judging antelope

[lovehunting]

Guys what is the best way to judge an antelope that will score good? Have unit 52 lope coming up and would like to take one worth mounting. Thanks for your help.

 

[hunting1]

There are some BIG guys up there! It was nuts during the hunt when I was there last year! Pay attention to getting off the road, etc., wardens everywhere.

With this said, look for the prong to be above the ear, then double the length. mass in this area as well. From afar, any mature antelope will look nice, so be patient.

Have fun and good luck!

 

[muley505]

I'm assuming you've been assigned to a specific ranch? I'd say the best thing I can recommend would be to look over as much of the ranch as possible (all of it if you can), and pick out the biggest one after you've looked them all over. Whatever ranch you happen to be assigned to will probably only have what it has, and you can only shoot the biggest one that's there, so try to look at all of them before you make your decision.

As for scoring, look for lots of mass, long prongs, and prongs as high on the horn as possible. The idea is to get your third circumference measurement below the prong instead of above it, which makes it score quite a bit better. The other thing is symmetry. I shot a pronghorn in 2009 that had a slightly-broken prong and tip on one side, and it was a pretty hefty deduction from his overall score.

Good luck. Antelope are a blast to hunt.