Hunting pronghorn is a hot pursuit. If you’re expecting cool weather and easy stalks, you picked up the wrong game tags. Even getting close to those orb-like eyeballs means hard work, but the universal need for water gives many hunters—particularly bowhunters—a proven method.
Setting up a ground blind near a western watering hole or livestock reservoir doesn’t mean things will get cooler, but the chances of seeing a pronghorn within shooting range does go up. Pronghorn have to come in to drink, eventually. Drought conditions across many western states have biologists and land managers worried if pronghorn will be able to safely drink from the fewer and smaller pools.
Oregon has asked hunters to be considerate of each other and the animals when it comes time to place their blinds this year. Hunters can legally put their blinds out before the hunting season begins to acclimate the animals to their presence, but playground politics of setting a ground blind to stake a claim is a no-go. According to the Coos Bay World, Oregon officials will give hunters a warning and then remove blinds that are placed more than ten days before the season opens there.
“(Bureau of Land Management) intends to enforce these regulations. After 10 days, we will tag blinds with a warning that they will be removed after 72 hours,” says Patrick Apley, BLM Lakeview District Law Enforcement Ranger. “Ideally hunters will voluntarily take them down. However if necessary, we will remove the blinds.”
The unattended blinds will be considered abandoned property.
The danger comes from fewer and smaller watering holes with just as many hunters vying for a spot to hunt. According to the World, hunters are putting up more than one blind to lock in several places to hunt.
Camping within 300 feet of a water source is also prohibited by BLM’S Lakeview District.