Antelope questions

[MarkCO]

Between my Dad and I we have probably shot 100 from Northern WY to Southern CO, both sides of I-25. Full on sage (which they only eat if they are starving or weird BTW) to full on corn and wheat. I have had ones that taste good and ones that are not as good. Care and processing of the meat can certainly cause you issues. I have also found that if you don't hang it to cool for a day or two, it is not as good.

When it is warm, I toss a pallet in the truck. After a kill, we put the animal, skin on, on the pallet and pack the cavity with ice. The ice and the airflow around while driving has been the ticket for me.

[davsel]

Soak it overnight in Sprite or 7-up.
Takes away any off flavors of gamey wild game.

[Robb]

Well, the things that make you go 'huh'...
The palette in the back of the truck is a good idea if not deboning, and the Sprite/7up, never heard that one before. I may just give it a whirl. We may be doing alot of marinating with that animal.

[ray1970]

Two words. Antelope jerky.

[sniper7]

I've shot them near sterling, and near Craig and all were awesome. Haven't had a WY loper yet though, so not sure what would be the difference.

[Stevensje]

Steve's meats makes. Yummy Antelope Stix, summer sausage and different Brats. That's the ticket!

[buffalobo]

My family has hunted northwestern CO antelope since the 70's. Some tasted better than others, none bad. We had best results getting em cooled fast and aged a little longer.

Wetter/greener years tended to produce milder flavor meat.

[Paul]

I want to Antelope hunt this year with my New Bison Armory upper in 6.8. Anybody hunted with this platform on Antelope? I do not reload ammunition just buy off the shelf ammo. I have only used Hornady 110G Vmax bullets at the range and get very good results on paper. What off the shelf ammo would you suggest and where is the better spot to hunt in Colorado Public land. I live at I-25 and Lake ave exit.

[Robb]

110 Vmax is more of a varmint round, it will work but you may have heavy meat damage if you hit a shoulder or a rib. My son used an ARP 6.8 with Hornady 120SST's and the round was a pass through on the antelope referenced at the beginning of this thread, but that same rifle/round combo caused heavy blood shot meat on the far side rib cage of a 3x3 muley he took a month later.
I'm going to load up some Barnes Triple Shock and try them, you can also get them off the shelf.
You can put in for the draw here in CO but a trip to WY buys you a Pronghorn hunt every year.
6.8 is not a great antelope cartridge as it's not a flat shooter, make sure you have a decent range finder.

[MarkCO]

Yeah, don't use a varmint bullet on Pronghorn. There are plenty of decent bullets out there. Barnes TSX and TTSX are very good bullets, Nosler Accubonds are another and they even make one specifically for the 6.8SPC.