Bow hunting pronghorn, is it actually all that fun?

[MichiganMan123]

Hey guys, my friend moved out to Colorado last year. I have been planning a Backcountry archery elk hunt with him. He is not really a hunter, but now that he lives in Colorado feels like he would want to get into it. I am a Midwest boy, but now feel like I have an excuse to get into western hunting. He would say that the Backcountry elk hunt sounds to intense for him and would rather try to bow hunt pronghorn with decoys. Just wondering if it is all that fun, or would we never get one within 100 yards. I don't need to kill to feel successful or to have fun. Just wondering your thoughts, and any advice for decoys?

 

[WyomingWapiti_307]

Have taken 7 Pronghorn with bow and arrow 4 of which were bucks. Let me tell you it is an absolute blast. My best piece of advice is to find water and sit on it if you have a buck you like. I have done spot and stalk and that is a riot. Just remember they have the best eye sight of all of our ungulates! And when they bust stay persistent, never walk after them but where they are headed indeed. I have shot one as close as 16 yards and as far as 93 yards. As for decoy usage the bow mount decoys work wonders as well as the hats as goofy as they seem. Have fun and make great memories!

 

[Pezboat]

Spot and stalk is hard, extremely hard. But it’s a blast. You pretty much have endless opportunities all day.

 

[MichiganMan123]

Thanks for the replies! Makes me feel like it would be worth doing instead of a elk hunt for our first western hunt. Just curious, how big are there vitals? Can I stick with my whitetail arrow set up? Also would if I don't care about getting a trophy, would decoying be just as effective as setting up a blind on water? To me that doesn't sound as fun, but might be a last day tactic.

 

[npm352]

Sitting waterholes sucks compared to spot and stalk, whether it be bow or rifle. Need some terrain to do well usually.

 

[Dustin the wind]

Great info, my first time hunting pronghorn this year as well. Might have to pick up one of those silly hats.

 

[marktole]

Don’t let these guys fool you. Hunting antelope with a bow is extremely frustrating and humiliating. It sucks. It’s actually not fun at all.

Until you figure out what you’re doing and then it is incredible.

I had been a few times in years past and shot my first with a bow on a spot and stalk this year. It was a pretty small goat, but that didn’t bother me! The next day we decoyed one in that my buddy shot. Awesome time once we got some little things figured out and started having better encounters and shot opportunities.

 

[Rackmastr]

Some of the most fun I've ever had when things work out!

 

[Werty]

It's a waste of time, money and its boring! I'd just take up golf.

 

[Dustin the wind]

It's a waste of time, money and its boring! I'd just take up golf.

“Man, I golfed so hard! What a crazy awesome experience!” Said no one ever.

 

[hutty]

Spot and stalk archery for lope is more fun than should be legal...and frustrating as heck...and even sweeter with success. I hunt stands here in the east, when I hunt west I want to walk.

 

[WyomingWapiti_307]

As much fun as I find Pronghorn hunting with archery equipment it doesn't hold a candle to archery elk hunting! If you can convince your friend to get on board with that it will be a game changer for the both of you! The sound of the woods, the animals and the insane humbling experience the mountains give you makes all the f**k ups worth it! I will choose archery elk hunting over any other species or method of take down for as long as I can draw my bow.

 

[MichiganMan123]

Wyoming, I think the issue for my friend is he is coming at it with no hunting experience, I have been hunting in the Midwest for a while. Elk hunting for him seams overwhelming for him to try first, and I figure if Pronghorn is something he would want to get his feet wet with, I would rather turn him into a hunter. My end goal is to focus on elk, but I figure I will just get 2-3 points until he is ready to go into the Backcountry with me. I know for me at least one reason why I love to steelhead fish is because you see them all the time, but you will only be able to trick 1 out of 50 to take a fly (at least at my experience level) I am hoping pronghorn is the same way.

 

[MichiganMan123]

Mark, just curious what were the things you guys had to figure out?

 

[WyomingWapiti_307]

Wyoming, I think the issue for my friend is he is coming at it with no hunting experience, I have been hunting in the Midwest for a while. Elk hunting for him seams overwhelming for him to try first, and I figure if Pronghorn is something he would want to get his feet wet with, I would rather turn him into a hunter. My end goal is to focus on elk, but I figure I will just get 2-3 points until he is ready to go into the Backcountry with me. I know for me at least one reason why I love to steelhead fish is because you see them all the time, but you will only be able to trick 1 out of 50 to take a fly (at least at my experience level) I am hoping pronghorn is the same way.

Most definitely I understand, what unit are you guys coming to on s pronghorn hunt?

 

[MichiganMan123]

We are looking around still, leaning towards 133,134,or 135. Good success rates. But we might try to draw for 50. Also deweese reservoir looks interesting, don't know if it would have to many campers around though.

 

[marktole]

Mark, just curious what were the things you guys had to figure out?

When I would hunt them in western Kansas, where I am from, it was the most frustrating thing ever. Its pretty flat where the antelope are and there wasn't any terrain to use to try and sneak in very close before trying to decoy. What I figured out there is its a fools game and I could never get one in closer than 120 yards.

Now, when I went to Nebraska in the Sand Hills to hunt with a buddy it was a totally different ball game. We were having lots of encounters, but no shot opportunities. We would get bucks to come running in from like 600+ yards, but they would always hang up at 90-120 yards and we didn't have a shot. They'd check us out for a few minutes and then they'd take off.

We figured out that we needed to be using the terrain to our advantage to get them to come in under 90. We would show them the decoy and then when they were on the way in we would move a little to a position that forced the buck to come closer than 100 yards to even be able to see the decoy. What we found worked even better than that was if you could get in under 100 on them without them knowing and then show them the decoy. That was a slam dunk and how my buddy shot his. Showed it the decoy at 85, prior to that he had no knowledge of us being there, and he came screaming in to 37 yards and stopped, got arrowed.

One peculiar thing that I did notice hunting rutting antelope is that they didn't give a crap about your smell. We were playing the wind as best we could when we would decoy and the first thing the buck would do was run down wind to smell us. After it smelled us, it would just stay there instead of running away like you would think it would. The one that came in to 37 yards came in from directly down wind as it circled us. Thought it was kind of interesting, but I wouldn't blatantly disregard the wind based on my experience either!

 

[mlgc20]

I've never done it. Spot and stalk on antelope with a bow sounds ridiculously hard. I'm sure it's fun and hope to do it soon. Respect to you guys that can pull that off successfully. I feel like that maybe if I had some Yellowstone antelope, I might be able to close the deal. Might.

 

[WyomingWapiti_307]

Michigan I believe your whitetail arrow set up would work great and there vitals are similarly sized. I use one arrow set up for my mule deer, antelope and elk here which might not be necessary but I never want to worry about penetration on any of the animals I attempt to harvest. They have enormous lungs for their body size which allow them to get the oxygen they need for the high speeds they can run. I have noticed they are notorious string jumpers however and they are very fast, this being said it can be frustrating watching an antelope "dodge" your arrow. I am unfamiliar with those units as I live and hunt in western wyoming. I typically hunt 89, 100, 99, 95 94. Attached are some photos of spot and stalk archery bucks I have harvested. I have a few more but they were prior to me having a phone for photos. Another good decoy to consider is a Montana decoy "moo cow" the antelope are so accustomed to being around them here in wyoming they usually will ignore it completely, allowing you to walk behind it to get within range.

 

[MichiganMan123]

That's a great looking mount! The cow might be nice to use for the shooter. Have one guy run the buck decoy the shooter posted to the side out of the Pronghorns focus.