I would love to say I have stories to go with the following pictures, but I do not have stories. Yes I gave out waypoints for the hunters and I am told the were killed with in 1 miles of on of my waypoints. My understanding that Holly T had chances for two (2) bucks over water and harvested her buck with one arrow in 2012. The other two bucks were harvested in 2013 a couple of days apart by Mark and Jim. I will have to see if I can attach a link to the video’s they made of the hunt in the Warner Unit of Oregon. John Mark does work for an bow manufacturer (Bowtech) in Oregon. He lives by the bow and is a most successful hunter.
John Mark, plus his family and friends do shoot Bowtech!
If you would like to get a hold of their video you can find it on the following site:
Holly and Hubby – John Mark!Holly with her Warner Archery Antelope. She got two chances on taking an Oregon Antelope with her bow!
John Mark took his Antelope a few days later on the hunt with Jeff in 2013!Jeff took his buck on the opening day of the hunt! Great Buck from the state of Oregon
As you can see the Warner Unit which has not been devastated by Coyote predication on the Antelope fawns, has lead to a great herd in this unit! I do believe that if we add up the rifle hunters and bow hunters, my hunters are at 100% harvest in the Warner Unit!
This is an interesting hunt that turned out to be a successful hunt for Ace who was hunting with his father. This is not the first time I have had similar accounts on hunting Lopes. Lopes can be crafty and escape a great stalk. A hunter can misjudge the distance as Antelope – Pronghorns are smaller than deer, so it can be difficult to judge the distance. WELL DONE ACE!
Ace with his 2013 Pronghorn from the Juniper Hunt Unit in Oregon. A well earned dandy Lope!
Dear – Frank
We got there on Friday and scouted til dark. We made the big loop and only saw 5 animals. Got up the next morning just before light and went out. It was too dark to see when we left camp so we waited on one of the roads leading to a water hole. I looked over and saw two bucks about 400 yards to our left and Ace shot at one that had a good size rack. Ace missed with 3 shots and they ran off.
The GPS was a Magellan and I couldn’t figure out the software or the unit and so I don’t have the coordinates and we ended up using the BLM maps we got in Burns on Friday. I have always used Garmin’s but a friend lent me this Magellan. The range finder was kind of useless because laying on your belly it gave bad readings and if you stand up the antelope can see you for a long ways.
We went down the road a ways more and saw some of to the right. He crawled out to get a shot and got a shot in a sitting position but also missed. He thinks he was shooting under the animals because the range finder was not accurate in the sagebrush. Then we saw at least one hundred (100) Antelope come over the ridge, but saw three (3) hunters and away they went from us.
As Ace was coming back to the rig we saw one male and six does about eight hundred (800) yards out but no way to get to them. We drove out the main road and headed North we went out another road and saw two groups out on a ridge. Ace crawled out to the gully and come down into it till he thought he was under them. I was watching at the rig with the spotting scope and he came up right under them with my guidance (hand signals). When he got to the top of the ridge they spooked and he got of a shot but missed again.
He decided that he needed to fire his gun when he was in the prone position because offhand and sitting he shook too much. We went out to the main road again and headed North and took a road East. He saw some out at a distance and crawled out to a point where he could get a shot and not be seen by the antelope. He took a shot and dropped this antelope. I drove out in the sagebrush to where the buck dropped, about 3/4 mile from the road. We field dressed it and quarterd it out right there and put the meat in the huge cooler on ice.
A few things we learned. Its hard to sneak up on Antelope on flat ground. Range finders are useless in flat ground with sagebrush. Knee pads are essential for crawling up on Antelope on your belly. You need to be able to cool the meat down fast. Walkie talkies are a great thing to have for communication. Its hard work to get a good shot at an Antelope. Thanks for the GPS points but we hunted on the west side of the unit and your points were for the east side mostly.
We appreciate your thoughtfulness. – Dennis and Ace Clark
The following video was taken during the archery season for Antelope.
The following Video is a pretty good Antelope – Pronghorn buck in the Grizzly Unit. I took the short video while I was bow hunting for mule deer near Clarno, Oregon.
