World Wide Hunter:

I'm going on my first pronghorn hunt in Wyoming unit 23 in mid-October this year. I'll share what I have learned.

I believe all states have a limited draw pronghorn permit system, at least for non-residents. You should decide how much you want to spend to hunt pronghorn and why you are hunting, as these considerations will strongly control your decisions as to where to apply for a permit.

I wanted to minimize my costs, didn't care about bagging a trophy, and wanted a good hunting experience. Given my interests, I looked to a unit in Wyoming which had ample public land to hunt on and was undersubscribed in 2003 so I could be assured of drawing. You can find such units in the NE and middle-eastern portions of Wyoming, but note that this area is not noted for trophy sized heads. A large piece of public land in this area is the Thunder Basin National Grassland. Because I was concerned that the public land might be overcrowded and diminish the quality of my hunt, I called the Wyoming Game and Fish office in Gillette to have them send me a list of landowners who would let me hunt their land for a modest trespass fee. I made an arrangement to hunt two days for $125/hunter on a small ranch. Other deals exist at different price points. I have also come to believe that I probably could hunt on public land and not have to fight off other hunters . . . so long as I didn't try to hunt the opening of the season, maybe hunting mid-week two weeks after the opening. The non-resident license for Wyoming pronghorn is about $230 and you need to buy a $10 conservation stamp. The Wyoming pronghorn rifle season, in most units, is from October 1 to end of October I believe. While they may be found at higher elevations, my understanding is that the pronghorn is mainly an open country plains animal and is going to be seen most commonly at altitudes from 3,000' to maybe 6,000'.

If you want a trophy, you might arrange a ranch hunt in New Mexico or perhaps Arizona. These would be expensive. Alternately, you could put in for an application in a reputable unit in Wyoming and then use a guide/outfitter. It happens that in many areas in Wyoming the better hunting lands are leased from land owners by outfitters/guides, hence to hunt these better areas you need to hook up with the outfitters/guides. Colorado, Montana, Idaho, and Utah may all have significant pronghorn hunting opportunities.

Most people feel that a flat shooting rifle is needed for pronghorn hunting, though some people bow hunt for pronghorn and even a .30-30 has a longer kill range than a bow and arrow I suppose! Pronghorn are small and don't require a cannon to be dispatched. 100 grain bullets in a .243 are more than adequate. A wide range of cartridges may be used: .243, 6 mm remington, .240 Weatherby magnum, .257 Roberts, .25-06, .257 Weatherby magnum, .270, .280, .30-06, 7 mm magnum, .300 Winchester magnum. No doubt others have been used successfully. A telescopic sight is useful, 3-10x variable or even fixed 4x or 6x will work. Most people spot pronghorn from afar and approach within shooting range by stalking/stealth. Bow hunters may establish a ground blind near a water hole where they expect pronghorn to come to water. Pronghorn have excellent eyesight. Pronghorn are herd animals, so you rarely find isolated animals. You have to avoid being spotted by any one of the several herd animals. Success ratios for pronghorn are typically high: considerably higher than for deer and elk.

This is all very high level general information anyone could tell you -- including a rookie to pronghorn hunting such as myself. A good initial step would be to call several state wildlife or deparment of game and wildlife to request they mail you the current big game application booklet. This will inform you of license costs, deadlines (expired for current season but will give you an idea of when to get in gear for next season), mapping out of permit units. Most state's have web sites you can visit to find out what the draw probability is for different units. This is enough information to get started. Figure out what kind of hunt you want and then post more questions. Also look for other querries about pronghorn hunting on this and other forums for other good information.