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The Best Antelope Outfitter in Colorado?

March 10, 2011.

I first started hunting antelope back around 1990 when I was a young man living in Minnesota, when some buddies and I would pile in a pickup and drive all night to get to Wyoming to fill our $25 doe tags. I've shot quite a few antelope since then (including one pushing 80" in Wyoming last year) and consider myself an accomplished antelope hunter.

Honestly, antelope hunting is pretty easy as western hunts go (90% success rates are common), and I've always felt very comfortable hunting them without the services of a guide -- even as an inexperienced out-of-stater.

This year, though, I am going to try my first guided hunt for antelope. And I'll be taking that hunt in my home state of Colorado.

Why guided?

Well, in Colorado, there are two ways to get a shot at a decent antelope: either build up 10+ preference points (over 10+ years!), or gain access to private land. I lack the patience to build up that many points, so that option is out for me. And the economic reality is that the really good private land is going to be tied up by outfitters.

I could probably find a way to pull off a self-guided hunt in Colorado for bucks with horns in the 12-inch range, but that's not what I'm looking for right now. I've got a whole pile of 12" antelope horns in the garage, and at this point in my antelope hunting career I want to focus on true trophy bucks.

Which is another way a guide can help. Antelope can be surprisingly hard to field judge, especially if you're trying to determine whether a buck is a good buck or a VERY good buck -- one pushing or surpassing the Boone and Crockett minimums. Having another set of experienced eyes along will help make those calls.

My search for big Colorado bucks led me to Brandon McCullough of High Plains Adventures. Brandon guided the holder of the 2010 Colorado Governor's tag to a great, wide-flaring buck last year. He also guided his other hunters to 5 bucks over 80" — an incredible feat in a state not typically known for monster antelope.

In fact, if Brandon had bothered to enter those antelope, he would have dominated the top of the annual Colorado Guide and Outfitter's Association "Best of Species" competition.

As far as I can tell, Brandon is the top-producing antelope outfitter in Colorado, by far.

What sealed the deal, though, was when Brandon told me in one of our phone conversations, "I've got a passion for hunting antelope." Guys that have that passion for a given species are the ones I like to hunt with — they're obsessed with finding the best places to hunt, and the best animals on those places.

So, after 20 years or so of antelope hunting, I called Brandon earlier this week and booked one of his few remaining openings for 2011 — which will be the first year I've hunted with a guide. I'm hoping it will pay off with a world-class buck — because I have that passion for hunting antelope too.

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