Wanted: Top end Pronghorn hunt

Wondering if any of you guys on the forum have hunted with any of the higher end outfits that hunt Arizona, New Mexico and southern Wyoming. I'm talking the outfits that consistently take high end pronghorn scoring in the high 80's, and the some into the 90's.

Looking and hoping to talk with guys that have had first hand experience. Often more interesting talking to random hunters, rather than the references the outfitter provides you (those are just about always the happy / successful guys)

We enjoy our pronghorn hunting, work hard at it. We've taken some superb examples for our province / area, but have always dreamt of dropping the crosshairs onto the shoulder of a real cooker. So, if you're going to live the dream - yu gotta, bite the bullet and go where the big boys roam ...

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Good luck.

Even the best outfitter may strike out getting a hunter onto a 80"+ pronghorn in the best of all areas. And when they do the shots may be very long.

JimP said:

Good luck.

Even the best outfitter may strike out getting a hunter onto a 80"+ pronghorn in the best of all areas. And when they do the shots may be very long.

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If yu do some research. There are 3 or 4 outfits that can and will put yu onto 80+ antelope very consistently - of course yu gotta pay for it. No different than African hunting.

'Hunted the Rockin' 7 Ranch (~250K ac) in Shawnee/Glendo WY back in '17. The Reese family and all their hands are super-nice people. They even had seasonal Amish helpers which I always enjoyed talking to (as I deal w/ em all the time at home-and they too love hunting.) Nice digs. The ranch is so large I believe you could drive for 1.5 hrs to get to particular hunting areas (it even features ghost towns that were gobbled up by it). There, I saw HUGE mule deer, whitetail, antelope everywhere (There are some big ones), some elk. I'd suggest talking to some others that may have hunted there. I got a nice mule deer and ran out of time so 'took the nicest goat I could on the last day at 420 yds! I saw some crazy ones while focusing on mule deer (ones whose horns curved back like elk, super wide and long, etc.) An easy (and very nice, scenic) drive from Denver and not too far from Chyenne. I've seen some good ones taken up in NW CO (Craig) at times, too. Google Rockin' 7 and you might see pics of mine and others (as my hard drive of an entire life's photos recently crashed and is out for recovery!) Backup hard drives die too. (I don't want to fish through all the CDs at the moment.) ok found it. Darryl Newburn of Tucson AZ FD is quite familiar with the entire property (he's also known for his coues deer hunting skills.) Maybe reach out to him for more details...

I’ve not hunted with them yet, but if I absolutely had to have an 85”+ buck there is only one option in my mind and that is Pronghorn Guide Service, owned and run by Tony & Eli Grimmet of Arizona.

They've forgotten more about hunting big antelope than most will ever know. I’ve talked with Tony & Eli several times and they’ve always been friendly and willing to help with opinions and information on pronghorn hunts and even specific bucks.

They hunt Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming; taking big bucks across those states each year. I’ll hazard a guess that they’ve taken more 85-90”+ in each of those states than all other active outfitters combined.

To me, it’s a No Brainer.

DLSJR said:

I’ve not hunted with them yet, but if I absolutely had to have an 85”+ buck there is only one option in my mind and that is Pronghorn Guide Service, owned and run by Tony & Eli Grimmet of Arizona.

They've forgotten more about hunting big antelope than most will ever know. I’ve talked with Tony & Eli several times and they’ve always been friendly and willing to help with opinions and information on pronghorn hunts and even specific bucks.

They hunt Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming; taking big bucks across those states each year. I’ll hazard a guess that they’ve taken more 85-90”+ in each of those states than all other active outfitters combined.

To me, it’s a No Brainer.

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Yah they are definitely at the top of the list - just browsing thru their galleries is like a Pronghorn hunters dream.

Thanks for the reply - would you be open to personal messaging. Because you've actually had interaction with the Grimmets - got a ton of questions

Nosler guy said:

Yah they are definitely at the top of the list - just browsing thru their galleries is like a Pronghorn hunters dream.

Thanks for the reply - would you be open to personal messaging. Because you've actually had interaction with the Grimmets - got a ton of questions

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Sure, I’ll be happy to help any way I can. Let me know what you’re needing answered.

Chance with Extreme Outfitters in Wyoming. They consistently take bucks over 80. You'll need alot of pounts in Wyoming to draw a good unit.

To draw an Arizona tag you will need lots of bonus points, or be a raffle tag winner.

Pronghorn guide service with Eli Grimmett
They hunt all 3 of those states.

For Arizona I would pick Unit 10. Tough draw though

Brent in Az said:

To draw an Arizona tag you will need lots of bonus points, or be a raffle tag winner.

Pronghorn guide service with Eli Grimmett
They hunt all 3 of those states.

For Arizona I would pick Unit 10. Tough draw though

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Whats easiest units in any of those states to get? If your not too picky on size?

farmer_john said:

Whats easiest units in any of those states to get? If your not too picky on size?

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There is a 5% cap on Arizona non resident tags I think. Probably take you 15-20 years to draw a tag. Im not knowledgeable of the other states

farmer_john said:

Whats easiest units in any of those states to get? If your not too picky on size?

