5 Tips for Montana Pronghorn Hunting

Last year was the first year I ever got to go antelope hunting in the western states. Needless to say, I fell in love with it. I fell in love so bad to the point that when I did not get drawn this year for my tag, it gave me instant depression. It is a completely different way of hunting compared to anything I have been exposed to before.

For me, I have spent a lot of time in a tree stand in the upper Midwestern woods hunting whitetails. So, when it came time to hunt antelope sitting in a ground blind in the sage grass/cactus land scape in the middle of nowhere, I felt like a fish out of water. I had to learn a lot really fast. Luckily, I went out there with my brother-in-law who has been pronghorn hunting for 20 years and has a very good success rate. So I was confident. All that being said, here are some tips that I learned last year as a first-timer in a short period of time. These helped me be successful, and put a buck on the ground my first time out.

1 - Scouting:

Scouting is again the most important thing for hunting Antelope. The miles you put in driving from one piece of land to the next is a lot. I did two days of scouting, during which we almost put in 500 miles. You have to remember that out there, it is far to go anywhere. When you come across a herd of antelope, you have to stop take several minutes to glass the herd, either with binos or a spotting scope, and find any bucks the herd has to offer.

Sometime, the way they are positioned, and of course the distance from which you are looking at them might not always give you the best view of how mature the buck really is. Don't worry, you can always look for another herd, as you never know what's down the road or over the next hill. There could be a bigger and better one for all you know. The good part is you can always come back. I glassed my antelope 3 times before I made the decision to hunt him.

2 - Private Ranches:

There are some private ranches out there that will allow you to hunt their land with ease. It depends on the state (I hunted Montana), but some ranchers are in a program that allows the public to hunt their land. It is as easy as knocking on the rancher’s door and signing a piece of paper that allows you to hunt their land for 3 days, and you can re-up 3 days after that if no one else has already claimed it. Keep in mind, you may also run into a lot of private ranches that will not let you hunt due to the fact that their land is already leased and/or outfitted.

3 - BLM Land:

BLM land is open to public hunting and there is a lot of it, spread all over. I actually shot my Antelope off of BLM land last year. These lands are a great way to start your pursuit of an antelope, but again it is public land so you have to consider someone is, or has looked at that spot already. The good thing is, these lands have plenty of animals on it, and from solid scouting effort you can often find the antelope you want to go after, and try to harvest.

4 - OnX App:

OnX is a must out here. It is such an important key to success when hunting antelope in the western states. It allows you to pin certain bucks or herds so you can track the areas which have the best situation for you to harvest your antelope. When I was out there last year, I had 4 different bucks I was looking at, and I had each of them pined on my phone. Then I could go back to the different areas and figure how to hunt the buck that I wanted to go after. Also, OnX could tell me information about the the terrain and topography, and how far I had to go to get myself in the best position to have success. Another key piece of information that OnX gives you is the property lines and public vs private land. This way you don't end up where you’re not supposed to be.

5 - Being Patient:

Once you have done your scouting of both private and BLM land, and use your OnX App to pin the buck that is in the right situation for you, it is then time to make a move. Once you're set up or about to put on a stalk, the biggest thing is be patient. Antelope are wild animals and it seems like they do what they want at any time. If you are sitting over a water hole, waiting for the chosen one to show up, patience is key. Sit all day if you have to. If you are spot-n-stalking, it might take multiple attempts to get close enough. Again, be patient. These fast creatures are elusive, yet curious and will probably give you a decent shot at them if you are in fact patient.

The author and his 2020 Montana Pronghorn

I hope these tips are useful for those chasing a pronghorn this fall in Big Sky Country!

-Andy Meeks, Fall Obsession Pro Staff