Antelope Hunting

Antelope hunting is believed to have become popular about the year of 1417 A.D. when antelope were first spotted on the banks of the Euphrates River, which runs 1700 miles from Turkey, emptying into the Persian Gulf. This early species of antelope demonstrated savage behavior having long horns with saw like edges that could cut down small trees. They were elusive and difficult to deal with. Today antelope hunting for native species would be found mostly in Africa and in parts of Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, India and Russia.

Antelope hunting in North America usually focuses on the Pronghorn antelope. The Pronghorn antelope is not a true antelope, however. The Pronghorn is from the family Antilocapridae, whereas a true antelope is of the Bovidae family. A true antelope has horns that do not branch out and they do not shed their horns. The Pronghorn sheds their horns on an annual basis and their horns branch out.

Different species of antelope have been imported for exotic game hunting in North America and several other countries as well. The state of Texas with its high number of game hunting ranches has a climate that is hospitable to the native African species. In Texas you can hunt on game ranches for Blackbuck Antelope, Gemsbok and Nilgai, which have been imported into the area from Africa.

Antelope utilize running speed for protection and their unusual speed provides the ability to graze on large amounts of open acreage. Normally antelope travel in herds. They have excellent hearing and their coloring serves as a natural camouflage, which protects them from predators. The true species of antelope have been known to leap into dense inaccessible brush when predators come too close. However, the Pronghorn antelope is not built for leaping, but for very high speeds, clocked at more than 55 mph.

Antelope that prefer open grassland depend on their agility, fast speed and endurance to give them advantage over predators.

The distinctive markings with white rump patches, makes it fairly easy to spot a Pronghorn in an open area using a rifle with a scope. Therefore, a long distance shot can bring down one of these animals.

One outfitter in the state of Wyoming brags that their state is the Pronghorn capital of the world. They believe that ¾ of the entire population of Pronghorns are located within a 125 mile radius of Casper, Wyoming.

However, Colorado, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, New Mexico and Texas may strongly disagree with those statistics.

The adult Pronghorn antelope weighs about 100 to 155 pounds and are about 5 ¾ feet in length at maturity. They have barrel-shaped bodies. Their hair is course, very dense with guard hairs that are hollow, which gives extra insulation against extreme temperatures. Their color is usually brown with cream-colored underbellies. The males sport short black manes on their necks with a black stripe that runs across the forehead from horn to horn.

The Pronghorn’s name arises from their set of erect horns that have a posterior hook and a short anterior prong. The female horns are smaller or absent. Their horns begin to grow at about 6 months of age.

Antelope hunting is a great sport and a terrific way to enjoy some of the West’s open ranges.