Latest / Wired To Hunt Podcast / Ep. 668: Foundations - The Most Underrated Western Hunt There Is
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt Foundation's podcast, your guide
- 0:05Speaker 1: to the fundamentals of better dear hunting. Present it by
- 0:08Speaker 1: First Light, creating proven, versatile hunting apparel for the stand,
- 0:11Speaker 1: saddle or blind. First Light, Go farther, stay Longer, and
- 0:16Speaker 1: now your host Tony Peterson.
- 0:19Speaker 2: Hey everyone, welcome to the Wired to Hunt Foundation's podcast,
- 0:22Speaker 2: which is brought to you by First Light. I'm Marrist
- 0:24Speaker 2: Tony Peterson, and today I'm going to talk about the lowly,
- 0:27Speaker 2: no good, overlooked antelope. I'm going to make a bold
- 0:44Speaker 2: statement here. If antelope had big, old antlers instead of small,
- 0:49Speaker 2: prongy little horns, they'd probably be a hell of a
- 0:52Speaker 2: lot more popular to hunt. The problem is, the difference
- 0:56Speaker 2: between a giant antelope and a good one is like
- 0:58Speaker 2: ten inches, and the biggest diaper butt you'll ever see
- 1:02Speaker 2: on the horizon won't score more than the average two
- 1:04Speaker 2: year old white tail in a place with shitty genetics
- 1:06Speaker 2: and poor soil. The thing is they are a hell
- 1:10Speaker 2: of a lot of fun to hunt. They are also
- 1:11Speaker 2: a real test to your skills, and they are delicious,
- 1:14Speaker 2: and they offer several different styles in which you can
- 1:17Speaker 2: kill one. How many of you find listeners like avocados.
- 1:31Speaker 2: I know that the current advice on how to become
- 1:33Speaker 2: super wealthy is to stop eating avocado toast, which I
- 1:37Speaker 2: guess was a fad, But it's kind of like the
- 1:40Speaker 2: hackneyed financial advice that the distance between you now, as
- 1:43Speaker 2: a brocass young person, and someone who I don't know
- 1:46Speaker 2: wants to host parties on your private yacht is simply
- 1:50Speaker 2: to ditch the Starbucks every morning. If only it was
- 1:53Speaker 2: that simple. Avocados are superfoods. They contain omega threes of
- 2:00Speaker 2: C and E vitamins of folic acid, which is good
- 2:02Speaker 2: if your preggers. They contain magnesium potassium, are rich in
- 2:07Speaker 2: soluble fiber, and on and on. In other words, avocados
- 2:11Speaker 2: are good for you. They are also kind of wild
- 2:15Speaker 2: for starters. The avocados you might see turned into some
- 2:18Speaker 2: delicious guacamole have been grown in orchards here in the
- 2:21Speaker 2: United States for like one hundred and ten years. Before that,
- 2:25Speaker 2: they were grown in Central and South America for like
- 2:27Speaker 2: five thousand years. But even before that, the avocado has
- 2:31Speaker 2: a real origin story. Up until about thirteen thousand years ago,
- 2:36Speaker 2: this fleshy fruit grew in the wild no surprise there right, Well,
- 2:40Speaker 2: what is surprising is that it evolved as an awful
- 2:43Speaker 2: lot of seed bearing flora has to get its seeds
- 2:47Speaker 2: away from the parent plant. In this case of tree,
- 2:50Speaker 2: you don't want to be a cute little avocado sapling
- 2:52Speaker 2: fighting for sunlight and other resources while growing at the
- 2:54Speaker 2: base of your parent tree. It's not going to work
- 2:56Speaker 2: out very well, you know, unless you're dropping metric tons
- 3:00Speaker 2: of seeds in a spray and prey method like oak trees.
- 3:03Speaker 2: This is just a great way to not pass on
- 3:05Speaker 2: your jeans. Instead, avocado trees through who knows how many
- 3:10Speaker 2: thousands or millions of years figured something out. The megafauna
- 3:14Speaker 2: of the time thoroughly enjoyed eating avocados and the ones
- 3:19Speaker 2: and by that I mean the avocados with slightly bigger,
- 3:22Speaker 2: denser pits survived the trips through the digestive tracks of
- 3:26Speaker 2: these megafauna, and then they got pooped out in a
- 3:30Speaker 2: new spot with a fresh batch of fertilizer to boot.
