......and the Antelope play

[GuglioLS]

I just got back home from a work road trip to Roswell, NM (UFO Capitol of the world) - that's another story all by itself.
Anyway there's a long stretch of highway where there is nothing for 97 miles, and I really mean NOTHING except for the few hundred Antelope I saw. I was surronded by them everywhere. Luckuly I brought my camera. I took quite a few shots and here are the best I came up with. I wish I had brought my "real" 35 mm camera, these digital shots do not do justis to what I saw.



Click on the image - it will automaticaly open in a new window.

 

[GuglioLS]

Here are a few Bulls.
Horns can get from 14" to 16" in length.
They are called Pronghorn Antelope and weigh in around 140#s'

 

[GuglioLS]

The most I could fit in one shot and still make them out in the picture was one dozen:

 

[GuglioLS]

Pronghorns are unique game animals found exclusively in North America. Abundant throughout various areas of the West and Southwest, these animals are typical antelope in that they prefer to inhabit relatively open terrain where they can take advantage of their exceptional eyesight. One thing that does separate them from all other antelope species and all other horned ungulates is their horn structure. They are the only species to annually shed their horn sheath, and they are also the only animal to have a forked horn design. They are well known for their high speed mobility and commonly referred to as the fastest land mammal in North America. A mature male may sport horns up to 17 inches in length but anything over 14 inches is considered desirable. Mature males will normally weigh between 110-140 live weight.
Here is a 1.3 meg video clip.
I was going ~ 50 MPH driving with my left hand watching the road with my left eye, holding the camera with my right hand taking the video out the passenger window watching with my right eye. A little crazy but it came out OK.
They are fast, I was being overtaken by them!!!

 

[EddieWalker]

Hey Larry, great shots!!

I wanted to add a couple things about pronghorns that you touched on. The sheeth comes off every year and then they grow a new one every year like antlers, but under the sheeth is bone, just like horns. There is no other animal in the world that has this. It has no relative or similar species. It is truly a unique animal to North America.

There is also some debate as to just how fast they are. I've read from several sources that they might actually be faster than a cheetah. They will run down and kill coyotes by kicking them to death. There eyesite is considered 8 times more powerful than ours. There hair is hollow. If feels like straw when you touch it. Caribou also have hollow hair, but it's totaly differnt in feel and thickness. Caribou hair is soft while pronghorn hair is stiff and corse.

I've only shot one, it was a special tag that I drew for Northern California just south of the Oregon border. It's 13 inches with some strange growths on it. Kind of a non-typical of sourts. I saw larger ones, but never got close enough, than on the last day of the season I took that one.

People say the meet tastes funny, but I really enjoy it.

Eddie

 

[DieselPower]

Nice pic's and thanks for posting. Need to import some of them critters to PA for hunting season.

 

[GuglioLS]

Hey Eddie - that is some real interesting information. You are fortunate to have bagged one once. Got it on the wall?, if so lets see a pic.

For anyone curious about top animal land speeds Here is a link to the NM State web site chart.
You may have thought I was exaggerating when I said I was being overtaken at 50 MPH - They can go as fast as 60 MPH.
CLICK HERE

 

[RobertN]

South Eastern Wyomin gis the Antelope capital of N. America. Amazing critters. It is not unusaul to have one running near you when you show 50mph, and then it starts pulling away from you...

They are very tasty too. Very lean, fine grained meat.

they are pretty amazing to watch, wether viewing or hunting. Thier speed and grace is really something.

 

[OKnewguy]

GuglioLs, we go to Tao's quite often (great sking) and usually leave Oklahoma at about 4, this puts us in NM at about 10 to 11 NM time. I have never seen these in person but I have seen the warning signs. Should I be leary of driving in NM at night? Do those dear warning whistles work?
Just thought I would pick your brain, that fotage was cool!
Thanks, Dave

 

[gsganzer]

I've yet to hunt them, but they're on my list. I believe (I might be mistaken)that when referring to antelope, the male is a "ram" and a female is a "ewe".

We have "Black Buck Antelope" where I deer hunt. They have a spiral horn and are grazers (deer are browsers). They're supposed to be good eating.