Eight doe antelope streamed by 12 yards from the shooting hole in the ground blind, heading straight to my decoy. I jerked the black face mask down over my face in the sweltering 99-degree heat. The buck had to be close. Losing patience, I lowered my head to peek through a slit in the right-side window. There he was, 20 yards to my right with an angry stare locked on the decoy. His does hovered within five yards of the fake buck antelope and he did not like it one bit. He made a determined walk forward, slightly angling around the decoy. As he came into view, I raised my longbow and drew on the rutting buck antelope.

When I was a boy, opening day of deer season was October 1st, and anyone with a bow in Michigan was in the woods on the opener. Antelope season is like that on the western plains. The opening day in Colorado is August 15th and many bowhunters start the big game season with an early try at antelope. Anticipation runs high when hunting antelope that haven’t been pursued for 10-11 months. Theoretically, it should be very hot, which means the action should be incredible near water sources. Colorado’s season lasts until September 20th, so what is the rush? It can rain on opening day just as well as on the last day of the season. Many years it can be just as hot in mid-September as mid-August in the high desert plains.

Antelope hunting is special in its own way. The desert is an endless wilderness with its own unique flora and fauna. The most noticeable plant life are the cacti that are found in numerous sizes and shapes and certainly can make a hunter’s task a bit more troublesome. A handful of cholla spines is a painful experience that can happen very quickly with a careless move when setting up a decoy or blind. But one thing to take a hunter’s mind off the dangers of cactus is to be watchful for rattlesnakes; a thorough inspection of the blind, inside and out, is always prudent before settling in for the day. A quality pair of binoculars is useful for so much more than scanning the desert for antelope. Observing coyotes or birds of prey hunting rabbits and prairie dogs can provide an interesting distraction if the antelope are elsewhere.

A decent buck too far for a shot…but not with a telephoto lens!

An antelope’s greatest defense is its eyesight. As one would expect from a big game animal that inhabits open terrain, they are always on the lookout for danger. Of course, the same exceptional eyesight is also a way to observe other herds of antelope, with competing does and potential suitors all circulating in their home area. A lone antelope (i.e., my decoy) by a waterhole may indicate safety or lack of danger. There seems to be a comfort factor with most animals hunted with the use of decoys. It makes sense that an antelope can let their guard down if another one of their species has already checked out the waterhole. During the rut, most bucks are surely aware of the competitors living in their home range. A new male in the area is not a welcomed visitor. A buck will challenge and may do battle with a competitor. The flat decoys will certainly get the attention of a buck and draw them close to bow range, but bucks aren’t a pushover most of the time. The more realistic the setup, the better. The 3-D full body decoy is easier to sell at close range.

The pop-up blind did more to revolutionize antelope hunting than anything in modern times. Sometimes they need to be brushed in and carefully concealed, and other times, not at all. On my most recent hunt in Colorado, we made no effort to conceal the blinds. A pop-up blind, waterhole, and decoy is really a great combination. There are freezers all over North America with packages of antelope steaks as a result of pop-up blinds. Like any hunting venture, attracting a live buck into bow range is only half of the battle. An inexperienced bowhunter might believe that shooting an antelope at 25 yards or less, from the window of a blind, is a simple task. The same could be said of whitetail hunting but we all know that hunters miss more deer than they harvest. My hunting companions on several recent antelope hunts have demonstrated a combination of apparent heat stroke, confusion, poor judgment, and impatience that caused them to launch arrows at antelope bucks that lived to tempt another hunter. An archer’s walk of shame looking for multiple arrows that skipped off the dry desert soil is not uncommon: 1) blind too short; 2) window too small; 3) never shot through a screen before; 4) the antelope was farther than estimated; 5) couldn’t take it anymore and had to shoot; 6) woke up from a nap and the buck was just standing there; 7) should have practiced shooting sitting down; 8) it was huge! Excuses are plentiful. Remember these excuses for your first antelope hunt; you’ll probably need several of them for your first walk of shame in front of a hunting buddy.

The author and his hunting partner Chad Slagle. Chad wrote a story on this hunt as well in the Oct/Nov 2022 issue of Traditional Bowhunter®.

Many archers only hunt antelope in August because elk season begins in September. This is unfortunate because by the second week of September, the antelope rut really heats up. Any experienced bowhunter knows that it’s more productive to hunt whitetail deer and elk in the rut. Plus, it’s a lot more fun to observe the rutting bucks and bulls when they are in love. Both of them are easier to kill when they are in pursuit of the opposite sex. Most hunters won’t be too surprised to find out that the same applies to antelope.