- 3:34Speaker 2: So those giant ground sloths and wild horses, mammoths and
- 3:38Speaker 2: other big old mammals ate the avocados and then walked
- 3:42Speaker 2: off to do what animals do, or at least they
- 3:45Speaker 2: did over time. The avocado jeans that ended up getting
- 3:48Speaker 2: passed on were those with the pits that could survive
- 3:50Speaker 2: the journey. Even when those megafana went the way of
- 3:54Speaker 2: the dodo, the avocado survived, and they still have those
- 3:58Speaker 2: giant wooden ball type pits, even though they no longer
- 4:01Speaker 2: really need them. This is an evolutionary holdover. Evidence of
- 4:05Speaker 2: these long forgotten traits and anatomical characteristics is found in
- 4:08Speaker 2: all kinds of animals. Boa constrictors, for example, have pelvic
- 4:13Speaker 2: bones and back legs. Even though they are tucked inside
- 4:16Speaker 2: of a normal snake body, they are visible with an
- 4:18Speaker 2: X ray. Some whale embryos have well developed beginnings of
- 4:22Speaker 2: legs too, but they usually disappear with growth. Not always, though,
- 4:26Speaker 2: and whales and dolphins have been caught with stumpy legs.
- 4:30Speaker 2: Some great gray owl chicks are born with little owl
- 4:32Speaker 2: hands at the end of their wings, and humans aren't
- 4:34Speaker 2: immune to this either. We have wisdom teeth, body hair,
- 4:38Speaker 2: and occasionally a tail that can be up to like
- 4:40Speaker 2: five inches long, which is i'll say it, totally freaking bananas.
- 4:45Speaker 2: And then there is the prong horn, who can outrun
- 4:47Speaker 2: any predator by such a wide margin that it's almost laughable. Honestly,
- 4:52Speaker 2: antelope are so much faster than anything that can currently
- 4:55Speaker 2: eat them that it's almost strange. But it's not. When
- 4:59Speaker 2: you evolve to deal with the North American version of
- 5:01Speaker 2: a cheetah, you had to be fast or you would
- 5:04Speaker 2: be lunch. That's it. And even though that predator is
- 5:08Speaker 2: gone and has been gone for a long time, the
- 5:11Speaker 2: speediness of antelope remains, which I think is pretty cool,
- 5:15Speaker 2: and they aren't unique just in that way. They're also
- 5:21Speaker 2: pretty crazy with their migrations. Some of them migrate like
- 5:24Speaker 2: up to one hundred and fifty miles, which is second
- 5:27Speaker 2: only in distance to the migration of some caribou herds
- 5:29Speaker 2: in North America. Their eyesight is unreal as well. Some
- 5:35Speaker 2: biologists compare it to looking through ten X binoculars at
- 5:38Speaker 2: all times. Their speed and eyesight makes them confident because well,
- 5:45Speaker 2: they're super hard to get close to, and if you
- 5:47Speaker 2: do get close and screw up, there'll be three counties
- 5:50Speaker 2: over before you can swear too much. This is an
- 5:52Speaker 2: asset for them, but also a liability if you, as
- 5:56Speaker 2: a hunter, learn to use it against them. Anloe also
- 6:00Speaker 2: boasts a pretty unique paint job. While most deer species
- 6:04Speaker 2: are born with natural camouflage that work so freaking well
- 6:07Speaker 2: in a variety of environments. The antelope is brown and
- 6:10Speaker 2: bright white. They are highly visible, which might be because
- 6:15Speaker 2: they don't care if you know they're there or not,
- 6:17Speaker 2: because they can see you first and run away seventeen
- 6:19Speaker 2: times as fast as you can. Maybe that paint job
- 6:23Speaker 2: is just there to taunt you a little bit. Maybe
- 6:27Speaker 2: it's like when Mark used to wear bright green and
- 6:29Speaker 2: orange jumpsuits while he and his buddies used to do
- 6:32Speaker 2: yo yo tricks for crowds up to seven people at
- 6:34Speaker 2: one time. They wanted the attention and they look damn
- 6:38Speaker 2: good getting it. Now. The anelope isn't that cool, but
- 6:41Speaker 2: he's pretty cool. He's also a hell of a lot
- 6:44Speaker 2: of fun to hunt, and you know what else, I
- 6:47Speaker 2: think he's the most underrated Western game species out there.