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Just starting the rekindling of doing a prong horn hunt myself. I would have to imagine that Wyoming is the easiest to draw, but that would depend on the unit too. In the end as they used to and probably still say, there's more pronghorns in Wyoming than there are people.

New Mexico would be second. Arizona for sure is dead last. Lots of people and relatively limited number of pronghorn available. Furthermore much of the prime pronghorn areas up in the Prescott area are suffering from large ranches being subdivided into ranchettes. This is not good for Arizona pronghorn habitat.

If you want easy Texas is over the counter. You jus have to pay to access private land.

NM also has outfitter tags you can get with no preference points.

There are several WY units where you can draw with minimal points. They tend to have very little public land so you’ll probably be paying a landowner to get access to good habitat.

All a matter of if you’re willing to pay.

Edit: you’re not killing a big pronghorn in those easy areas except some parts of Texas but expect to pay a lot for that. This was in response to the question about easy draws.

Nosler guy said:

Wondering if any of you guys on the forum have hunted with any of the higher end outfits that hunt Arizona, New Mexico and southern Wyoming. I'm talking the outfits that consistently take high end pronghorn scoring in the high 80's, and the some into the 90's.

Looking and hoping to talk with guys that have had first hand experience. Often more interesting talking to random hunters, rather than the references the outfitter provides you (those are just about always the happy / successful guys)

We enjoy our pronghorn hunting, work hard at it. We've taken some superb examples for our province / area, but have always dreamt of dropping the crosshairs onto the shoulder of a real cooker. So, if you're going to live the dream - yu gotta, bite the bullet and go where the big boys roam ...

Click to expand...

DLSJR said:

I’ve not hunted with them yet, but if I absolutely had to have an 85”+ buck there is only one option in my mind and that is Pronghorn Guide Service, owned and run by Tony & Eli Grimmet of Arizona.

They've forgotten more about hunting big antelope than most will ever know. I’ve talked with Tony & Eli several times and they’ve always been friendly and willing to help with opinions and information on pronghorn hunts and even specific bucks.

They hunt Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming; taking big bucks across those states each year. I’ll hazard a guess that they’ve taken more 85-90”+ in each of those states than all other active outfitters combined.

To me, it’s a No Brainer.

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@Nosler guy, I do not have the experience that @DLSJR has with PGS. However I have recently inquired with them myself, so FWIW.....

I spoke to a Dave Brown at PGS, he was very friendly and helpful. I'm concentrating on a NM hunt myself. One piece of information that he gave me was that New Mexico does NOT use a points system. It's a system that you apply and are either successful and hunt that year or you don't draw and repeat the process in subsequent years starting from scratch.

Also, if you're using an outfitter, you need to have their information when applying. If you are drawn as Dave told me, the outfitter will be notified before you are that you drew the tag.

The point to be taken here is if you're intending on going to NM, pick your outfitter and work with them when applying. Also obviously, you should be planning to hunt the year you are applying in.

If you were looking at doing that this year in NM, be aware their hunt application period ends soon.

Good luck!

Russ16 said:

If you want easy Texas is over the counter. You jus have to pay to access private land.

NM also has outfitter tags you can get with no preference points.

There are several WY units where you can draw with minimal points. They tend to have very little public land so you’ll probably be paying a landowner to get access to good habitat.

All a matter of if you’re willing to pay.

Edit: you’re not killing a big pronghorn in those easy areas except some parts of Texas but expect to pay a lot for that. This was in response to the question about easy draws.

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So i have 0 experience hunting out west. Im looking to learn practice glassing and hunting public lands so indont waste the harder to get tags when i get them eventually.

farmer_john said:

So i have 0 experience hunting out west. Im looking to learn practice glassing and hunting public lands so indont waste the harder to get tags when i get them eventually.

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Doe pronghorn tags in Wyoming. There are units that may take zero points and are public land.

Since the Winter of 2022, they have cut tag numbers down substantially. The units around me have no doe tags available anymore. The unit I live in went from 350 buck tags to 25 total, land owners get most of those.

The NE part of Wyoming weathered the best but its mostly private. They havent published this years tag allocations yet, very mild winter this year so hoping for the best.

To draw a good unit with potential of B&C bucks you need atleast 12 points.

DLSJR said:

I’ve not hunted with them yet, but if I absolutely had to have an 85”+ buck there is only one option in my mind and that is Pronghorn Guide Service, owned and run by Tony & Eli Grimmet of Arizona.

They've forgotten more about hunting big antelope than most will ever know. I’ve talked with Tony & Eli several times and they’ve always been friendly and willing to help with opinions and information on pronghorn hunts and even specific bucks.

They hunt Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming; taking big bucks across those states each year. I’ll hazard a guess that they’ve taken more 85-90”+ in each of those states than all other active outfitters combined.

To me, it’s a No Brainer.

Click to expand...

I have contracted with Pronghorn Guide Service 2x for antelope but haven't drawn successfully yet. After a lot of research, they were the obvious ones for my interests.