DIY American Antelope in Colorado
SEASON 26 | EPISODE 06
Quick Summary
- What happened: Weeks of scouting and stacks of Spypoint trail cam photos come down to opening week. Ralph, Aubrey, Steve, and Jess split up on staked blinds over Colorado water holes, and the whole crew ends up with pronghorn down, four bucks in the truck by the time it is over.
- Best takeaway: Patience at a water hole beats a truck full of gas every time, and a slow morning can turn into a freezer full of meat by the afternoon.
Hunt Information
American Antelope / Pronghorn / Prairie Goats
Colorado opening week in August, early fall 2026
DIY, self-guided, hunting from ground blinds staked over water holes
Outfitter Information
DIY, on a private ranch
This one played out on a private ranch in Colorado, with the crew handling the scouting and setup themselves, Spypoint trail cams and staked blinds over the water holes the bucks were using.
Episode Breakdown
Weeks of scouting and countless Spypoint trail cam photos all come down to this, opening week on Colorado pronghorn. Ralph, Aubrey, Steve, and Jess split up across staked blinds over water holes and let the does and bucks come to them.
Setting the Trap
Before any of it can happen, the crew gets out there together to build blinds and hang cameras, staking down ground blinds over the water holes the pronghorn have been using and dialing in the cameras to pattern them. By the time the work wraps up, every setup is ready and it is just a matter of waiting on opening morning.
Ralph Doubles Up
Ralph spots antelope way out in the distance and glasses them the whole way in. A handful of does drift through first, and shortly after, a group of bucks follows. They come in tight and overlapping, never quite giving a clean shot, until the big one finally offers a good quartering angle. Ralph makes it count, then calls Steve to get them into the blind knowing that there are other great bucks in the area for Jess!
A Rough Start for Aubrey
Aubrey’s morning does not exactly go smoothly, starting with RJ getting his Jeep stuck before the sit even begins. Once she is set up, good bucks show up all over the prairie, but none of them commit to close range. She stays ready through several close calls that never quite happen, and the day ends scoreless.
Jess Steps In
Jess starts the morning slow, and when word comes over the radio that Ralph connected, she heads over to help recover his buck and takes over that blind for the rest of the day. Midday goes quiet and hot, leaving plenty of time for lunch and a movie to kill the heat, but the activity picks back up that afternoon. When a buck finally shows, he comes in fast, right at the blind, and Jess makes a quick, clean kill before heading out to recover him.
Steve Closes It Out
Steve’s morning opens with a handful of young goats filtering through, and a couple of nicer bucks that get close before skirting the blind at the last second. A quick plan comes together to shift the setup and get an angle from the other side, and it pays off in a hurry. Two good bucks walk in right up close, and the big one in back, heavy with kickers, is the one Steve has his eye on the whole time. He gets his shot and the recovery is short work.
Aubrey Gets Her Redemption
Aubrey is back at it the next morning with young goats scattered everywhere around the blind. One good buck finally works in close, but the shot does not connect. A few more come and go before another solid group works its way in, and this time one buck gives her a good shot. The recovery does not take long, and Aubrey brings her buck back to camp to surprise everyone who thought her tag might turn into tag soup.
Season Kickoff
It is hard to beat this as a way to open a season, four pronghorn down between the crew, meat headed for the freezer before fall even gets going, and a trip that is as much about the time together as it is the harvest. This is exactly what starting the season the right way looks like.
Location & Conditions
Open prairie and shortgrass plains of eastern Colorado, hunted from staked ground blinds set over natural and stock-tank water holes.
Wide-open, flat-to-rolling grassland with almost no cover, long sightlines that let you glass antelope from a mile out, and wind that never really stops.
Hot, dry opening-week days with clear skies and a steady wind, the kind of heat that makes a shaded blind and a water hole the only place worth being.
Bucks patterning hard to water in the morning heat, groups overlapping and pushing each other through, with does and young goats often leading the good ones in behind them.
Animal Descriptives
Pronghorn are the fastest land animal in North America and built for the open ground they live on, with eyesight sharp enough to pick up movement from well over a mile away. That combination is what makes them such a tough bow target, there is next to no cover to close the distance, so the whole game comes down to getting the animal to come to you. In the heat of opening week, that usually means a water hole, and patience at the blind beats a lot of miles of glassing.
Shot Placement & Tips
Pronghorn are small-bodied and their low, stocky build can trick your eye on range and angle, especially over water where they are often facing you head-on. Wait for a broadside or slightly quartering-away shot and aim tight behind the front shoulder, about a third of the way up the body. Blind hunts over water mean shots often come in fast at close range, so keep Easton arrows nocked and be ready to draw the moment a buck commits, hesitation is usually what costs you the shot on these animals.
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FAQ
Was this a guided hunt?
No outfitter this time, this one was fully DIY. The crew scouted the water holes themselves, ran Spypoint trail cameras to pattern the bucks, and staked their own ground blinds ahead of opening week.
What did the crew hunt with?
Bows all around, with Easton arrows, hunted from ground blinds set up over water holes since that is the best way to get a pronghorn into close range.
How many pronghorn did the crew tag?
Four bucks down between Ralph, Aubrey, Jess, and Steve, a strong way to kick off the season and put meat in the freezer before fall.
From the Field
Weeks of scouting and a whole lot of trail cam photos got us here. Watching it all come together at the water hole, that is what makes opening week the best week of the year.Ralph Cianciarulo
Bring It Home: Colorado Pronghorn Backstrap
Trim it, soak it, sear it hot and fast — the trick to prairie pronghorn without the sage bite.
Ingredients
- Pronghorn
- 1.5 lbs pronghorn backstrap, silverskin and fat trimmed
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp neutral oil, for searing
- Salt & coarse black pepper
- Milk Soak (removes sage taste)
- 2 cups whole milk or buttermilk
- 2 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
- Pan Sauce
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1/4 cup dry red wine
- 1/2 cup beef stock
Recipe
- Trim the backstrap of every bit of silverskin and fat — that's where most of the sagebrush flavor concentrates in a pronghorn.
- Submerge the trimmed backstrap in the milk, vinegar, and salt. Refrigerate 8–12 hours. The acid and dairy pull out the gaminess and sage notes. Remove, discard the soak, and pat completely dry.
- Bring the meat to room temperature, about 30 minutes, then season generously with salt and pepper.
- Heat oil in a cast iron pan over high heat until just smoking. Sear the backstrap 2–3 minutes per side until deeply browned, then add the butter, garlic, and thyme, basting for the last minute.
- Pull the meat at 130–135°F internal for medium-rare — pronghorn is lean and turns tough past medium. Rest on a board for 10 minutes.
- Deglaze the pan with red wine, scraping up the browned bits, then add the stock and simmer to reduce by half. Slice the backstrap thin against the grain and spoon the pan sauce over.
Chef Tips
- The sage flavor lives in the fat, not the muscle — trim aggressively before you even start.
- The milk or buttermilk soak is the real fix: the acid and dairy proteins draw out sagebrush oils absorbed from the animal's diet.
- Field-dressing and cooling the animal fast in the field matters most of all — a warm carcass sets in more of that sage taste than any kitchen trick can undo.
- Pronghorn has almost no marbling — cook it hot and fast, never past medium, or it turns shoe-leather tough.
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