Pronghorn! - Larry Weishuhn

It was an embarrassing moment to say the least. I, an experienced wildlife biologist, lifelong

hunter, had pointed toward three animals on a broad open New Mexico plain north of Roswell

and proclaimed them pronghorn antelope.

“I don’t think so!” said my wife. “I think they’re woolly sheep!”

“Hmph!” I replied, irked at being questioned. She simply smiled.

Then, as we got closer I realized I had been wrong, they indeed were sheep, domestic sheep. It

was bad enough that I had misidentified domestic sheep as pronghorns, but what made things

even worse was my wife was right. Snickering and then guffawing from our two daughters in

the back seat did not help my badly bruised ego…

“Daddy, I think you need to go have your eyes checked!” Said the older daughter.

“Yeah Daddy, or, get a book that will help you identify animals!” Added the younger. With the

younger I would several years later have a little revenge, when her first born, our first

grandson’s first words were “Pronghorn Antelope” as opposed to “Mama!”

Many years earlier as a mere youngster myself, I had seen photos of and read articles and

pronghorn antelope. From those stories and seeing photos of our continent’s truly unique

antelope species, I knew I would some day hunt one.

My first opportunity came early in my career as a wildlife biologist when our Wildlife Disease

Project (a joint venture between the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Texas A&M

University’s Department of Veterinary Pathology) got involved in research to determine what

was killing pronghorn on the Rock B Ranch in Permian Basin area mostly west of San Angelo. It

was there I collected my first pronghorn, albeit a young doe that was debilitated by disease,

followed by an ancient buck, shot at extremely long range after I missed him several times.

Both were taken with a Winchester Model 88 lever-action .243 Win. This had happened long

before I, in the presence of my wife and daughters, misidentified domestic sheep as

pronghorns.

I did learn a lesson, painful as it was, to truly use my eyes to their fullest advantage when

looking for pronghorn antelope.

I have long had a “love affair” with pronghorns! One of my pet peeves regarding the species is

when pronghorns are referred to as “speed goats”! They are not goats! They belong to a

family unto themselves, Antilocapridae with a scientific name or Antilocapra americana.

Today’s pronghorn is the only living member of its family. All others of their broad family went

extinct thousands of years ago. Interestingly their closest relatives according to science are

Africa’s giraffes and opakis.

Pronghorns are unique in that not only do they have branched true horns; the outer sheath is

cast each year as a new one begins to grow. No other antelope species does that. They also do

not have “dew claws”, only two distinct hoofs on each of their four feet. Known as the fastest

animal in North America they can run speeds that can exceed 55 miles per hour and run great

distances. To assist in this Mother Nature has equipped them with a “screen” in their breathing

system which strains out pieces of debris, grass and weeds, they might breathe in when running

with their mouths open. They are a uniquely American animal that once was on the brink of

extinction, but was brought back to tremendous numbers thanks to sportsmen’s dollars and

landowner’s interest, a truly great conservation story!

After taking my first pronghorn I hunted his kind many times in Texas, New Mexico in particular,

but also in Colorado and Wyoming. I pursued them with conventional rifles, primarily bolt-

action and single-shots; .45 and .50 muzzleloaders; and a variety of handguns, single-shots and

revolvers.

All my pronghorn hunts have been spot and stalk; challenging and great fun!

As a true plains animal the pronghorn depends upon its eyes for survival, reputed by some who

swear to be comparable to that of a human aided by an eight-power binocular. That may

certainly be true for I have on numerous occasions glassed them from great distances only to

realize they were watching my every move.

