Shooting prone

[Huntndog]

I have not hunted antelope,but would like to in the next few years. How necessary is it to be able to shoot from a prone position? Ten years ago I had neck sugery and had two vertebrae fused together. Shooting prone is out of the question for me. Since antelope see so well and are hunted in the open will this be a huge handicap? I plan to use a rifle. Please advise.

 

[eaglemountainman]

In all my experience, which is by no means extensive, the vegetation has been too high for a prone shot. My shots have either been sitting and shooting off my upright pack, or standing off of sticks.

 

[cowboy]

I’ve hunted antelope for 50+ years in 3 different States. As a guess I’d say 60% were taken prone, 35% taken sitting and 5% (Maybe less) were taken off hand or kneeling.

Depending on the terrain and height of sagebrush, prairie grass etc. shooting prone at times is not an option - you just can’t see your target.

Will your neck/back allow you to shoot off a backpack that is higher than bipod? How about using a bipod on a horizontal laid out pack which allows you to be higher?

If you just can’t shoot prone at all - sitting, kneeling and standing are your only options. I would try various methods until you find what works best for your neck-back and accuracy situation but I’d suggest you concentrate on the sitting and kneeling shooting position.

There are various bipods and tripods out there for the sitting-kneeling and standing position. I would look at those options. I personally always carry a backpack and a pair of carbon walking (trekking poles) sticks. I keep one stick on my backpack and walk with one. The one I walk with I use to stabilize my binoculars while sitting and glassing. Call it a mono pod for glassing. There is a company that makes an adapter that attaches to each hiking stick - complete adapter is maybe 3-4 oz. They have a male-female 1/4 turn quick attach that allows them to criss cross into the old style Buffalo shooting sticks.
Using these sticks while sitting and putting my backpack under the butt of the rifle gives me 2 points of stability. If you can sit with your back up against a rock or sage brush you’ve got 3 pts of stability. I know a guide that works for a ranch out here that takes out disabled vets on the ranch to hunt. They get into all types of situations and limitations. They flat get it done no matter what the vets disability is so don’t let a couple of fused vertebrae discourage you.

Antelope are fun to hunt. They can be as dumb and tame as a post but 98% of the time the second you peak your head over a rise one antelope will see the movement and start the whole bunch and head out.

Good luck - as I always tell my wife “I'm damn sure getting older every year but you can’t kill anything from our couch”.

If you have any specific questions feel free to give me a holler.

 

[Tmac]

I’ve shot most of mine from a sitting position. The two I took prone could have been taken sitting.

 

[Huntndog]

I’ve hunted antelope for 50+ years in 3 different States. As a guess I’d say 60% were taken prone, 35% taken sitting and 5% (Maybe less) were taken off hand or kneeling.

Depending on the terrain and height of sagebrush, prairie grass etc. shooting prone at times is not an option - you just can’t see your target.

Will your neck/back allow you to shoot off a backpack that is higher than bipod? How about using a bipod on a horizontal laid out pack which allows you to be higher?

If you just can’t shoot prone at all - sitting, kneeling and standing are your only options. I would try various methods until you find what works best for your neck-back and accuracy situation but I’d suggest you concentrate on the sitting and kneeling shooting position.

There are various bipods and tripods out there for the sitting-kneeling and standing position. I would look at those options. I personally always carry a backpack and a pair of carbon walking (trekking poles) sticks. I keep one stick on my backpack and walk with one. The one I walk with I use to stabilize my binoculars while sitting and glassing. Call it a mono pod for glassing. There is a company that makes an adapter that attaches to each hiking stick - complete adapter is maybe 3-4 oz. They have a male-female 1/4 turn quick attach that allows them to criss cross into the old style Buffalo shooting sticks.
Using these sticks while sitting and putting my backpack under the butt of the rifle gives me 2 points of stability. If you can sit with your back up against a rock or sage brush you’ve got 3 pts of stability. I know a guide that works for a ranch out here that takes out disabled vets on the ranch to hunt. They get into all types of situations and limitations. They flat get it done no matter what the vets disability is so don’t let a couple of fused vertebrae discourage you.

Antelope are fun to hunt. They can be as dumb and tame as a post but 98% of the time the second you peak your head over a rise one antelope will see the movement and start the whole bunch and head out.

Good luck - as I always tell my wife “I'm damn sure getting older every year but you can’t kill anything from our couch”.

If you have any specific questions feel free to give me a holler.

I can definitely shoot sitting down, especially with a back rest. I will try the backpack as a shooting rest and experiment with a couple of different positions. Thanks!

 

[Mike D Texas]

I’m far from the expert being as last year was my first antelope hunt but both my buddy and I shot ours from prone. Had we been in any other position I’m not sure it would have happened.


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[Seamaster]

I have shot most of them sitting with a bipod. Beware of cactus!

 

[Kurts86]

Most of my antelope have been shot from prone.

If you can’t shoot prone get a really good shooting tripod, put an Arca rail on your rifle and get proficient shooting sitting to 300-400 yards.

 

[EdP]

I have taken 3 pronghorn, all from prone. 2 of the 3 could have been taken from sitting but prone was my position of choice. The bigger concern is not being able to use prone due to low growing foliage.

For sitting I sit with legs crossed, a Primus trigger stick or similar front support, and daypack stuffed in my midsection supporting the buttstock. It is almost as steady as prone over a backpack and less likely to result in scope eye.

