Outfitter hunt while buying points?

[ruger35]

I have been buying points for elk in WY and currently have 7, but I have gotten the speed goat itch. I bought my first WY point this year for them and am browsing through 100 tabs I have open reading about doing the same in other states. I have only archery hunted whitetail in Kansas in what I would call semi-guided. For those of you that got started late on the pronghorn train, would you recommend going with an outfitter somewhere like NM where its a little easier to get a tag while waiting on other states for public land?

I was thinking an outfitter may be good exposure for my first trip out west hunting an animal I'm not familiar with. Or would you go with purchasing a land owner tag in a state like NM where a license is guaranteed if you get the tag and try that route? I plan on rifle hunting. I am currently setting up my GOHunt account and watching videos on the different draws to get familiar, just looking for past experiences and what someone may would do different to get out hunting quicker.

 

[Kurts86]

Going with an outfitter is a good way to speed up going on a hunt but don’t think you will learn a lot on most guided pronghorn hunts. Most guided pronghorn hunts you will just get sent out with a ranch hand to drive around until you see something you want to shoot. Unless you spend days trying to kill a B&C buck by looking over hundreds of bucks you won’t learn a lot that will apply to a future public land pronghorn hunts.

A landowner tag would at least let you learn in an environment where you still have a 90% of success.

Public land pronghorn hunts often are land navigation puzzle and a bit of combat hunting unless you have 10+ PP’s. I’ve known a few guys to go on guided pronghorn hunts that later when on public land hunts and they were borderline worse off for it. They couldn’t pick a unit and sort it all out.