- 6:52Speaker 2: Everyone wants to go after elk in the mountains or
- 6:55Speaker 2: meal deer, which is pretty understandable in my book, but
- 6:58Speaker 2: those opportunities are getting harder to come by. Analope opportunities
- 7:03Speaker 2: are becoming somewhat limited as well, But there are still
- 7:06Speaker 2: affordable DIY hunts out there that you won't have to
- 7:09Speaker 2: build fifteen twenty years of points to get to and
- 7:14Speaker 2: I think you should consider these hunts before they are
- 7:16Speaker 2: gone as well. I really do. I think analope hunting
- 7:19Speaker 2: is one of the most unique hunts you can do.
- 7:22Speaker 2: And I want to start with a highlight reel why
- 7:24Speaker 2: I think so. I want to get the good stuff
- 7:26Speaker 2: rattling around in your brain before I give you the
- 7:28Speaker 2: bad news about antelope, So here it goes. Analope are
- 7:33Speaker 2: pretty easy to find, the easiest big game animal to
- 7:37Speaker 2: find that I've ever hunted. To be honest, they just
- 7:40Speaker 2: don't hide a whole lot. They aren't really nocturnal, so
- 7:43Speaker 2: they do most of their anlope stuff in the daylight.
- 7:45Speaker 2: And that's a good thing. You can be in the
- 7:47Speaker 2: game all day long on antalope if you have the
- 7:50Speaker 2: fortitude to hunt them all day long. An Analope are
- 7:54Speaker 2: delicious too. In fact, if you take care of them.
- 7:58Speaker 2: I think they're the best eating game animals out there,
- 8:01Speaker 2: at least out of all the animals I've eaten, which
- 8:03Speaker 2: is quite a few at this point. I know people
- 8:05Speaker 2: will claim that elk or white tails are better, but
- 8:07Speaker 2: antlope is the clear winner. If you don't lead the
- 8:09Speaker 2: hide on for three days after you shoot him. If
- 8:12Speaker 2: you get him skinned in on ice pretty quickly, it's
- 8:14Speaker 2: unbelievable meat, and the only downside to it is there
- 8:17Speaker 2: really isn't much of it to start with compared to
- 8:19Speaker 2: the other stuff we hunt. You can also hunt antalope
- 8:23Speaker 2: quite a few different ways, but the two most popular
- 8:26Speaker 2: styles are one that is really fun but also super
- 8:29Speaker 2: difficult spotting and stalking, and one that is mostly horrible
- 8:33Speaker 2: from start to finish and can also be pretty difficult
- 8:36Speaker 2: sitting water holes. Here's the thing about the two. Spotting
- 8:40Speaker 2: and stalking an antlope is fun, but it's real difficult
- 8:44Speaker 2: with a bow. With a gun, it's actually pretty easy.
- 8:48Speaker 2: Provided you can walk over flat ground for enough miles
- 8:51Speaker 2: with a bow, you're in for a challenge. I don't
- 8:54Speaker 2: think there is a DIY domestic type of bow hunt
- 8:57Speaker 2: that is tougher, but then again, I haven't done them all.
- 9:00Speaker 2: I think spotting and stocking antelope with a bow ranks
- 9:03Speaker 2: right up there with killing a good buck on public
- 9:05Speaker 2: land in any state with high hunter numbers. It's no joke.
