Article 15
"The 6.5mm Cartridges and Montana’s Pronghorn Antelope"
Cap-n-Dave Funk
February 5th 2008
Copyright © Dave Funk
This fall, I had the great pleasure of bringing four additional hunters to my favorite Montana hunting ranch. We hunted Pronghorn Antelope on over 164 sections of property, not far from Forsyth, Montana with Dave & Cherri Potts of Sage-N-Sun Outfitters. The group: Dr. Carol Winegar, her husband, Mike Trenholm (aka; Chopper Guy), Peggy and Jim Wills (aka; Loophole), and myself were there in mid-October for the middle weekend of Montana’s antelope rifle season. Mike has been to the ranch twice before for the annual Red Mist prairie dog shoots but this was his first big game hunt there.
With one exception, everyone was shooting a Blaser R93 or K-95 in 6.5x55. Mike had his trusty Hurbuteus K-gun in 6.5x57 Rimmed. The loads everyone shot in the 6.5x55’s were either 120 Swift A-frames in Lapua cases with Federal large rifle match primers and 46 grains of RE19 powder, or my load which was the 140gr Trophy Bonded Bear Claw pushed by 46 grains of RE22 with Lapua cases and Federal Large Rifle Match Primers. Mike’s 6.5x57R load was 48 grains of RL22 with the 130 grain Scricco II bullet.
Mike’s Antelope, taken with his 6.5x57 Rimmed K-gun.
My first antelope, a big doe, was taken at about 180 yards after a modest stalk. The first shot, a solid lung hit with the 140gr TBBC bullet, showed no effect. In fact, I thought I had shot over her. With almost no reaction to the shot and after a short run by the doe, I wound up hitting her again a few minutes later to finish the job. The lack of reaction was clearly an indication that this particular bullet is a bit too tough for such a small antelope. The next day, after shooting a record book buck, it was apparent that the previous day’s doe reaction to my two shots was not an aberration. Moral of the story: you do not need a premium bullet for every animal. Next time, it will be a 130gr Siccrico II or the 120gr A-frame for antelope with my K-95 Stutzen. Even a simple Sierra ProHunter, GameKing or Hornady Interlock would be perfect for animals in this class.
My buck came after two had days of hiking and glassing a lot of Pronghorn. My guide, Mathew Potts, and I spotted several bucks that we thought might be worth a closer look. We set out on foot and after a few hundred yards, it was obvious we had a real shooter in the group about eight hundred yards away. The problem was there was no cover, except for the low scrub and a creek bed between us and them. After a long and ardudus crawl through the scrub and several crossings of the muddy creek bed, we had closed to within just about two hundred yards. Did I mention my slide from the top to the bottom of the creek bed? Yuck! We closed to a position where we could see the smaller of the two bucks, but after waiting about forty-five minutes, a shot rang out in the distance. My buck stood up and looked to the northwest. A few moments later, he was down. But it did take two shots to finish him, again those 140gr Trophy Bonded bullets were just too tough for an animal in this size class; next time it will be a more fragile bullet.
Captain Dave’s mud covered K-95 Stutzen and his 16” antelope buck.
Mike’s 6.5x57R performed flawlessly with the 130gr Sicirroc II bullet, taking a very nice buck at about 130 yards with a Texas heart shot. It ran about ten yards and turned broadside. Mike took what turned out to be an unnecessary finishing shot and dropped the buck in its tracks. The bullet’s performance was excellent with full expansion and deep penetration. Of course, this buck was shot after almost twenty miles of walking the prairie, while we were heading back to the ranch house. After chasing three different groups all over a pasture several sections in size, due to the high winds that day, we never could push a herd into Mike for a decent shot.
Carol, Peggy and Jim all used the 120gr Swift A-frame bullet out of there 6.5x55’s. All four of their antelope dropped to the shots. It was a combination of good shot placement and proper bullet selection for the animal. Although the A-frame is normally considered a premium bullet, the lighter version in this caliber performed flawlessly on these small antelope.
Peggy and Jim Wills with Peggy’s first Antelope Buck. She is shooting an R93 in 6.5x55SE.
One of the neatest things about hunting the high plains of the western United States, is that it is as close to hunting Africa as you can get in North America: long drives and spot and stalk hunts in the open country. For my friend Mike and me, it truly is a hunter’s paradise.