Where would you set up?
Pronghorn
So we found this water hole last weekend and it had a pile of lopes at it. It is a cattle tank that overflows onto a small ground pond.
There is a larger fry pond about 80 yards out that the lopes were aggressively feeding in at last light. There were several groups at the water and more in the dry pond etc.
On the west side there is a 10 foot tall cattle snow barrier/wall. The pump and tank are 60 from the wall. The tank is like 5 yards to the overflow little pond where the lopes were drinking.
My wife really prefers a shot under 30 yards but can shoot to 40 if everything is perfect. The sun orb will be from inside the 3 location over the tank in the picture.
Given those parameters and the drawing below.
1. Am I correct in assuming that the pronghorn are always going to prefer the water on the ground vs the tank?
2. Where would you set your blind?
I am thinking about position one as it would be off to the side and not blocking a main route into the water. Only concern is early morning sun. Location 2 would be better for sun issues but might block off one of the main routes into the water. With 1 or 2 I am afraid that the lopes May skirt around the berm With providing a shot and end up facing the blind never giving a shot. So 3 and 4 wpuld almost Garu tee a shot if they went to water but might block the easiest paths into the water….
I will have my wife on this spot at sun up sat and she will be sitting until sunset Sunday. The only other nearby water is a ons filled with cat tails and not real way for the lopes to reach the water without entering a cattail jungle.
So given the drawing and set up where are you setting and why?
FYI not drawn to scale lol.
Set up in whichever location your wind is good for both small pond and not blowing to where you believe majority of antelope are coming from.
What whipranger said. You didn’t mention wind, the other things you mentioned will be a non-factor unless you consider wind.
Is the water tank actively being used by cows? That could interfere with your plans.
Sounds like you’re going to set up and hunt your blind the same day. I know this can work but not always. I would try to get your blind up now if possible.
I would put my blind where you had a shot regardless which water they choose. Most likely the ground water and taking the prevailing wind into account.
They will either walk by your blind to get to water or skirt it and examine the situation before committing regardless where you place it. Same day set ups can be tricky especially if they can smell you. Having a good breeze taking your scent away from the water and their primary travel will be critical.
Good luck!
No cattle currently on this pasture.
The side opposite where the heaviest foot traffic is.
Put blind on water tank. Sit in the water stay cool Really tho, agree downwind and put blind out a week early if possible. I'd the wind was right to put close to the cattle wind barrier even 30 yards from it . It would keep the antelope from behind you somewhat
Agree with above, wind first consideration, and set up the blind ASAP.
Another to consider is where the sun is rising and setting. You do not want to shoot looking directly into the sun. I honestly don't pay much attention to the wind, it changes too much in Wyoming where I hunt. I've had lopes do a complete circle around me and not spook from wind. Just my thoughts
Dig a pit blind in the berm then brush yourself in. You'll be able to kill any antelope you want after that.
I wouldn't worry about the wind as much as the sun skylighting me in the blind. The lopes I have hunted from a blind didn't seem to care about the wind at all. My preference would be blind 2 but if I felt my blind was going to block access I would go with blind 3.
i would set up at blind 2 with the information you provided, mainly because of the sun angle.
Since I've never hunted Pronghorns I have found this thread very informative. I just assumed that they relied on their vision and speed for survival. Never factored wind direction as being relevant to sitting over water. Good luck on y'alls hunt.
I saw first hand how much the wind/scent impacted antelope in WY (and I'm sure everywhere) when I was there last time. A number of people on this site said "don't worry about the wind". I was highly skeptical and it turned out I was right to be so. Unless I'm hunting turkeys, wind is the #1 thing to get right IME.
...and, get your blind up now, if at all possible.
I find if you can put a blind up against some existing "stuff" versus out in the open, makes a difference if you can't set the blind up several days in advance. With that said could you put it against the fence/gates around pump and still have shot to tank and overflow?
The other thing important to me is not having the mostly likely shot being to east or west. So that sun is shining into blind early or late. Making you more visible in blind and can cause a difficult shot into the sun.
Won't say antelope don't wind you. But most likely to come from one direction as the next and they often circle around. I don't believe they use their nose near to the extent deer or elk do.
one year i had a blind set-up at a tire tank in the wide open. the antelope mostly drank from the small stream that formed outside the tank even though it was muddy and presumably did not taste as good.
i was hunting with a stickbow and where they would drink was just a bit too far from where i was set up. one evening i just picked up and moved the blind to a different location that was closer to the small stream. there were antelope off in a distance that watched me move the blind. the next day i returned and killed an antelope. :)
^^^^ Antelope seem to always drink from the nastiest, skankiest, water around. The shallower, muddier, darker, stinkier and buggier the better for whatever reason. Maybe it’s got more nutrients than the clean water near the spring head or deeper parts of a tank or pond or maybe it’s because that type of water generally has less cover around it and they feel more secure.
As far as the guys who think wind doesn’t matter, if you’re sitting in a blind looking out a window or two with the wind blowing any direction but at your back you’re probably not even seeing the antelope that smell you and leave the area. Just some food for thought….
In the water tank up to your neck. NO scent and a close shot. Stay cool plus makes a great story. The blind on top wont bother them
I bet I've spend close to a 100 days in an antelope blind. Most of the time (but not always) I can see more than 1/2 mile in any direction. They don't wind you like a deer does from shockingly far away. If they do they are usually are close and more times than not they get nervous and start doing the half moon walk back and forth. Sometimes you are not sure if it smell or they don't like the blind. Not saying wind is a non existent factor. But no where to the level of deer or elk.
I think it is critical important to have blind sealed up with only as small of shooting window as possible. If any light is getting in blind from behind you are likely being silhouetted in your blind, and I guess that letting more scent escape.
If antelope relied on scent as much as deer or elk. They would always coming in from downwind to water and you would never kill one.
My limited experience is they trust their eyes WAY more than their noses. I worry about them seeing me moving in the blind more than anything. I know Bill Allard told me he pays no attention to the wind when setting up a blind. I have had them come unglued from seeing my blind before and then in another setup not have the slightest care in the world that my blind was there.
JohnMC and BB have WAY more speedgoat experience than me. However, I firmly believe the reason they wouldn't come to the water was because of scent- no doubt in my mind. Blind had been set for weeks and was mostly dug in. No chance in heck they saw me- I was in the back of the blind, in all black (including facemask), sun at my back.
Thanks all. My general gut feelings are being confirmed. Drinking from the water. Sun location is more important. Limited light and limited hole. Luckily there is other garbage around the hole and as such I don’t think the blind will stand out too bad.
I will post how it goes… I have a plan and think it will work.
My limited experience told me they don’t worry about smell much but and movement is killed.
Post a aerial satellite shot for us
"Dig a pit blind in the berm then brush yourself in. You'll be able to kill any antelope you want after that."
I like this idea. It's more work, but it would undoubtedly be the most lethal setup, IMO.. And, it would be there for future hunts.
And you like would be the last person landowner let's hunt. Vast majority of landowners would not want you to dig a hole at one of their water tanks.
Location 2 if I had to make a choice.
Wind has always been important for me.
