does in the pasture. Often times the dominant buck will come into within thirty yards or less to check out the intruder. The shots come often and quick, making for a fun hunt. Perhaps the best of both worlds is a hunt involving both blind hunting and decoying. Some western guides/outfitters offer combination hunts like this and enjoy very high levels of success.
Field judging trophy quality with antelope is something that comes with time. When the Pope & Young minimums were 64 inches (until just a few years ago), a buck needed to have horns about twice as long as his ears, with a decent prong that started just below, and raised up to just above the top of the ear to make the minimum requirements for entry into the record book. Of course, the horns also had to have consistent mass, and good symmetry between sides. Now that the minimums are higher, you need to find a buck with longer horns and a higher/longer prong to be sure he will qualify for the records. I would recommend checking out a few mounted heads (on which you have the actual score information) just before your hunt to get a good picture in your own mind what you are looking for in a buck.
Antelope are hunted on the western plains from as far south as Arizona all the way north into Alberta. There are many good places to find that buck of a lifetime, and numerous guides and outfitters that cater to bowhunters. Always check to see that an outfitter has guided bowhunters, and than check a few of his bowhunting references. You can assume that he will only give you the names of people that will give glowing recommendations, so I would not bother with questions like, "Would you suggest booking with this outfit?" Ask about the blinds, how limited is the water on the place you intend to hunt, and what would they have done differently if they could book their hunt all over again. Often times a past client that really enjoyed his hunt, and was successful, would have gone a week earlier or a week later if he knew before he booked all he found out while at camp. He might have brought different equipment, practiced different shots, or specified hunting at a particular area with-in the outfitter's general area. These are items of information that can really help you make plans for a successful hunt.
The issue of tag acquisition is getting more important all the time, especially for trophy hunting. More and more western states are limiting the number of tags they issue to better manage game population numbers. This is a great thing, because the overall trophy quality of most species, in most areas, is improving. The down side is that it takes more planning than it used to if you want to plan a successful hunt. Often times hunting down the right tag is as difficult as hunting down the trophy once the hunt begins! Most of the largest antelope taken each season come off areas that issue only very limited permits/tags. These tags go to the hunters that have done their homework, put in to draw their coveted tags, and, in many instances, put in enough time to develop preference points allowing them to finally be successful in the drawing process.
There are areas in Arizona, Oregon, Nevada, and some other states that grow huge pronghorns that only a select few hunters get to chase each season. Draw a tag in one of these areas, and then book a hunt with a guide knowledgeable about the needs of a bowhunter, and you are in for an exciting hunt!