Antelope Guide Recommendations

[barrycuda]

Looking for guide recommendations for an antelope rifle hunt. At 70 yrs old this will be my first antelope hunt. I live in Virginia so Wyoming, Montana or Colorado are all about the same distance from me. Thanks

 

[S-3 ranch]

Texas or new Mexico amigo

 

[elkhunterUT]

Not sure how many Wyoming points you have, but if you are looking to kill a trophy buck and want a guide, I would definitely talk to Eli Grimmett with Pronghorn Guide Service. They are as good as it gets for killing huge pronghorn.

 

[barrycuda]

Everywhere is a 30 hour drive for me so doesn't matter

 

[nebhunt]

Charlie Delyea 307-351-3041. His family owns the ranch just north of Douglas Wyoming. My buddy and I had a great hunt with him this last fall. Doesn't take much for points to get a tag in unit 29

 

[EdP]

I hunted with Table Mtn Outfitters in 2015 in Wy area 103. They did a good job. The sleeping accommodations were a bit cramped one night when the new batch of hunters was in but the others were not out yet. Had good food and a very good guide. 103 was easy to draw at the time but that has changed. I don't know how that has affected them. My buddy and I both tagged out on bucks we were happy with on day 1.

 

[Scottf270]

Jim Freeburn in SE Wyoming. Outfit is Triple Creek Outfitters. Stand up guy. Private ranches. Not super expensive. Kills respectable bucks.

 

[TreeWalking]

Depending on the size of check you want to scratch, can hunt a great unit on private land in NM for outstanding bucks or can spend less to hunt private in WY for better than average bucks. WY requires you draw a tag so none of the renowned units can be hunted unless you have some points built up there.

NM seasons are trhee days long or so which might be faster than want the hunt to end. WY hunts run a few weeks. I have hunted private in TX and was not as interesting as my NM and WY hunts. I rarely went home with tag soup in around 2 dozen pronghorn hunts of which most were on public land in WY, NM, MT, UT, NV, TX and OR. Most hunts were done in less than two full days but I am not that picky and the difference in how a 70" buck looks next to an 80" is not eye-poppingly different. Now, a 90" looks like a beast and a 60" looks like a fawn but you can glass a lot of bucks in a good unit to find an 80'er.

 

[Cahunter805]

Jim Freeburn in SE Wyoming. Outfit is Triple Creek Outfitters. Stand up guy. Private ranches. Not super expensive. Kills respectable bucks.

+1 Jim is an awesome guy!

 

[Kurts86]

I’d use pronghorn guide service if I was going on a guided pronghorn hunt. If you have the points book with them in Wyoming and if not go to NM on a landowner tag.

I get the impression most guided pronghorn hunts aren’t much more than paying for private ranch access and accommodations with some ranch hand to drive you around for the 2 hours it takes to kill a midsized buck. At this point the only advantage to theses hunts is that most of those ranches have tags that can be drawn every year whereas decent Public land DIY nonresident units are a 3-4 year wait at this point.

In general I’d say pronghorn is probably the least value in a guided big game hunt. I’ve always hunted them DIY on public land and I have never had trouble killing 70-80” bucks in the first 2 days of the hunt. I don’t think it’s that hard to figure out pronghorn having learned the process myself on pronghorn, mule deer and elk. The number of hours it takes you to kill your first pronghorn is about equal to the number of years it will take you to kill an elk DIY.

In my opinion if you go guided for pronghorn you should be looking for a B&C buck just so the experience last longer and involved looking at more animals and more stalks.

 

[rlmmarine]

Cant say enough good things about three arrows outfitters in south dakota
Tag is over the counter
Its a bow hunt using horses
I took a friend out last year and he got his first at 76 years old
Youll get a shot at 40 yards

 

[EdP]

I get the impression most guided pronghorn hunts aren’t much more than paying for private ranch access and accommodations with some ranch hand to drive you around for the 2 hours it takes to kill a midsized buck. At this point the only advantage to theses hunts is that most of those ranches have tags that can be drawn every year whereas decent Public land DIY nonresident units are a 3-4 year wait at this point.

In general I’d say pronghorn is probably the least value in a guided big game hunt. I’ve always hunted them DIY on public land and I have never had trouble killing 70-80” bucks in the first 2 days of the hunt. I don’t think it’s that hard to figure out pronghorn having learned the process myself on pronghorn, mule deer and elk. The number of hours it takes you to kill your first pronghorn is about equal to the number of years it will take you to kill an elk DIY.

I'd say this is a pretty good take on the situation in general. My 1st pronghorn hunt was my 1st western hunt and what I learned made it worth going with an outfitter for me. I was 61 at the time and have gone for pronghorn twice since. Both were successful DIY hunts but took longer to score on lesser animals than the guided hunt. That isn't a bad thing because they were more challenging and more fun and I already had my trophy. For our OP who is 70 and after his first pronghorn, and maybe on his first western hunt, I think going with an outfitter makes sense.

 

[SDHNTR]

Don't be afraid to go it your own. Antelope are probably the easiest hunt in the west to do successfully on your own. Draw a tag and go.

 

[Neil]

Texas or new Mexico amigo

How easy is it to draw a tag in Texas or New Mexico?

 

[Lou (Louis)]

Cant say enough good things about three arrows outfitters in south dakota
Tag is over the counter
Its a bow hunt using horses
I took a friend out last year and he got his first at 76 years old
Youll get a shot at 40 yards

Do they rifle guide, too?

 

[Brooks]

How easy is it to draw a tag in Texas or New Mexico?

It’s not easy, it’s very difficult to draw in NM but you can buy a private land tag and hunt the owners property/ranch.

 

[Lou (Louis)]

It’s not easy, it’s very difficult to draw in NM but you can buy a private land tag and hunt the owners property/ranch.

Cost, please? Roughly.

 

[YellCoAR]

$3,000 to $5,000

 

[longhorncadillac]

Cost, please? Roughly.

I put in last year and didn’t draw in NM, I’m trying again this year going with an outfitter since there is an outfitter allocation on tags. If I don’t draw, I have already secured a landowner tag, cost me $1500 for the tag.

 

[Lou (Louis)]

Thank you very much!