In today’s world where we have firearms, optics and ammo which are extremely accurate out

to 1,000 or more yards, I suspect quite a few pronghorns are, or will be taken at extremely long

ranges. If that is how someone wants to pursue animals, that his or her decision. To me that is

shooting rather than hunting. That said, I have taken pronghorn at 500-yards and beyond, but

only I had exhausted any cover that might get me closer. One of those 500-yards shots was on

the famed TO Ranch in far northern New Mexico. I was hosting a hunt that involved several

writers and industry people. As such, I waited until all in camp had taken their pronghorn

before I started hunting. Last afternoon while several watched, I shot at a nice buck at 500-

yards with my single-shot .30-06 T/C Encore handgun, using Hornady’s 165 grain SST loads.

From a solid, rock and backpack, rest my first shot went just under the belly of the broadside

buck. My second went just over his back. He did not know I was shooting at him. My third shot

hit him perfectly behind his shoulder and he dropped in his tracks. Prior to shooting I did not

“range” him, but estimated he was 500-yards away. When he dropped in his tracks two of the

writers with me ranged him at 504-yards. Back then I knew that particular handgun and where

to hold out to 500-yards. This learned from shooting prairie dogs at 500-yards with that

particular handgun. Doing so, I learned much about hold-over and “reading” the wind. The day I

shot the long-distance pronghorn there may have been a 1 or 2 mile per hour wind directly at

my back.

That long-shot pronghorn was an exception, I much preferred to stalk to get as close as possible

before taking a shot. Many times before I slithered like a snake in tall grass, followed shallow

ditches or rills to crawl to within 100-yards or less before taking my shot, even though I carried

a firearm I felt comfortable shooting out to 500-yards and beyond.

Two of the more recent pronghorns I shot in Texas I was hunting with Greg Simons’ Wildlife

Systems (www.wildlifesystems.com) in the Trans Pecos region near Marathon. Both were taken

with Ruger No. 1 rifles; a Ruger No. 1 RSI in .257 Roberts and the other in a 1A, .30-06 shooting

appropriate Hornady ammo. The latter the same rifle I used on the Landers One-Shot Antelope

Hunt a few years ago. I donated that No. 1 to the Water for Wildlife Foundation

(www.waterforwildlife.org) to assist them in their great wildlife conservation work.

The bigger of the two bucks, we spotted at long distance. Through my spotting scope I could

see his horns were massive and deeply hooked. I knew he could possibly be my best antelope

to date in regard to horns…if I could get close enough for a shot.

I was hunting with my .257 Roberts No. 1 RSI, using 117-grain SST Hornady ammo. With it I

could easily keep my shots within a 3-inch circle at 300-yards shooting from a hunter’s rest.

However, I intended to get as close as possible before shooting.

I knew he was a good buck the moment I saw him, even at a great distance. He entire head

looked dark and his horns seemed to be about three times the length of his ears.

It took more patience than I normally possess and a lot of slithering like a snake before my

guide and I finally got within 200-yards of the big buck. Thankfully he was interested in the local

does…but they were getting mighty nervous. There I set up shooting sticks, got a solid rest,

then proceeded to badly jerk the trigger and miss. Thanks to many years of hunting with a

Ruger single-shot I reloaded quicker than most can cycle a bolt, got a solid rest and this time

squeezed the trigger. At the shot the long-lyre-shaped-horned buck took off running a tight

circle as I had seen heart-shot animals do, and then fall before I could shoot again.

Reloaded, I kept crosshairs on my downed antelope. A few moments later we walked toward

my buck. The closer we got to him, the bigger his horns seemed to grow. At his side I quickly

realized he indeed was my best ever pronghorn.

I had previously taken numerous pronghorn with horn lengths upward of 15-inches. No doubt

this buck’s horns were both easily over 16 if not 17-inches. Later I learned they were both 17-

inches in length. I was thrilled beyond words and truly still am today. I consider that pronghorn

one of the best animals I have ever taken. As I was to later learn not only did my buck have

long horns, his venison proved to be absolutely delicious.

Thinking about that buck has got me yearning to again go after North America’s most unique

and strikingly handsome game animal. I do fully understand while some refer to him as the

“Prince of the Plains”! Indeed the “eyes” have it!