CANADA: Antelope in Southern Alberta, Finally

[Neil Molendyk]

Well, I finally got my pronghorn. It was a team effort as I had my son and two grandsons as part of the hunting party. First off, I waited too long to trigger my tag but that was mainly because I wanted to be in a zone where I could access properties as most of the hunting is on private or leased land and it has been extremely dry in southern Alberta, access is very limited, no vehicle traffic off of roads so lots of spotting. Most antelope were 500 to 1000 plus yards away and with the open fields and pastures stalking was next to impossible. As luck would have it, on day four (it's only a seven day season in Alberta) we spotted a decent buck that was approaching a water dugout that afforded a little bit of cover. To add to the challenge there were four does that had watered earlier and their level of alert had them leaving the area. I was afraid the the buck would soon skedaddle as well but as it turned out luck was on my side for once. A sneak was made and a single shot from the 25-06 took him down at 180 yards. The South African Vektor mauser did it again. Initially I thought he wasn't as big as he turned out, his horn length measured over 13" but his horn girth was massive, the bases were almost 7", first quarter (D2) 7 & 1/2" and carried his girth to over 5" (D3) above the prong and (D4) at 4 & 1/2". An interesting side note, on his right hand side of his torso there was a straight line about 30 inches long where a bullet from a previous hunter had grazed him, leaving a strip of missing hair a quarter of an inch long but not touching the body. Definition "that was close". Two days later the area had gone from a beautiful weather to heavy snow with three foot deep snow drifts. Some time, timing is everything. Incidentally the attached picture is of my son, not me.

 

[gesch]

Well, I finally got my pronghorn. It was a team effort as I had my son and two grandsons as part of the hunting party. First off, I waited too long to trigger my tag but that was mainly because I wanted to be in a zone where I could access properties as most of the hunting is on private or leased land and it has been extremely dry in southern Alberta, access is very limited, no vehicle traffic off of roads so lots of spotting. Most antelope were 500 to 1000 plus yards away and with the open fields and pastures stalking was next to impossible. As luck would have it, on day four (it's only a seven day season in Alberta) we spotted a decent buck that was approaching a water dugout that afforded a little bit of cover. To add to the challenge there were four does that had watered earlier and their level of alert had them leaving the area. I was afraid the the buck would soon skedaddle as well but as it turned out luck was on my side for once. A sneak was made and a single shot from the 25-06 took him down at 180 yards. The South African Vektor mauser did it again. Initially I thought he wasn't as big as he turned out, his horn length measured over 13" but his horn girth was massive, the bases were almost 7", first quarter (D2) 7 & 1/2" and carried his girth to over 5" (D3) above the prong and (D4) at 4 & 1/2". An interesting side note, on his right hand side of his torso there was a straight line about 30 inches long where a bullet from a previous hunter had grazed him, leaving a strip of missing hair a quarter of an inch long but not touching the body. Definition "that was close". Two days later the area had gone from a beautiful weather to heavy snow with three foot deep snow drifts. Some time, timing is everything. Incidentally the attached picture is of my son, not me.

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Really nice looking animal. I would enjoy having a chance to go for in in the future. Congratulations. Your friend , Brian

 

[gesch]

Really nice looking animal. I would enjoy having a chance to go for in in the future. Congratulations. Your friend , Brian

What ammunition did you use?

 

[Firebird]

I like that you can see his hand that doesn’t reach all the way around the bases!

 

[Neil Molendyk]

What ammunition did you use?

Handloads
Hornady brass
100 gr Nosler solid base bullet
56.5 gr IMR 7828 (not the SC)
CCI 250 primer
choreographed at 3250 fps

components were what I had on hand

 

[gesch]

Thanks. I find this very helpful. Your friend. Brian

 

[Aaron N]

Congratulations! This is a draw that has eluded me over the years. I don’t know much about them, but to me he looks like an old worn down trophy!

 

[Fixfire]

The most underrated NA big game animal!!
Well done!!

 

[CoElkHunter]

Very nice! Congrats!

 

[Neil Molendyk]

Congratulations! This is a draw that has eluded me over the years. I don’t know much about them, but to me he looks like an old worn down trophy!

The taxidermist that I use was impressed with the mass, and it has ivory like tips, apparently not that common on the species. Thanks

 

[NDWoods]

Congrats to you sir. I love that you did it with family.

Pronghorn is a special animal. My Pronghorn is my most prized animal.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Congratulations.

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

love to hunt one one day

 

[cls]

Well done, which WMU were you hunting?

 

[Neil Molendyk]

Well done, which WMU were you hunting?

WMU 148,116,119 &124 were all in the draw area. Got him in 116, south of Medicine Hat.

 

[cls]

Great area around Manyberries, also some really good mule deer in that part of the province. Congratulations again on a fine antelope.

 

[Nyati]

Congrats !

 

[Ragman]

Congrats on a nice goat, and yes you timed it perfectly. My stepson was out hunting south of Moose Jaw and got caught in it. Very sketchy drive back in to town!

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Handloads
Hornady brass
100 gr Nosler solid base bullet
56.5 gr IMR 7828 (not the SC)
CCI 250 primer
choreographed at 3250 fps

components were what I had on hand

@ Niel Molendyk.
Nice mild load but very effective.
The 25-06 will get 3,400fps with 100gn bullets and over 3,000 with the 117grain SST
It is an amazing round and great for open country.
Bob