RedAllison

muley the only way to decrease a bullets wind drift is to make it go faster, and that means magnums!

As far as the bipod, I simply wouldn't even think about going after 'lopes without one! My brother and I both had them on our guns lastyear in WY and both of the shots we had (his at 300 and mine at 367) were relatively quick, his buck was chasing off other bucks and mine was following along with the herd as they were about to move off. We would not have had time to make a rest (and out of what I don't know, there was only sage brush and alot of dust out there). I likewise used mine on my muley, though he was less than 100yds and I had plenty of time, the old saying goes "if you have a rest USE IT!".

I used a Caldwell that is just like the Harris bi-pod that affixes too the front sling stud of the rifle stock. It is adjustable for both prone and kneeling. They add a lil weight but in typical 'lope country weight really isn't a problem (you'll probably be driving around alot) and you certainly don't have to worry about snagging it on brush because there simply ISN"T much around in the plains.

Good luck,
RA

muley69

Red, nice post and I appreciate the input. I will definately go with a bi-pod, all I needed was somebody to say they had good luck with them. I am also going to go with a high powered scope. The first loper I ever stabbed I shot at about 220 yards with 06, it dropped in it tracks. I sttod up and chambered another round when my father in law said "shoot him again!" The little booger got back up and ran. He stopped at about 280 yards and I shouldered the rifle and shot again, down he went. When we got up to him there was one entrance hole and two exit holes, my father-in-law was stunned. "That second shot was a hell of a shot." "Yeah, well I do alot of shooting." I calmly said. The truth is, I just aimed slightly high and squeezed the triger as soon as the crosshairs were in place, the shot was just dumb luck and I could never hit the same hole twice again, but I'll be damned if I ever tell my father in law different! Sometimes you just get flat out lucky, to this day he still thinks I'm a crack shot!

RedAllison

LOL muley I know what you mean. My buck was a "quick one" in that we had just dropped my brothers buck off at the processors back in Buffalo, grabbed lunch and hightailed it back out too the ranch to go after a lope for me. On the drive into the ranch (it was 100k acres) we saw a great buck in a herd about a 1/2 mile off the main ranch road. We drove on out of sight of the goats and then pulled off the road and quickly got "the basics" and took off after the herd. I had my rifle, my brother had my cam corder and our guide had his spotting scope. Like I said, an hour earlier we were back in town eating lunch and talking about the big lope my brother had just shot.

We covered the ground quickly and as we peeked over a hill there stood my buck about 400yds away. They didn't know we were around but they were moving off at a steady pace. My guide and brother took a sit where they could see and I was forced to ease on up too the top of the slope we were on. I am 6'4" and my big Sako has a 26" barrel plus another couple inches of KDF muzzlebrake in addition too the bi-pod, did not a sneak below the sagebrush make! By the time I snake crawled 30yds I was breathing hard and could hardly hold my Leica rangefinder on the buck steady enough to get a read. The buck finally paused a moment and the rangefinder flashed 367 so I knew I only had to put the crosshairs on him and crank one off! BTW I too recommend big optics for sagegoats. I took my Warbird as much for the 6x24x50 Swarovski as I did for the extreme flatness of the cartridge.

Killing wise, yes the lil boogers can take some thumpin. Like I said, I was winded, nervous, had a typical WY crosswind on a long shot and to top it all off I knew I was being filmed and would NEVER live a miss down so when I pulled the trigger on my buck as he was broadside I cleanly hit him in the back of the lungs/liver too which he then swung left and faced me head on. I put another round into him that took his left leg out of commission and exited just in front of his right hind leg. He STILL stood there, I could hear my guide saying, "Give him another one". I was about to jack the bolt when the buck quivered and began to take a step on the now decommissioned left leg which then sent him too the dirt for good! My 150 Lazerhead was still doin 3k fps at that range and that lil dude took two of them in the breadbasket and still stood for a couple of seconds! [:-]

The muley I took and basically ALL the whitetails I have ever killed with that gun have gone down like they were hit by lightning. That is when I decided that speedgoats are nothing but 130# elk!!!
RA

hillbillyhunter1

Hey Muley,
Just another option you might consider instead of the bi-pod is the stoney point steady sticks. They are shock corded and extremely light. I just stick mine inside of strap on my fanny packand clip it to a d-ring (quick draw style). I would bet that I can be set up with them as fast as any bi-pod and they seem more stable on uneven groun as they adjust instantly to almost any angle. I feel like bi pods are clumsier especially if you decide to cover a little walking distance or have to shoot off hand for any reason or taking a rest of another object (fence, log, whatever). plus you can take the sticks "up the mountain" on another type of hunt with negligible weight. Just a thought.

TomFromTheShade

When you guys are picking calibers suitable for hunting pronghorn, I think that some of you are using a little too much gun. I wouldn't imagine buying a 300 magnum for pronghorn and a few coyotes. I would think that something in the measure of a .243 - .270 would be ideal. If you really feel the need to move into the magnum caliber I would go no larger than the 7mm magnum. In fact, that might be the ideal choice due to the wide variety of bullets available in 7mm.

Judyboi

I use a .270, but I have kinda felt a little over gunned. In my opinion a .243 would be perfect.

Hunter06FlKy

same here

BigBob .30-06

muley69,
There are many fine antelope cartridges.
.25-06
.270 Win
.280 Rem
.30-06
.264 WIN Mag
.308 Win.
I've taken antelope with all of these and would be real happy to use them again.
The only cartridge I've used with less than stellar results was a .243. The 100 grain Sierra didn't go through the shoulder on a diagonal shot. Spent the rest of the day getting him. Good luck.

BareBack Jack

A realy fun antelope cartrige is the .300 RUM now thats a good gaot gun.

But in all acuality there is no better than the 25-06 115 gr or 117 gr pillis.For the bi-pod,I never liked the extra bulk and pain in the but set-up.A day pack or a coat work just as well.
BBJ

TerryM

If you feel that the 2506 is not loud enough for you you might want to look at either the .257 Weatherby or a .270 Win Short Mag. They both fall into the lazer beam class IMHO.