Brother is interested in antelope, and if he comes down that means i would he interested too.

Looking at the P&W info, it looks like permits are “free” but are granted by a landowner, which i would assume comes with a cost. Is this the way it really is, basically pay a “tresspass” fee to take a pronghorn antelope off someones land after they get a permit?

I also saw the experimental permit is available, but that was strange in that it was just two counties and seemed like you go door knocking to get land owner permission prior to hunting....is the landowner list the same as the above list of landowners with a permit?

The season is short...are there tons of folks that are competing for a small number of permits?

If anyone has worked with or knows of a good guide for antelope, we wouldn’t be opposed to that if cost was reasonable as well.

As a side note, my brother also mentioned interest in mule deer. Is there someone who would do a good antelope and mule combo hunt? Cross listed in guides and outfitters for the above question.

Went with PBGSO last season and got a couple good goats. They have agreements with many landowners in the Dalhart area but we ended up shooting both of ours on Experimental tags. Basically we went a filled out the tags at a local sporting goods stores and held them just in case. Saw my goat while driving around, they called the landowner abd asked for permission, some money changed hands, and I shot him after a short stalk. I'm not sure how easy it would be to do as an outsider because I think outfitters know the bulk of the big landowners and have good relationships with them. I'm sure it would be possible to luck into a decent pronghorn and pay a landowner but for me it was too long of a drive to play that game.

I like that rifle

In my experience, my nephew buys the tags from the landowner which includes the trespass fee. He then in turn, as the guide, sells the tag to hunters. When hunting time comes around he takes the hunters to the property, finds the antelope they want. It's actually pretty simple, mostly drive around until you find the one you want. Very easy "hunt". He guides in Deaf Smith and Parmer county.

I hunted with Pope Brothers (PBGSO) in 2019 in Dalhart. The season is very short as stated above. Clay Pope has been hunting up there for 20+ years and is very plugged in with the landowners. You're going to pay $3K or more but they pretty much guarantee your success. I hunted with Travis Wright when I was there and the guy really worked his butt off to get me a nice goat and it was a nice one - TPW biologist scored it at 76". If that's more than you plan on spending and you really want to do this yourself then I think you'll have to do a lot of leg work to find a landowner who has a tag that is not spoken for. As TexFlip said, I was driving too far to take any chances on striking out. That's another thing, these goats can move around a bit so even if you are successful finding a tag you are limited to a single piece of property. While hunting with PBGSO, we went all the way to Pampa one day because he had tags in the area. If you want more info send me a PM. Good luck!

Appreciate the info guys. Sounds like a true OTC proghorn hunt in TX is pretty limited. A guide is going to be the way to go.

Dalhart to Marfa, $3500 seemed to be the going rate last year.

Me too.

JermeyKS @sagebrushoutfitters

Be hard pressed to beat his track record and history here on THF.

Jeremy is good people.

I hunted with Jeremy two years ago and everybody in camp killed very nice goats. Great place to stay, great food and I enjoyed the ranch history. The camp where hunters stay is the home place of the XIT ranch.

Just wondering, How was the population on Pampa area?

We saw only two goats that day. There was a father and daughter scheduled to shoot before me and both of them missed. We rode around on a pretty large ranch but just did not see a lot of animals. In fairness to the landowner, the weather was not great that day. In fact, it rained sideways on us as we drove back to Dalhart. I would not pass on Pampa solely on my experience as we were only there 4-5 hours.

I know this isn't what you asked, but it doesn't take that long to drive to Wyoming. That run over to Raton and up through CO is pleasant enough. You can draw first year tags in decent areas, outfitters are cheaper, and you can get a good goat. They're everywhere.

I hunted with Jeremy in 2017. It was a great time, great accommodations, great food & service.

About a 12 hr drive from DFW to Laramie via 287 to I-70 and I-25.

PP are the issue with Wyoming though, you need a few for a better area with good access. We do offer some tags in the random part of the draw though.
And we do have pronghorn everywhere and the chance at a B&C buck on public land. Doe tags are cheap and a random draw too.

I did a self guided hunt in panhandle many years ago. Brought the tag through an outfitter for a ranch near Stratford. Saw plenty of pronghorn back then and took a decent buck but not big.. Ranchers were very friendly and I saw lots of pheasants on his pivot in the corn.
I believe the outfitter is long gone. My tag cost me $600 for that hunt, times have changed it seems.

I second Wyoming. Drawing a tag in Texas is akin to drawing a sheep tag in Nevada. Guides are about 1200 cheaper in Wyoming last time I looked at them, and the draw for those areas is pretty easy as you aren't competing against diy hunters on public land. Look for a draw up around the Sheridan region as that's mostly private land.

Yep, you can get a good outfitter much cheaper than in Texas, and the outfitter will help you draw (even with no PP) in an area where they have a lot of good access and there are lots of good goats. I killed a 75" after glassing and passing literally hundreds of bucks in an area I drew with no PP.

Not sure but I think New Mexico might be closer than WY

It is closer. I struck out on NM draw a few times. Outfitters I talked to there cost a little more. Not a big deal. But also more limited re: dates and slots. But I didn't research it that hard. WY was just very accessible for a first timer.

Yelp, you can by landowner tags pretty reasonable. Both Texas and NM is priced fairly competitively

Trespass fee hunts are harder to find now up here but some still exist, outfitters are realizing folks will pay good money for our pronghorn.

I would sure email some biologists and ask about trespass fee hunting. https://wgfd.wyo.gov/Law-Enforcement/Field-Personnel-Contact-Info/biologist-contact-info

Draw odds were crazy last year even for bad access areas so look them over .

SE Wyoming is about 12 hrs drive from DFW area .

Many B&C bucks come off of public lands so don't be afraid of that . Not all but many outfitters will get you on a 12 inch buck and tell you it's a good one. I would state to them I want a 15 inch buck if booking a hunt.

Guides may cost less in Wyoming but you have to look at the total cost of the trip. You can spend $3,000-$3,500 in Texas on a turnkey deal, meaning they feed you and put you up for the weekend and you only need your regular hunting license which most of us would have bought anyway. To travel out of state, you incur further travel and have to buy an out of state hunting license. Going the DIY route also means that you have to pay for food & lodging. There's no wrong way to do an exotic hunt but, in my opinion, there are a lot of advantages to staying in Texas.

I appreciate the good words from everyone. We do hunts in Texas in the Dalhart area and just across the line in New Mexico as well.

Changes are in the works but more than likely there will be no experimental units in Texas this year and it will be a longer season as well.

Let me know if I can answer any questions for you.

Jeremy