Pronghorn 40, 41, 42

HAP

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I have the unlimited archery tag for Sep 1st-15. I’ve been scouting me arse off and can’t seem to find a decent sized herd or a ton of sign. I started scouting in February and found a herd of a 100+ down on highway 51 but went back in June and can’t locate the suckers and I looked all over, on both sides of the highway and all through Little Jacks and Big Jack’s wilderness. A few weeks ago I did find a small herd right before the Oregon border by Jordan Valley. Are they all over the place and I’m just not seeing them? I checked several water holes but no tracks.
 
Are you hunting a big heard or one big buck?

A giant herd so I can pick and choose, haha. In all honesty it’s my first archery pronghorn hunt so I’m not gonna be picky plus pronghorn is my favorite game meat.
 
I have the unlimited archery tag for Sep 1st-15. I’ve been scouting me arse off and can’t seem to find a decent sized herd or a ton of sign. I started scouting in February and found a herd of a 100+ down on highway 51 but went back in June and can’t locate the suckers and I looked all over, on both sides of the highway and all through Little Jacks and Big Jack’s wilderness. A few weeks ago I did find a small herd right before the Oregon border by Jordan Valley. Are they all over the place and I’m just not seeing them? I checked several water holes but no tracks.
I had that tag many years ago. Shot a small buck on the last day of a 14 day hunt. Although I saw antelope every day I never saw large herds. Mostly groups of 10 or less.In fact mostly singles and doubles. There has been some talk of the population being way down but I havnt been back to confirm it.
 
The lopes you saw in Feb most likely migrated down there !! And these BIG herds you speak of in these units are gonna be maybe a dozen critters !! There are NOT very many lopes in any of these units , throw in the miles & miles of country that is there for them to hang out in. Plus there are lots of water seeps & springs that these lopes know of, And most of the water holes within a mile of any road or 2 track is gonna have a pile of blinds on them. ADD to that your hunting them with a bow !! Good luck
 
The lopes you saw in Feb most likely migrated down there !! And these BIG herds you speak of in these units are gonna be maybe a dozen critters !! There are NOT very many lopes in any of these units , throw in the miles & miles of country that is there for them to hang out in. Plus there are lots of water seeps & springs that these lopes know of, And most of the water holes within a mile of any road or 2 track is gonna have a pile of blinds on them. ADD to that your hunting them with a bow !! Good luck
So you’re telling me there’s a chance??? Haha.

Kinda what I was thinking.

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It took me 7 years of hunting there to finally find a waterhole that wasn't to close to a road.
"Scouting" in February for any big game is a waste of time as far as Scouting is concerned. Those big "herds" on the winter range break up come spring time and the mature bucks start claiming their territories. There are far more antelope out there then people know. I see them all the time in December out there when I'm shooting coyotes.
As a first time archery antelope hunter please don't be that guy driving around scouting after August 15th spooking all the animals for the poor guys with the early tag. I have seen all kinds of ridiculous behavior out there. I watched a guy try to stalk a herd of antelope that were obviously headed to a waterhole where a blind was with another hunter in it. The guy with the bad ethics had his kid in the suv watching. There's a reason why we have to draw tags now.
 
It took me 7 years of hunting there to finally find a waterhole that wasn't to close to a road.
"Scouting" in February for any big game is a waste of time as far as Scouting is concerned. Those big "herds" on the winter range break up come spring time and the mature bucks start claiming their territories. There are far more antelope out there then people know. I see them all the time in December out there when I'm shooting coyotes.
As a first time archery antelope hunter please don't be that guy driving around scouting after August 15th spooking all the animals for the poor guys with the early tag. I have seen all kinds of ridiculous behavior out there. I watched a guy try to stalk a herd of antelope that were obviously headed to a waterhole where a blind was with another hunter in it. The guy with the bad ethics had his kid in the suv watching. There's a reason why we have to draw tags now.

I know scouting in February is a waste, I was getting to know the area well and happened upon the herd. Don’t worry I’ve been bow hunting for a while just not pronghorn. I know enough not to ruin someone’s hunt if I’m just scouting. Thanks for the tips!
 
Fingers crossed for second draw. If your jsut trying to locate make sure you glass with the sun, if they are there you'll see them!
 
Set up my blind and saw 2 nice bucks and 5-6 does which is pretty typical. It's huge country out there and there's water everywhere especially with the thunderstorms last week. Keep looking you'll find them.
 
I had an archery tag in these units in 2018 and sat in my blind all of 12 mins and killed this buck at 27 yards!! A lot of country in these units and not a lot of pronghorn. I personally think the unlimited archery tags is the reason why there's so few animals.

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I had an archery tag in these units in 2018 and sat in my blind all of 12 mins and killed this buck at 27 yards!! A lot of country in these units and not a lot of pronghorn. I personally think the unlimited archery tags is the reason why there's so few animals.

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There are Not that many lopes in Idaho let alone these 3 units, And there is a LOT of country in 40 41 & 42 . If you look at the Archery & Rifle harvest stats that F&G have posted you can see there are not a lot of lopes being taken by hunters in these 3 units . Looks like in the last 5 years bow hunters killed around 637 which is Damn good !! When you compare the rifle hunts in the same units they only killed 666 animals !!!
 
There are Not that many lopes in Idaho let alone these 3 units, And there is a LOT of country in 40 41 & 42 . If you look at the Archery & Rifle harvest stats that F&G have posted you can see there are not a lot of lopes being taken by hunters in these 3 units . Looks like in the last 5 years bow hunters killed around 637 which is Damn good !! When you compare the rifle hunts in the same units they only killed 666 animals !!!

But why are there not a lot of pronghorn in those units? It's great habitat for them. Is it because they killed 1,300+ animals? Likely! IMO Idaho doesn't prioritize them and uses them to provide hunters a way to get in the field. Fine idea for some, not for others.
 
I think it has to do with the winters ,the # of predators eating them & lack of animals. I have been all over 40 41 42 46 47 & to be honest the biggest herd of lopes I ever saw was maybe 25 in any of these units. I hunt & trap unit 40 for yotes & cats almost ever year, many years back we would see literally hundreds of lopes all over headed down there. Used to see small herds all along hwy 95 in the same spots about every trip, but in the last 5 years if you see any from the top of Marsing grade to Jordan Valley its Rare.. I have been told by some of the ranchers around JV , that a lot of lopes that moved south during those bad winters Never came back !!
 
I agree, you would think there would be a robust population of lopes in that country. Anybody out there this year before October 15th and have seen some nice bulls in unit 40 my ears would be open, hint hint :)
 

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