Early season pronghorn bucks can be loners or found in bachelor groups. It’s usually easy to observe and get close to does, fawns, and young bucks, but the big boys can be frustrating. When the rut is going strong that all changes. Most mature bucks are with a group of females and generally challenging competing bucks. This activity leads to more buck sightings at waterholes as they are so active at this time.

The decoy method gets really interesting during the rut. I have been using a full body Flambeau decoy for over 20 years. There are several other decoys on the market including Montana Decoys, MAD Commandelope, and Ultimate Predator. I prefer the 3-D full-size decoy with small horns. It seems to attract both does and bucks. For example, on the first day of my recent hunt, I had my decoy positioned right in front of a primary shooting window. Its head was facing south, but the wind was blowing from the north. The bucks were coming in downwind and hanging up out of range or at a poor angle. I decided I needed to change the set up.

Pronghorn are fun to hunt, and make great table fare if taken care of right away. Skinning and cooling down as soon as possible will give you delicious meat for the table.

After peeking through the cracks of four windows and looking 360 degrees around the blind, I pulled on a camo shirt, which had been hung up in the corner as the temperature had hit the high 90s. Dashing to my decoy, I pulled the three stakes I’d pounded into the hard, dry soil to support it. Picking it up, I moved it 15 yards farther north with the notion that the next buck that confronted the decoy would have to walk broadside past my shooting window. As I started to knock the short stakes into the ground, I looked up and a fawn antelope was running toward me. I started laughing, the little guy must have mistaken my movement as the action of a real antelope. I stooped over and ran in the wide open for a few yards and jumped back into my blind. I looked out the window and the fawn was peacefully drinking 20 yards from my decoy. A minute later the doe ran up to join the fawn.

That amusing episode got me thinking about the potential for one or more hunters moving around with 3-D decoys for stalking antelope. Maybe with antelope hats and Ultimate Predator antelope decoys strapped to bows! Several times small groups of does and fawns came within spitting distance of my decoy. They did not seem to be overly preoccupied with the decoy, it was more of a comfort factor, much like a duck decoy. Over the years, I have had fawn antelope standing and feeding within two feet of the fake buck. However, it does not always work so easily. I have observed does holding up at 80 yards away and blowing at the decoy, which doesn’t help a thing. If they aren’t buying the ruse, take it down and try another day.
Encouraging a big group of antelope to hang around your blind is a good thing, as bucks may follow. During the rut it’s even better as a dominant buck doesn’t like another guy hanging out with his ladies. Focused aggression on a decoy is a definite advantage for a bowhunter that is repositioning and drawing on a buck. Even without the does, the lone decoy may attract a single dominant buck. For a buck looking for does, maybe one or two full body decoys at the waterhole would work. I may try that next year. In high population areas with drought conditions, the decoys may not be a major draw. However, in many areas with scattered herds of antelope and too much water, the decoy could be a game changer during mid to late September.

The author with his Colorado pronghorn buck.

On September 10th, I was hunting on a large ranch in southern Colorado. The mercury was just below 100 degrees as I stared out the window of my blind. The previous day, antelope had come to the water tank and overflow puddles north of my blind on and off all day. Today the desert terrain was void of antelope. I don’t get bored easily as nature has so much to offer an observant outdoorsman. But by 2:00 p.m., I had yet to have a rutting buck approach my location. I started thinking about the buck I had passed up the previous day. He was mature and had horns with some mass and above-average prongs. As I daydreamed, a herd of pronghorns crested a ridge 300 yards to the south. Looking through my 10×50 Zeiss binoculars, I noticed a buck following the does. The antelope covered the gap between us at a rapid pace; they were thirsty. Upon approaching the overflow water in front of my blind, they noticed my buck decoy. They wasted little time encircling my decoy and drinking their fill, all except the buck. He hung back and appeared to be staring down the unwelcome suitor. As he skirted around the other antelope, he came into view of my shooting hole, at just under 20 yards. The handcrafted arrow flew true from my longbow and a seemingly quiet day erupted into excitement as I wrapped my hands around the base of the horns and admired the beautiful rutting buck.

The author practices business and real estate law in Broomfield, Colorado, when he’s not taking his longbow on another adventure.

Equipment Notes: The author used a 47 lb. ACS takedown longbow (aharchery.com), Carbon Express 150 Heritage arrows and Razorcaps broadheads.