Unit 3/301 antelope expectations

[fuzzyvelvet]

I will likely draw a CO 3/301 private land buck tag; I have permission to hunt a 10,000 acre piece of private property. I have never hunted antelope. What can I from the hunt and what size of animal should I expect to take?

 

[born_2_hunt]

Antelope hunting is probably the easiest hunting you'll ever do and its a kick in the butt! The hardest part is passing on multiple bucks to find a good one. They are a bit hard to judge but after you see a few you kind of figure out which ones are big. Their ears are about 6" and you want a buck thats atleast double his ears, if not more, with good mass and deep forks.

Hunting private up there you ought to be able to get atleast a 14" to 15" buck. Remeber you have 7 days to tag out so be patient and look over lots of goats. Heres a few I've killed for reference.

This is a buck I got in unit 4. He's 13", not the best but it was a blast!

This is a 16" goat I got last year in Eastern Co.

 

[fuzzyvelvet]

born, thanks for the input and photos. I love the height on that last buck. I keep hearing how hard it is to judge them. I am excited to do this for the first time. Should be fun.

Fuzzy

 

[stillhunting]

Fuzzy, 10'000 acre is a good piece of dirt, I would spend the first day looking it all over. Goats don't wander too far you can always come back to one you want if there is not too much pressure. After looking over 20 or 30 bucks you will know what you want,remember mass and the height of the prongs has a lot to do with score and looks, spread and angle is just personal preferance.You will most likley see all kinds of crazy horns some times weard can be just as cool as tall.Be shure to take chains, if it rains the roads turn to pure slime.good luck and have fun!!!

 

[BeanMan]

Fuzz,

The best piece of advice they are giving you is to pass on lot's of bucks and look at lots of them. It's too easy to tag out to not look at a bunch of bucks first.

 

[treedagain]

definately look over alot of goats before you pull the trigger....plenty of time to get the job done....

 

[exit28nv]

bow hunted it in 07,lots of speed goats but the area was still recovering from drought maybe it affected horn growth,still managed to score but wasnt as easy as i thought it would be,2 of us on 3000 acres,tried the spot and stalk,switched to double bulls over tanks,thats when our luck changed,we where 20 minutes from craig colorado very hunter friendly community,try craig sports awsome shop.your gonna have a blast,like the others said,your on a huge ranch,take your time and make it happen...best of luck.

 

[sagefrog]

I would suggest covering as much of the ranch glassing and looking over all the goats for the first day or two. Then go back and hunt for the one that looks best to you. Don't get too hung up on field judging them (as there tends to be more ground shrinkage than other animals unless you really know what you are looking at), just look for the dominant bucks as they should generally be over 14" in that area. If and when you see a true wall hanger you will know it. Good luck.

 

[fuzzyvelvet]

Thanks for all the input guys. I appreciate it. I will definitely let you know what I get. Hoepfully its a good one.

Fuzzy

 

[Adventurewriter]

A great book is " Hunting Trophy Antelope" by Mike Eastamn...filled with great info and although it is a new book have a feeling it will become the Bible of Antelope hunting..

 

[spceman33]

I hunted 3/301 last season saw 200-250 antelope all on public land. Plenty of nice bucks, you shouldnt have a problem filling your tag.

 

[DougW]

Spaceman-what'd you see for buck sizes? If i'm interpreting the post in the mule deer forum correctly, they're giving out 70 more public rifle buck tags than they did last year, so i should draw.

thx,

Doug

 

[Fracman]

There is a video on judging antelope called "Size is Everything". Very informative on judging. That is all the video is about, it doesn't get off tract like Mike Eastman tends to. Good luck!

 

[spceman33]

saw some decent bucks, but no wall hangers. 4x4's in the 22" range.

 

[kilowatt]

Get a copy of Size is Everything made by Tony Grimmett who also is a MM member here. www.pronghornguideservice.com I got the DCD and watch it before I ever got Mike E. book and tape.
I liked Tony's tape better.

Brian
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[elkhunter386]

I drew a muzzleloader tag for antelope, just wondering if you guys could help me get started on public land. Also wondering if you have to use loose powder and can I use powerbelts out of my muzzleloader.

Thanks!!!!

 

[fuzzyvelvet]

I ended up getting Size is Everything video and it was very helpful. How I just need to watch it a few more times so I can become proficient at scoring. Thanks for all the replies.

Fuzzy