- 9:10Speaker 2: With a rifle, you know, it's not a joke either,
- 9:12Speaker 2: but it's nearly a foregone conclusion for a competent hunter
- 9:15Speaker 2: who can shoot. And that's not a knock on it either,
- 9:18Speaker 2: it's actually an endorsement. If you aren't sure you're cut
- 9:21Speaker 2: out for Western hunting because you don't want to climb
- 9:24Speaker 2: mountains and don't like eating expensive tags, well, buddy, I've
- 9:28Speaker 2: got good news for you. The antelope is out there,
- 9:31Speaker 2: and getting a rifle tag isn't terribly difficult in a
- 9:33Speaker 2: whole bunch of different states. Now, you might have to
- 9:35Speaker 2: play the points game for a few years, but you'll
- 9:37Speaker 2: get your chance, and when you do, you'll find that
- 9:41Speaker 2: not only are they easy to locate, but if you
- 9:43Speaker 2: can shoot straight, you'll see they are as delicious as
- 9:46Speaker 2: I say, and they're easy to get out of the field.
- 9:51Speaker 2: The biggest antelope on the prairie might weigh what a
- 9:53Speaker 2: yearling doe does in Michigan, so getting them out of
- 9:56Speaker 2: the field isn't much of an issue. This is honestly
- 10:00Speaker 2: a bigger component of a Western hunt than most folks
- 10:02Speaker 2: give it credit for. We often overstate our physical abilities
- 10:06Speaker 2: when we were at sea level and not standing at
- 10:08Speaker 2: nine thousand feet over a dead animal that weighs four
- 10:11Speaker 2: times your average whitetail buck and needs to be carried
- 10:14Speaker 2: to a truck that is five miles away. That's a
- 10:17Speaker 2: different world, and it is not for everyone. Most people,
- 10:21Speaker 2: on the other hand, could get an antelope out of
- 10:24Speaker 2: the field without having a major chest grabber or pulling
- 10:27Speaker 2: a hammy. And that's not nothing, my friends. There are
- 10:31Speaker 2: a lot of awesome things about antelope, but now it's
- 10:34Speaker 2: time to take our medicine. Antelope hunts are usually hot.
- 10:39Speaker 2: If you bowhunt them, it's damn near a guarantee that
- 10:42Speaker 2: you're going to sweat your knackers off. Mid August openers
- 10:47Speaker 2: are the norm, and if you wait till September, you
- 10:50Speaker 2: might get a break of a couple of degrees, but
- 10:52Speaker 2: it isn't going to be much. Pronghorn also have the
- 10:55Speaker 2: annoying habit of living in places where trees are more
- 10:58Speaker 2: rare than finding a hunting cameraman who isn't the loudest
- 11:00Speaker 2: person you've ever met. You won't get to lay up
- 11:03Speaker 2: in the shade African Lions style, while though day progresses
- 11:07Speaker 2: in the cooler temperatures, are finally delivered upon the scorched
- 11:10Speaker 2: wasteland that antelope call home. On a spot in stock
- 11:14Speaker 2: hunt this is a concern, but it's pretty easy to
- 11:16Speaker 2: keep a cooler full of cold water in the truck.
- 11:19Speaker 2: On a water hole hunt from a blind, well, you're
- 11:22Speaker 2: in for a real treat. There's nothing quite like it,
- 11:26Speaker 2: and if you're into suffering, you better get out there
- 11:28Speaker 2: and try it. The rub here is that it's the
- 11:31Speaker 2: best way to earn a high odd shot at an antelope.
- 11:36Speaker 2: It's just that you'll pay for it, kind of like
- 11:39Speaker 2: how most people view all day sits for running white tails.
- 11:43Speaker 2: You know, the idea is simple, and the theory is sound.
- 11:45Speaker 2: Put in your time, all of your daylight time where
- 11:48Speaker 2: the odds of a cruiser are high, and then eventually
- 11:51Speaker 2: you'll be rewarded. But talking about this stuff is a
- 11:55Speaker 2: hell of a lot easier than going through it. The
- 11:58Speaker 2: idea of a water hole analope hunt is like that.
