Warner 2 Antelope

Weiserbucks · Thursday at 6:29 PM

Resident friend of mine drew this year and invited me to join him. Neither of us have been there but he's going get a few scouting trips in and show up several days early to make the most of it.

How are the antelope looking in there? Good numbers? Winter kill? I'm not a big time antelope hunter just curious what to expect.

Supertrucker · Thursday at 6:54 PM

Mild winter, wet spring. Always good numbers in Warner

Scrillznac · Saturday at 10:13 AM

Call the local biologist out of the Lakeview office. They're always in the know and will give you solid information.

Advice- It's worthless to scout anytime before about 2-3 weeks before the season. The antelope will move A LOT depending on water availability. If you go scout in July, guaranteed they'll be different places in August if the water dries up. Obviously you can go learn the country and look at antelope but hone in on your hunting areas within a couple weeks of the opener. Good luck!

callsalot · Saturday at 10:17 AM

I have a friend that has hunted it for antelope and deer. Lots of antelope so that won't be a problem. It's finding the right antelope that you are hoping for. Depending on vacation ability I would just save my time and go a few days before the opener and drive around the unit, glass try to find a buck or two you like and try to be on him opening morning.

JRMiller · Saturday at 11:02 AM

My son has the Warner Antelope Premium tag. Should we start the hunt 8/1 when that season opens or wait until September when the rut is going on and after all the hunts have concluded.

kota · Saturday at 1:30 PM

Go early. In my limited experience antelope aren’t that hard to find, so I think the value is in hunting unpressured animals before they start getting whacked. YMMV

Weiserbucks · Saturday at 2:05 PM

Based on the replies and a couple Pms it sounds like we're in for a good time. Thanks for the input guys.

Scrillznac · Saturday at 4:09 PM

JRMiller said:
My son has the Warner Antelope Premium tag. Should we start the hunt 8/1 when that season opens or wait until September when the rut is going on and after all the hunts have concluded.

Wow man what an epic pull! 100% plan your hunt between August 1-7. Archery starts August 8th so you'll have the first 7 days to yourself. They don't get too spooky during archery season but they start to spread out a bit and get more spooky during the 1st rifle season. DO NOT shoot one the first 2-3 days unless it makes your jaw drop!!!! Take your time that first week and you'll find a bomber! In your case I would go over as much as you can during the summer months to get a feel for field judging antelope.

Advice: The tips of their ears are around 6-7" from the top of their head when their ears are sticking straight up. The prong (digger) jets out roughly 1/2 way up the horn. So in theory if you shoot one that's prong is above the tip of the ear it'll be at least 13-14" in length. USE THIS when field judging the length of their horns. If the upper half above the prong seems longer than from the head to the prong you'll have a stud 15"+ buck. Good luck what an amazing tag! PLEASE post some pics after he fills his tag!

Edit: If he doesn't fill his tag during that first week of August, go back the last week of September or first week of October.

lostinOregon · Saturday at 11:42 PM

Historically it has the highest antelope numbers in the state. Good unit. If I had premium I would be going early as I could before they get spooky

Willametteriveroutlaw · Monday at 9:39 AM

I’ve spent a fair amount of time in there in September deer scouting and helping on archery hunts. Pretty fun place to be, goats are rutting like crazy and the big ones will come out of their holes.

Mossyhorn70 · Monday at 2:15 PM

My dad had the #2 tag in 2022. We hunted the middle of the unit primarily. Everyone had always said, there’s antelope everywhere. We did not experience this and it was much harder to find a solid buck than we anticipated. We took one day and drove the eastern boundary all the way to the northern part of the unit and circled back down over the northern plateau, following the power lines and back to Plush. We didn’t see a single antelope! Never did make it to the southern part of the unit. But other hunters were struggling along with us. Dad finally killed a good 14” buck on day 4. Best buck we saw was the first one we laid eyes on before the sun even came up.