I would love to tell you where this buck was taken, but I promised that I would not give out the exact location. For two (2) years a couple of the fellows in the circle have taken dandy Antelopes from this area in S.E. Oregon. It is a Pronghorn Archery Hunt Unit that takes about 5-7 preference points to get draw. As my biologist that I have known for more years than I can remember told me recently that Oregon has monster Lopes in every unit, “it is just a matter of having the time and patience to find them”.
I myself have hunted a number of units with the arrow and have been fortunate to harvest some big Antelope Bucks! So I know from scouting in almost all of the units that there dandy bucks everywhere.
Pictures from the 2011 Oregon Archery Antelope – Pronghorn Hunt:
A little different profile! Great buck taken by Russ!This is a dandy archery Antelope Buck taken by Russ in 2011This buck was one that got away, but not before Doug took his picture. Definitely a candidate of a buck for Boone & Crockett in 2012!
Most of my friends that have hunted with me over the years, know that I have little patience to sit and wait, though in more recent years I have found that I have grown to be more patient. Thus they know that I love to glass, find and stalk the Mulies and Lopes.
This story is about chasing Antelope in the Grizzly Hunt Unit in Oregon during Archery Antelope Season some years back. In the past one would put in for the premier rifle areas for Antelope and make the second choice for archery, knowing you would get an archery tag. I drew the Gerber Reservoir tag for many years and had a blast chasing and harvesting Lopes in the Sycan area.
Then the Grizzly Hunt Unit became a choice for Archery Antelope and the first couple of years it was easy to get the tag as a second choice. Having hunted for elk and deer in the Grizzly Unit since the early eights and seeing pretty good numbers of Antelope – Pronghorns, it was a great choice to hunt.
There were a great number of areas to hunt Lopes in the Grizzly Unit for public lands in the Grizzly Unit carried Lopes with some numbers. The National Grasslands was a great place, along with the BLM both in the Northern Sector and near Ashwood, Oregon.
Many of friends think I am off the wall with some of my mannerisms when it comes to hunting. First off I would never relieve myself in an area that I hunt and I am going to have a wide stance so none of my sense is getting on my boots or pants.
4x Globe Sight Target Style
Then there is the issue with sunglasses, I would always wear sunglasses during the day and “Photo Grays” for the evening hunts. I felt if the game, especially Antelope can’t see my eyes or movement then I could close the gap on them. I always wore a hat and a backpack with the spotting scope & tripod sticking out of the top. It is what it is with habits and wearing the same pants on every hunt! Terrible that it may be I wore blue jeans as my basic pants! It has never been about hiding from animals, only other humans.
Let’s get onto the Antelope hunt in the Grizzly Unit this time frame in my life! Realizing that story is based on a hunt in the 80’s, things have not changed other than I might hunt more waterholes now as I grow older.
My equipment in those years was P.S.E. Mach Flite 4 Bow 70# 29″ Draw, Easton Arrows, P.S.E. Brute 3 125gr. Broadhead, Stanislawski Sight (Globe), Stanislawski Overdraw Rest (Mel Built for me) and Stanislawski Superb Rest (attached to the overdraw). The length of the arrows are 25 ½’ with a speed of 340 fps!
Couple more years he would have been a dandy buck!
The weather was great and was able to find Antelope in the numbers in the area around Haystack Reservoir and Grays Butte. This was going to be a usual weekend hunt only as I could be make it their in about 1 ½ hours from my home in east Portland. On Saturday I made a number of stalks after spotting lone bucks to within 100 yards. Funny how that distance is workable with Antelope. There were not many does around to mess up my stalks. What I needed was to find Bucks that would be in areas with more cover. The area that I hunted had little water and the Lopes would range into the private for water. Saturday ended with no success, but I would make the most of the following day.
The following day I would work the area on just south of Grizzly Mountain, which was always a great area to find Antelope and Mule deer. It was a time that the road in was not gated off and one could work a lot of area. Now it is gated off, yet it is only because about 100 yards of the road touches private. If one wants to hunt it present day they will have to come around from the west and do a great deal of walking.
