Tag Archives: Oregon Hunts – Pronghorn

Gerber Reservoir Archery Pronghorn – Antelope

                              gerber-78-py.jpg                               

               Gerber Reservoir 78 P&Y Antelope

My good friend Steve Tandy and I had Archery Antelope tags for the Gerber Reservoir near the Sycan Marsh in South Central Oregon.   We made an early scouting trip near the marsh below Thompson Reservoir.   There was no doubt that there were a lot of lopes in the area.  We were not disappointed at all with the numbers.   We saw a number of dandy big bucks in the area working the water holes.

 It would make for easy setups on stalking or waiting for the lopes out near a waterhole.  The biggest problem that we had on the scouting trip were the mosquitoes, oh my were they bad, one couldn’t even take a leak without them attacking you.  Reminded me of the days in Nam with the blasted things.

 Anyway Steve and I were not able to hunt together on the opening weekend of the hunt.

Gerber Reservoir Antelope are a bit different from other antelope in the typical nature in that they work the timber in the Gerber Res. Unity and not just the open sage brush pockets.   Makes for great ambushing when you know their routes.

Anyway I was very fortune to harvest a nice respectable Antelope that scored 78 P&Y.  I made a 45 yard shot as the buck was coming out of the timber en-route to a waterhole near the power-lines.   In those days I was a shooter for PSE Archery out of Arizona.

I would recommend this area to hunt for Antelope during the Archery season, Youth Hunt or Muzzle-loader season.

Cobra

2007 Silvies Unit Antelope – Brian Henninger PGA Tour Pro

007_19a.jpg

 Hunter Henninger with Dad’s Silvies – Antelope

Hunter Henninger already accomplished hunter:  http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20080203/SPORTS02/154881907/-1/SPORTS02

I do believe that this was the first Big Game Hunt for Brian Henninger with his son aboard in Oregon.   What a hunt for Hunter Henninger to go on, but an Antelope hunt with his dad.   He would have the chance to see game and of course watch his dad harvest a nice Pronghorn – Antelope buck.

As with the two Frank’s in another story, I loaded up a Garmin E-Map GPS for Brian with what I thought were the best waypoints for him to hunt the Silvies Unit.   Brian had waited some 12 years with his collective gathering of preference points to materialize into a Antelope hunt.   This was Brian’s first Antelope hunt in Oregon.

Once hooked on Antelope hunting one wants to hunt them forever.  Only problem it does take a long time to get a tag in Oregon.  You have a great chance in Oregon to take a Boone & Crockett Pronghorn.   You just have to wait it out and not get anxious! 

I do remember Brian’s comment to me after he harvest his dandy buck and got it pack-out to the truck.   “Frank after I left and went down the road about a 1/4 mile, I saw the biggest buck ever standing by a fence line.”   This is the typical case when it comes to Antelope hunting, especially in Oregon.  It has happen to me a number of times while archery hunting for Pronghorns.

 Hunter assisted his dad with the GPS and was an expert in a very short while, giving directions to dad in the field.  I also understand that Hunter Henninger could spot the Antelope better than dad in the field.   Kids are always quick when it comes to spotting animals once they have been trained to spot for something out of the ordinary.

009_17a.jpg

Brian Henninger with his 07 Silvies Antelope & 300 Weatherby

Check out Brian’s Children’s Foundation:

 http://www.brianhenninger.com/

http://www.brianhenninger.com/index.php

South Wagontire Record Class Pronghorn – Antelope

1978-s-wagontire-biggs-01-85-bc.jpg

This 85 B & C was taken in Oregon at 165 yards 

“Bubba we can camp at the XL Spring for the hunt”.  The plan was to make the final scouting of the day in a seeding near Lake Abert.  Plans A, B,  & C had been set for the next day hunting and we wanted to get once last Pronghorn – Antelope scouting trip of the day done.  We were burning daylight and didn’t want to lose any opportunity we could have on this hunt.  The past two days of scouting had been quite satisfying for Rod and myself.  We had come up with three game plans on dandy Pronghorn – Antelope bucks.  Plan A had been our last place before the Lake Abert seeding trip,  it had been a long ways into the Plan A spot and rough navigating getting there.

We had hunts planned by the size of the Pronghorn Antelope that we had found.

One being near Diablo Mtn., which is on the back side of Summer Lake, another being up in the northern part of the hunt unit at St. Patrick Butte, and the last one was near the airstrip out near Paisley off the Red Barn Rd.

 We did not want to disturb the herd and keep our distance out about a mile from a ridge-line that allowed us to view the animals that were watering without being detected.

Number 1 Oregon Archery Pronghorn – Antelope

86-py-lope.jpg        

          86 P & Y Pronghorn – Antelope

Bone couldn’t believe the size of my Dinosaur. “You did it again, Bwana” were his only words, as he finished capping a nice buck he’d taken earlier in the day.  My big guy’s horns measured 14 1/2″ in length, with 7″ cutters and bases of a monstrous 7 1/2″.  His green score was 89 1/2″, and after three months of drying time he was measured 86 P&Y.    This buck is now ranked #3 after 23 years, it held the #1 spot for 9 years!

I have always said that “records are meant to be broken!”

This buck can be seen at Wholesale Sport Outdoor Outfitters (Old Sportsman’s Warehouse) in Portland, Oregon at 82nd and Johnson Creek.