- 12:02Speaker 2: It sounds easy, and it should be, but let me
- 12:05Speaker 2: tell you something, it sucks. I've never killed one that
- 12:10Speaker 2: way and haven't really given it my best effort, to
- 12:12Speaker 2: be honest. I have sat dark to dark in quite
- 12:16Speaker 2: a few blinds on the prairie, and I've seen plenty
- 12:18Speaker 2: of goats out there. I just haven't had the right
- 12:20Speaker 2: one come in. I have also found spots with like
- 12:24Speaker 2: a lone cottonwood over a pond that antelope will occasionally
- 12:27Speaker 2: swing in to drink from. That's marginally better because the
- 12:31Speaker 2: view is nice and you're not stuck in a hot
- 12:33Speaker 2: canvas box all day. If you do find that, it's
- 12:36Speaker 2: a pretty good option. Plus, analope don't look up well.
- 12:41Speaker 2: They probably do, but they aren't as hip to the
- 12:43Speaker 2: whole tree standard tree saddle game as your average white
- 12:45Speaker 2: tail fawn in Pennsylvania or South Carolina. I think the
- 12:49Speaker 2: best way to plan an analope hunt is to keep
- 12:52Speaker 2: an open mind. Now, if you're going to rifle on them,
- 12:55Speaker 2: it's pretty simple. Got learned to glass like I talked
- 12:58Speaker 2: about in the last few episodes, and then figure out
- 13:01Speaker 2: how to get in range when you see them. Pretty
- 13:03Speaker 2: damn simple, pretty damn fun. But if you want to
- 13:06Speaker 2: bow hunt them, I'd plan around whatever style you think
- 13:09Speaker 2: will suit you best. But I'd also have other options
- 13:13Speaker 2: just in case. Even if I'm dead set on walking
- 13:16Speaker 2: one down with my bow, I usually have a blind
- 13:19Speaker 2: in the truck. I might have escouted a few water
- 13:23Speaker 2: sources or run across a tank out there somewhere when
- 13:26Speaker 2: I'm roaming around, but either way, it's just worth having
- 13:29Speaker 2: the option. And the reason for this is simple, You're
- 13:33Speaker 2: probably going to really suck at stocking them. I do.
- 13:37Speaker 2: I'd say it probably takes me like ten or twelve
- 13:39Speaker 2: stocks on average to get into bow range, and even
- 13:42Speaker 2: getting there isn't the end of the deal. They will
- 13:45Speaker 2: spot you often and they usually won't stick around to
- 13:49Speaker 2: let you range them, draw, settle in, and execute a
- 13:52Speaker 2: perfect sixty seven yard shot on an animal that requires
- 13:55Speaker 2: precise aiming. Now, this is another point I should probably
- 13:59Speaker 2: get into. Rifle shots seem to be pretty much what
- 14:02Speaker 2: you'd expect. It's not that hard to get within maybe
- 14:05Speaker 2: two or three hundred yards of an antelope, which is
- 14:07Speaker 2: where a flat shooting rifle with a decent rest is
- 14:09Speaker 2: damn near a sure thing. Spotting and stocking antelope with
- 14:13Speaker 2: a bow on the other end, it's a different story.
- 14:17Speaker 2: Forty yard shots are a gift, especially if you only
- 14:20Speaker 2: have four or five six days to hunt, plan to
- 14:23Speaker 2: shoot farther than you would with white tails. Just trust
- 14:26Speaker 2: me on that. You might also want to try a
- 14:28Speaker 2: decoy to increase your odds. If you're hunting September, this
- 14:32Speaker 2: can be a hell of a lot of fun. A
- 14:34Speaker 2: small buck decoy or a dough decoy can sometimes get
- 14:36Speaker 2: them running in, but you get a lot of goats that,
- 14:39Speaker 2: for whatever reason hit the brakes at like sixty yards
- 14:42Speaker 2: and acts an awful lot like they aren't going to
- 14:44Speaker 2: stick around long. This This is panic time, and it
- 14:48Speaker 2: leads to dumb shots. A better bet if you're going
- 14:50Speaker 2: to decoy is pay attention to the herds you can see.
- 14:53Speaker 2: Is there a stud buck running off some dings, then
- 14:56Speaker 2: you're in the right scenario. Is there just a herd
- 14:59Speaker 2: with a buck or two that seems to be feeding
- 15:01Speaker 2: and loafing but not interested in fighting or playing grab ass?