I found a lone buck at about 1000 yards while glassing an area that I could find Antelope at any given time. The stalk was on and I was able to move quickly, even run as there were bulldozer cuts in the land for fire lines. Settling down I was within 80 yards of the buck, which I figured to be about 14″ with decent mass making him a shooter on this weekend hunt. The wind was blowing off the mountain as it was getting late into the day. His attention was to the direction of the mountain and with the wind (heavy) I was able to move in on him to 45 yards. It was still a time that I used fingers and as I came up from the crotch position I was a full draw. I aim at this chest and released the shaft, he made no movement as the wind was making a lot of noise and his head was turned away from me. I missed the mark and hit him in the shoulder and the arrow did not pass through him, but yet looked deep enough that he would not go far.
Pretty good mass and cutters
After waiting for about 30 minutes I went to the place of impact and followed a small blood trail, he had gone about 500 yards and laid down in the trees. The area of made up of Junipers, Sagebrush and rocks.
Great way to end a weekend of hunting for Antelope and take a buck that would score around 69″!
This picture tells it all about the hunt! Great shot after the kill!
Roger had only got a hold of me this summer about the Steens Antelope Tag he had drawn. I gave Roger some waypoints and I believe even a jpg paper map. I had another fellow hunting the unit, but it is a large area to hunt, so I felt they would not cross paths which they didn’t! So here is Roger’s great story of his hunt, which I have enjoyed to read which all of you will!
Hi Frank,
Thanks so much for the advice provided for my Steens Mountain antelope hunt. Your advice was the difference between success and tag soup for me. As requested here is a short story and photo of my buck. A very small price to pay for the knowledge provided.
After 14 years I was finally able to draw my Oregon Antelope tag. My wife and I decided Steens Mountain would be a great spot to hunt due to the high success rate and legendary scenery. The trip and hunt, although a calamity from start to finish, did end nicely and we were not disappointed!
I reached out to you after discovering my work would allow no scouting before the trip. In addition, I would be traveling to Steens Mountain on opening morning instead of hunting. I was fretting to say the least. I obtained the hunting GPS maps you recommended and even got a new Garmin 62s GPS to use with them. This was an awesome GPS/map combo that did contribute to my success in the end. The waypoints you provided were great starting points for the search and put us square in the middle of good antelope territory.
My wife and I started out from Portland early Saturday morning with a lot of high hopes and anticipation. This bubble was soon burst however by a flat tire while crossing Mount Hood. This little delay cost us our Saturday and we were not able to reach Steens Mountain until Sunday afternoon. On Monday, the 3rd day of the hunt, a time when most hunters were finishing up, we found ourselves just getting started, with the antelope scattered and wary. It was Wednesday before things started to settle down and we were able to spot a few small herds, though some were now missing the buck.
Thursday morning things were looking up, we had a couple of herds to setup on and again anticipation was high. But again a problem… First thing in the morning, we had an axle issue that forced us to miss the whole days hunt and travel to Burns for repairs!
Friday morning, we were back on the road but a whole week of hunting was fast disappearing. And I had not yet put my sights on a buck. I was starting to dread becoming a member of the “20 Percent Club”, that unfortunate group of Steens Mountain antelope hunters who fail to fill their tag. We tried some road hunting, to cover more ground and find a herd. We were finding them, but once these already fuzzed up antelope saw a truck, approaching them was all but impossible. We tried all the road tricks, like slowing down just enough to drop the hunter out the passenger door and then driving on, but no good, these antelope had seen it all.
