East Beaty's Antelope

Hello
I know we have a few knowledgeable South Eastern Oregon folks on MM. If you had a quick weekend to scout for antelope and wanted to concentrate on one of these two areas which would you pick and why? #1 the area around and south of Beatys Butte or #2 the Pueblo mountain area. Trying to concentrate my efforts in the general area with the largest animals. Looking for quality over quantity. Looks like I can get away in a few weeks and want to make the most of my time. Thanks in advance for any information and advice.

Thanks
Bill

I hunted west beattys bow three years ago and scouted extensively. What I was told from the bio was that the antelope make a slow progression from east beattys towards Hart mtn as the water in east beattys dries up. I witnessed this to be true.

Keep this in mind as you do your early scouting because within the course of a week, they could easily be miles away.

I've never hunted it for antelope so I'm not much help there but I can give you a little water info. We had a very mild and dry winter, very little water in water holes. The last two weeks however, we had almost 2" of rain so that has the grass coming on strong and put a little water in the water holes and creeks. The problem is that it came from thunderstorms so some areas got more rain some got less so it really depends on the specific area you go. You might keep that in mind if you come down in the next few weeks. You may find water and grass in one area an not much in another. Also, there is very little water in the ground so the water holes may be full right now but I think the thirsty ground will leach it out pretty fast.

I've spent a ton of time over there and as long as the wild horses aren't around you should be able to find some water. When you scout spend some time under Dougherty Slide towards Sage Hen Butte and around the bottom of East Beatty Butte where there is some natural springs all year long. You can drive the bulk of this with some great spots to hike out and glass from.
If you head towards Nevada and then turn back into the unit make sure there aren't any horses because they sucked up the water holes the last few years we have been over and the antelope moved over towards Hart Mt. My group has killed a lot of 14" - 17" bucks over there so I wish you good luck.

Thanks for the information everyone. Dougherty Slide is not that far of a diversion on my way to Beatty Butte. Will check it out. Thanks

Bill