- 15:04Speaker 2: A decoy to them might be the signal to move
- 15:06Speaker 2: off a few miles. Now, if you have low standards,
- 15:10Speaker 2: and I think you should, a group of young bucks
- 15:12Speaker 2: can be a decoyer's best friend. They often respond pretty
- 15:16Speaker 2: well and it's pretty exciting when they do so. Either way,
- 15:21Speaker 2: you have a few decoy options. You can go out
- 15:24Speaker 2: there and you can use something like a Montana decoy.
- 15:26Speaker 2: I've used those quite a bit. Or there's bow mounted
- 15:29Speaker 2: options like the Ultimate Predator decoys. They both work, but
- 15:32Speaker 2: if you use a bow mounted one. Just make sure
- 15:34Speaker 2: to practice with it beforehand. They're designed really well and
- 15:38Speaker 2: they can work really well, but it's just like a
- 15:41Speaker 2: slightly different shooting experience that you should be comfortable with
- 15:44Speaker 2: before you head out there. And make sure you have
- 15:47Speaker 2: the right gear too. Now this is a shameless plug,
- 15:50Speaker 2: but you want really breatheable, insanely lightweight clothing like our
- 15:53Speaker 2: first light trace options. If you don't buy them, that's okay,
- 15:57Speaker 2: buy something that is built like them, because you don't
- 15:59Speaker 2: want anything even remotely heavy or insulating on an antelope hunt.
- 16:04Speaker 2: In fact, it's a good idea to take your potential
- 16:07Speaker 2: antelope clothing and wear it out while you're doing some
- 16:09Speaker 2: summer scouting or tree stand work back at home, just
- 16:13Speaker 2: so you know whether you've made the right choice or not.
- 16:16Speaker 2: I can't stress this enough. Also, make sure you have
- 16:19Speaker 2: decent optics and a quick drawway to get to your rangefinder.
- 16:24Speaker 2: Antelope move fast, hunts unfold quickly, and popping a quick
- 16:28Speaker 2: reading off of a buck so you can get a
- 16:29Speaker 2: shot is important. This goes for bowhunts, of course, but
- 16:33Speaker 2: also rifle hunts. They're a small target and you don't
- 16:37Speaker 2: want to guess ranges or take the wrong reading with
- 16:39Speaker 2: your rangefinder. You want to know the exact distance so
- 16:42Speaker 2: you can hold for it. There's a lot more stuff
- 16:45Speaker 2: I could cover with antelope, but this is kind of
- 16:48Speaker 2: an overview why I think everyone should consider a hunt
- 16:50Speaker 2: for them and what you should expect if you do.
- 16:53Speaker 2: It's not for everyone. If you really hate the heat
- 16:56Speaker 2: and August bowhunt might not be in the cards, but
- 16:58Speaker 2: maybe an October rifle hunt it could be. If you
- 17:01Speaker 2: want to experience a really cool Western hunt that will
- 17:03Speaker 2: cost you less both financially and physically in general, and
- 17:08Speaker 2: won't require as much of your time as a mule
- 17:10Speaker 2: deer or an elk adventure, the pronghorn is your guy.
- 17:15Speaker 2: Consider it, think about it, get out there if you
- 17:18Speaker 2: want to do it before it gets too late, and
- 17:20Speaker 2: of course check in next week because I'm going to
- 17:23Speaker 2: be talking about how we are all hypocrites when it
- 17:25Speaker 2: comes to hunting, so we should just try to be nice.
- 17:30Speaker 2: That's it for this week. I'm Tony Peterson. This has
- 17:32Speaker 2: been the Wire to Hunt Foundation's podcast, which is brought
- 17:35Speaker 2: to you by First Light. As always, thank you so
- 17:38Speaker 2: much for listening, We truly appreciate it. Here If you
- 17:41Speaker 2: want more of a hunting fix, whether that's white tails
- 17:44Speaker 2: or elk ormal deer, or training dogs or whatever. Head
- 17:47Speaker 2: on over to them meat eater dot com and you'll
- 17:49Speaker 2: see all of our series that we're putting out, the
- 17:53Speaker 2: video series, podcasts, you'll see tons of articles. There's so
- 17:58Speaker 2: much information there. If you want to scratch at it,
- 18:01Speaker 2: go check it out. Thank you, m