Hi Guys
At some stage after covid settles down would like to hunt pronghorn, is it possible without points and just buy tags, what would the process be

Cheers
Wazza

I believe that most pronghorn hunts are draw only, and may likely require points. In New Mexico, there are no points and all public land pronghorn licenses are awarded through a random draw, which has pretty low odds, particularly for non-residents. However, you can buy a license to hunt private land without going through the draw. I am not very familiar with this process, but I suspect most licenses are available through outfitters. There are links to various outfitters and more information here: https://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/hunting/ and in the regulations: https://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/home/publications/

In Texas, no draw, no points. Contact an outfitter with hunting rights on property and pay them. You will need a Texas hunting license though.

I have also taken several Pronghorn in New Mexico and paid landowner or outfitter for hunting rights/tags. They will offer full service of guiding, lodging, game retrieval, etc.

For more info, do Internet search on
pronghorn hunts in Texas.
Change the state as you wish to shop around.

I have had clients from Pakistan, Tajikistan and Chad hunt with me. TX is easy. OTC license and landowner tags is all you need.

New Mexico has landowner tags as well. You just need a hunting license.

For what its worth, Texas panhandle Pronghorn are pretty darn good quality, in general.

Thanks guys

When do you plan on coming up this way?

George

Pronghorn Overview

Wyoming has both points and non-points programs, you can do this on your own.

Montana, Arizona, Colorado and North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Nevada, California and Oregon all have points programs.

Idaho, New Mexico (public land), Texas (public land), and Oklahoma (public land) have no points programs or programs that are not greatly impactful as the draw odds suck anyway.

There are preference points programs like Wyoming where the guy with the most points gets the tag. But 25% of all tags in Wyoming are out of the point program, and points do not count. I think Colorado also has something similar, Utah and Arizona are somewhat hybrid in that points count for the first percentage of tags, but then bonus points count.

So the state might give 10% to the top point holders, then the next 30% will go to everyone and if you have 10 points your name will be in the lottery 10 times. These numbers are an example.

Bonus points systems are where every point is either counted individually or squared or cubed. Montana, Nevada and the Dakotas do this.

Some states have hybrid systems like I talked about earlier.

Confusing isn't it?

Seasons for pronghorns are varied. There are seasons that are very early in the heat of August and September, and hunts that run into October. They normally shed that keratin sheath on their horns around Christmas time.

It is normally possible to hunt elk and pronghorns together in some states. If you drew both tags.

Guided pronghorn hunts that include land owner tags are normally $3500-6500 depending on the state. California and Utah are the most expensive.

There are also some indian reservations that sell hunts and tags. Fort Peck in Montana comes to mind.

There are also stand alone raffle ticket lotteries for individual tags, in many states. Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico all have them and maybe more than that. These only normally give up 1-3 tags per species. Texas does these as guided hunts.

Beyond the cost of the tag, you'd have the cost of hunting licenses in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Wyoming and Colorado do not have them.

www.gohunt.com is a hunting resource tool that helps you look up draw odds.

www.onxmaps.com is the mapping tool that shows you what is public land and what is not.

The best and most sure thing value is to start buying points in Wyoming, Colorado and Montana for elk antelope and deer. They all have tons of deer elk and antelope and tons of public land.

Do not buy points for sheep, moose, goat or bison in any preference point state you are already 25 plus years behind the power curve and unless you are negative 50 years old you will never have a tag in your life time. That is with you living to be 160.

A NM landowner tag is easy and guaranteed. They can be had for varying prices depending on the quality of antelope on the ranch you are hunting. You can go through an outfitter ($$$) or buy one direct from the landowner.

Wazza,

Easiest thing to do is hire a guide that has access to landowner tags. You can still put in for the draw but if you don't draw your still assured of being able to hunt.

I have such an option in Colorado if your interested.

Mark