 

[Macintosh]

All but one of mine/wifes were taken from prone (the one was offhand as it charged us!), but any of those could have been taken from a tripod or sitting resting on a pack. I’d say the shooting is the least of my worries. If you couldn’t get prone, it would be the crawling while staying low to avoid being seen that might be problematic. If the position isn’t doable for you, maybe look for areas with sagebrush, as opposed to grass, just to stack the ofds in your favor. A little bit of topography and some vegetation goes along way toward avoiding the need to crawl!

 

[buffybr]

Like @cowboy, I've hunted antelope for over 50 years and in 3 states. I've probably shot most of them from prone, many from sitting, and a few, like my last one, standing.

Leather gloves and knee pads are real helpful crawling through cactus, and be aware where you sit or lie down.

For many years I carried a 3 leg tripod that I made from 3' wooden dowels and leather boot laces. I then graduated to a short 3 leg Trigger Stick that expands to about 4'. Then, a few years ago I bought a high Trigger Stick that extends from about 3 1/2' to 5 1/2'. I used it for my last antelope, and also for my moose last year.

The Trigger Stick can also be used as a walking stick, and they have an attachmet for the top to hold your camera for those "hero" pics.

 

[TaperPin]

A tall bipod that can be used sitting, shooting sticks, a rigid framed backpack, or even a tripod with or without a bag on top has proven to be effective, with many shooters getting good enough accuracy to 300 or 400 yards or more.

Many shots require crawling or duck walking down very shallow depressions - knee pads and gloves are highly recommended. While crawling with a rifle isn’t horribly difficult, doing it while wearing a pack doesn’t help. Having a separate shooting aid to somehow hold is impossible unless it can attach to you or the gun, which is why a tall bipod is a reliably good option. Many guys with big plans to use a shooting aid, try to use it one time and it gets left in the truck.

Most antelope country in Wyoming has shin or knee high sage - a sitting position that’s self supporting is the only thing I’d practice - leaning back on something may not be practical. Muscle memory is very important so even if you can’t get to the range, simply dry firing in the living room can be valuable. A 3/4” wide nylon strap made into a loop to wrap around the tops of the knees and effortlessly hold them a good comfortable distance apart, works great for me - adds an additional 50 - 100 yards to the effective shooting distance.

 

[TaperPin]

It should also be said, antelope hunting is a lot of driving around and glassing, with only a couple of stalks a day if you’re lucky and having a good day. Rifle weight isn’t a big concern and a varmint barrel might be a benefit if you’ll be exclusively shooting sitting. Likewise, tripod weight isn’t a big deal if you have someone packing it on stalks, so bring your big tripod.

 

[buffybr]

It should also be said, antelope hunting is a lot of driving around and glassing, with only a couple of stalks a day if you’re lucky and having a good day. Rifle weight isn’t a big concern and a varmint barrel might be a benefit if you’ll be exclusively shooting sitting. Likewise, tripod weight isn’t a big deal if you have someone packing it on stalks, so bring your big tripod.

I remember shooting one antelope buck 5 section fences from where I parked by car. I field dressed him where I shot him, then strapped him on my pack frame and walked the 5 section fences back to my car. About 1/4 mile from my car there was another buck about the same size as the one on my back that just stood there watching me.

In my 30-40 antelope, I can't remember ever having anyone with me to help or pack my gear. I don't carry any extra weight.

 

[JohnJohnson]

I can't give antelope-specific feedback since my first antelope hunt is this coming fall. But from what you described, I'd highly recommend getting a good shooting tripod and an ARCA rail on your rifle's forend. It'll benefit all of your hunting. For my antelope hunt I'll be using a 5.5# tripod and either a 15# or 19# rifle since weight isn't a concern.

 

[TaperPin]

I remember shooting one antelope buck 5 section fences from where I parked by car. I field dressed him where I shot him, then strapped him on my pack frame and walked the 5 section fences back to my car. About 1/4 mile from my car there was another buck about the same size as the one on my back that just stood there watching me.

In my 30-40 antelope, I can't remember ever having anyone with me to help or pack my gear. I don't carry any extra weight.

More often than not I’ve gone along on a stalk to bring a pack to shoot off of or simply be another set of eyes, especially with less experienced hunters. Luckily we don’t have many fences in much of Wyoming and we just drive up to them.

 

[wapitibob]

Every one I’ve shot has been prone because I belly crawled the last bit to get into position.

 

[buffybr]

"For my antelope hunt I'll be using a 5.5# tripod and either a 15# or 19# rifle since weight isn't a concern."

WOW!!! I've never carried that much extra weight on any hunt.

When I hunted Dagestan Tur in Azerbaijan, my guide wouldn't let me bring my 1 3/4 lb tripod for my spotting scope because he said that it weighted too much, and we used horses to pack into our above timberline camp, and there were at least 3 of us on each actual stalk.

 

[JohnJohnson]

WOW!!! I've never carried that much extra weight on any hunt.

I brought the 5.5# tripod and a 14# rifle on my coues hunt this past fall and it went fine. I was quite glad I did when it came time to take a 400 yard shot and I couldn't get prone. As far as I can tell antelope hunting is significantly less physically demanding than coues.

 

[CBar]

Agreed with the above - most of the sneaks on pronghorn I've done in the last decade is prone, and I learned quickly that kneepads and leather gloves were key, as well as a watchful eye for cactus - but the vast majority of my shots were sitting and using trekking poles as a makeshift bipod. I'd recommend being very proficient with a tripod while sitting or standing, as you likely will need to make a longer shot.