Refles and Loads

THE GUN DIGEST:
There is little difference between refle-cartridge requirements for rough
country antelope hunting and those for flat country hunting. and those
for flat country hunting. The main consideration is this--you will be
packing your rifle over a lot of tough miles on your own two feet,even
though some of it may be on top of a pony. Down in the flatlands, where
most hunting is done from some kind of gas buggy, weight is of little conse-
quence. Fact is, maybe the extra weight of a heavy barrel, from the

standpoint of accuracy and holding qualities, will be the advantage you
need to make a long shot good.
The rifle to be used in the rough stuff, especially if it is high country,
should not weigh over 9 pounds complete with scope, and 8-8 1/2 is better.
A good 4x scope is as good as any, but if you like a variable and want to pack
the extra weight and bulk, they're OK too. As magnification, you'll have
just as much use for high power in rough country as on flat land. The
higher powers will often be of more value in hill country than on the flats.
Heat waves over flat land raise merry old hell with long range clear sighting
when you have too much power, especially on a hot, sun-bright day. With
some kind of crosshair type reticle, not coarser than medium, there is little
use for more than 4x. If the antelope is so far away you can't see him fairly
plainly, he's too far off to shoot at anyway. If you miss him with a good clear
4x it won't be because you can't see him well enough!
Cartridges suitable for hunting antelope in the rough stuff are much the
same as those best fitted for any other kind of pronghorn shooting. They're
not very big animals, few bucks dressing ou at as much as 100 pounds,
and they aren't hard to kill. Sure, he has his full share of vitality, and when
you sprinkle bullets around the edges and starr adrenalin pumping through
his system, he may go a long way, but he is small and it doesn't take much of
a bullet to penetrate his vital machinery. Most antelope that escape have
been shot in the legs or have been wounded inadvertantly, the hunter as-
suming that only those shich drop at the shot were hit.
Considering these things,it has always seemed to me that the prime
requirements of an antelope cartridge are these:that it shoots as flat as pos-
sible, be as accurate as a good varmint cartrighe, and that it uses a bullet
which exppands very rapidly, even at extreme ranges. Which all points to
high velocity and, in most cases, fairly light bullets. The magnum cartridges
make top-drawer pronghorn medicine because they fire bullets of good bal-
listic coefficient that shoot extremely flat from here to there and are drifted
off target less by the wind along the way.
On average, the range at which antelope will be shot in rough country
is not as great as it is in flat country. There is more cover and the nature
of the terrain makes much closer stalking possible. Howere, if you have a
carrtridges that shoots extremely flat,from here to there and are drifted
off target less by the wind along the way.
On average, the range at which antelope will be shot in rough country
is not as great as it is in flat country. There is more cover and the nature
of the terrain makes much closer stalking possible. However, if you have a
cartridge that shoots extremely flat,so much the better; if you beed the
extra range you've got it, and if you don't, it doesn't matter.
Perhaps one of the finest antelope cartridges of all times is the time-
tested 270 Winchester with 130-gr. bulles. The various 6mm numbers,
especially the new 240 weatherby, are all good pronghorn cartridges, as
are the 6.5mm remington and the 264 Winchester. The 7mm Remington
Magnum and the various wildcats of the same configuration are outstand-
ing for flantness and long range accuracy. Last but not least, there are the
various 30-caliber cartridges ranging from the 30-06 to the 300 Weatherby.
In fact, all of the Weatherby line except the 224 (which will certainly kill
antelope but is not recommended) and up to the 300, are outstanding for
this kind of long range work. Certainly the big 30s are far more powerful
than needed for antelope, but they do have the flat-shooting, wind-bucking,
bullet-expanding accuracy required for long-range shooting at game of this size.
Most of my antelope hunting has been in rough country, and I don't re
call ever killing one at over 300 honest yards. The first one was shot nearly
30 yeares ago with an old 30-40 Krag rifle and a 180-gr. handload. Most of
those I've killed since have been taken with various 7mm cartridges, from
the 7x57 to the 7mm Mashburn Super Magnum.
On average, and in most places, the pronghorn antelope always was and
still is an animal of the plains and flat,sage-covered benchlands. But many
antelope hunters would be amazed if they knew how many antelope there
were in the rough, broken country around the edges of the flats where
they hunt. For the most part, these hunters wouldn't go after them if
they did know they were therw. The popular trend is to pursue them with
a 4-wheel drive rig, with an occasional short hike to the top of some height
of land to tht on be country, then maybe a short stalk. Some of this is
brought on by guides more intersted in the number of hunters they can
handle in a season han in the pleasure of the hunt or in the quality of the
game their hunters kill. The result is that many who have hunted antelope
frequently don't know there is any other way to hunt them.
Few flat land hunters realize that whil they're chasing antelope until
their tongues hang out a foot, trying to get a shot at fust any kind of ante-
lope, some of their more hardy kin are having the time of thier lives stalking
the big bucks back in the foothills.