Spot and Stalk Archery Antelope Hunting

How to be more effective at Spot and Stalk Archery Antelope Hunting

This is a basic transcription from my podcast I did recently with Finding Backcountry  on Spot and Stalk Archery Antelope Hunting.

These are some of the questions I was asked about Spot and Stalk Archery Antelope Hunting and the short answers. To get the complete answer check out my hunting podcast here: Interviews With The Hunting Masters

 

How to Spot and Stalk Archery Antelope podcast notes:

Top states for antelope? AZ, NV, NM, SD & WY

 

What do you look for in a good unit? Population, opportunity to draw, access

 

Why are antelope a good starting hunt for new hunters? Numbers game, out all day, lots of encounters the key to getting new hunters to catch the bug is having early success..

 

Talk about starting points for scouting.Depends on how you want to hunt them, spot and stalk I look for big feeding, areas with good vantage points from the perspective of the goats, think like a goat what do I need to survive, what do I need to feel safe and comfortable.  Water is key, big patches of tall sage for shade

 

When is water right? Antelope are very tied to water honestly I don’t think water is ever a wrong choice even when it rains I have seen antelope come to water. But I don’t really hunt on water. I think that spot and stalk is my preferred choice but not because its more effective but because it’s the most fun and it gives you the opportunity to master the art of spot and stalk

 

When is spot and stalk the best? You need to have the right terrain for spot and stalk you are looking for bucks in a killable place

 

What feed will draw antelope? both browser and grazer depending on season and availability so the young green stuff in between the brown grass is key.  But the majority of their diet is made up of forbs, followed by weeds and grasses and sage. Sage brush is key to their existence

 

Talk about using roads to scout and hunt. Well hunting antelope like I said earlier is a numbers game the more goats you look over the more stalks you get eventually your gonna do something right and they are going to do something worng. So having a lot of roads to traverse the landscape makes its easier for you to cover more ground not rocket science. It also affords you the opportunity to use the rolling blind I have had guys come hunt with me that are not as mobile and cant really crawl around so we use the vehicle to our advantage. Antelope many times wont run away from a vehicle…. Dump and slide. Use truck as a distraction  

 

How do you utilize google earth? Mainly use it to locate water and its relationship to drainages, cover, and feed. But what im really looking for is broken up country because this gives me the cover I need to stalk

 

 

Talk about field judging. : Im kinda of the wrong guy to ask about this when I see one that makes me happy I go for it. Tony Grimmet put out a video a few years back that has some really good info if you are hell bent on inches. I look at the ears and give them a 6” to 7” and use that as a gauge for length and I use the eye 1.5 to 1.75 as a gauge for mass. Mass is key and can be the most deceiving

 

Will bucks stay in a general area like muleys? Yes and they will return from year to year as well but not with the same consistency as deer. If you are looking at them in the early season before the rut chances are if they are a lone they will not be there once the rut hits you are better off looking for large doe groups to find more bucks

 

Talk about hunting tactics. As I mentioned im a big spot and stalk hunter so I cover a lot of ground looking for antelope but not just to find one that is one I want to shoot but one that is in the right spot, they need to be within my effective range of my bow of an obstruction or cover I can stay behind or move behind to get into position. Often this is just a little rise or a patch of 2-3 ft tall sage that I can crawl. I love bucks that bed halfway down a hill or ridge facing down and out. I will make a big circle to use that landscape to my advantage get to the top of the hill crawl  into position to make a shot. You won’t have a lot of time often just a few seconds to range draw and shoot. I don’t worry about wind so much or noise because its usually so windy that it conceals your sounds pretty well but eye sight is there biggest asset and what they rely on more than anything. Using truck or buddy as distraction, white T shirts distraction or to draw the in closer.

 

Talk about using decoys. I don’t really use them unless its a last resort and I use them much like the white T. I do find them effective to use when I need to get from cover to cover to walk behind…

 

Talk about when to be patient. When to be aggressive. There is nothing patient about me.

 

Common mistakes hunters make? Wearing shinny camo, treating them like deer, not being prepared to shoot quickly and at longer distances