Latter Friday morning, we spotted a herd of antelope from some distance, before they were able to spot us. This allowed for a spot and stalk. I was able to work my way to within 489 yards of the herd but could go no further as there was nothing but wide open space between the herd and me. So, I settled in between some small juniper scrubs and started eyeing the buck. He was BIG. After a few days of looking at bucks, once you see a good one, you know it. I was excited to say the least. I got a good shooting position with rifle and bipod and started to contemplate the risks/rewards and even sanity of a 489 yard shot. No wind… I had practiced at 400 yards and felt somewhat competent at that range, but 489 was another story. About then I noticed the herd was actually feeding toward me and a bit to my left. This was my best chance of the week. Now all I had to do was wait them out! But again it was not to be. The herd became very nervous and they were all looking in the direction of a road that I could not see, about 500 yards to my left. They then bolted, crossed under a fence on their side of the field and disappeared. I suspected another hunter had been stalking the same herd and spooked them. I picked up my gear and had started the hike back to the truck, when I heard it… Bang Clang Clang Bang Bang Bang Clang. The herd had been spooked by a rancher with a rattling horse trailer traveling up the road. The only other vehicle I saw the whole day! Such are the challenges of public land hunting I guess.
This is where the GPS/map combo came in handy. While back at the truck, we could see where the antelope had traveled almost full circle and were now visible on a far off rise. The rancher approached our truck on horseback. I explained what had happened and apologies were given and they explained they were in the area to round up some cattle they had grazing the BLM land. I replied, no worries, as the antelope could have just as well spooked my way, which would have been a very good thing. I discussed some property boundaries with the rancher, as the herd had seemed to go under the fence onto private land. I knew this because of the GPS maps. The rancher confirmed that the fence was the boundary between their land and BLM land. The rancher seemed somewhat relieved that I asked about and understood the property boundaries.
The rancher decided to help me get within range of the antelope again. With me hidden between the horses, the rancher attempted to approach the antelope on horseback. The antelope obviously knew this trick too and bolted to places unknown for the day. I spent the rest of the day finding a spot to setup that would allow a good shot, if the antelope returned the next day.
On Saturday morning, last day of my hunt, I walked to the setup spot with just enough light as to not require a headlamp, sat down beside a three foot juniper that was on a small rise overlooking the open field. This gave me a perfect 300 yard shot to where the antelope had crossed under the fence the previous day and also allowed me to cover the opposite side, if they showed up there as well. At 7:30am I saw a buck feeding down the BLM side of the fence line. The buck slowly grazed to about where the antelope had crossed under the fence yesterday. Unfortunately, he was not the same buck from the day before. He was smaller. I watched this buck for about 10 minutes, hoping that the rest of the herd might not be far behind, but no others showed. This buck seemed to be alone. Now I had a decision. Should I take this buck or wait for one that may never show? It was 7:30am, my last day, and some scattered clouds arrived that were beating back the sun. I knew that with the early morning air and clouds, I would be able to get the meat out in good shape. So, I took the buck with one shot from 280 yards with my 25-06. The buck was only 20 yards on the BLM side of the fence. I now have some good meat and stories for elk camp this year!
This is where the GPS/map combo really shined for me. In years past, I would not have hunted an area with such close public/private land boundaries. But the maps allowed me to hunt with confidence and I got my antelope, which I may not have gotten otherwise. I hope to hunt the Beulah unit next year. I know an area where some big mule deer hang out and it too is a patchwork of BLM and private land. I cannot wait…
So you have drawn an Oregon 2010 Antelope – Pronghorn Rifle tag! Would like to know where to go in Oregon and harvest a buck?
You just drew a tag for the 2010 Oregon Antelope – Pronghorn Buck hunt this year. Do you need a spot to hunt in the the Silvies, Juniper, Steen’s, S. Wagontire, N. Wagontire, Paulina, Owyhee,Grizzly Unit and other units. I can help you! I am offering my services with GPS Coordinates put on your GPS or using paper maps.
I have been hunting Antelope’s in Oregon for 30 years and know the hide-outs of the big ones. Check out a few of my sucsessful hunter pages on this web-site. I have help many hunters harvest their Lope with my knowledge of Antelope hunting.
I can help you, just email me and I would be happy to let you know what I offer and fees.
Artistic Taxidermy, Portland, Oregon will have Receiveing Stations for Antelope Trophies taken during the 2008 season at Hampton, OR and Burns, OR. Garret Heying 503-771-DEER http://artistictaxidermy.net/
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.
Brian Henninger with his 07 Silvies Antelope & 300 Weatherby
