New Mexico Hunting Outfitters

Guided Hunts for Bighorn Sheep, Elk, Mule Deer, Gemsbok, Antelope, Cougar, and Aoudad in New Mexico

Love of the Hunt (LOH) is an outfitting service on public land in the mountains of south-central New Mexico. Taking clients to pursue elk, mule-deer, antelope, Barbary sheep, bighorn sheep, oryx, Ibex, bear and mountain lion. We elk hunt some of the most sought after country for big bulls in all of the west. Our guides spend countless hours in the field scouting and hunting to ensure your trip is action-filled and successful. Let us show you our love of the hunt.

Mule Deer Hunting in New Mexico

Successful Mule Deer Hunts by Archery or Rifle

Mule deer are arguably one of the most sought after species of the west. New Mexico inhabits two different sub species the Rocky Mountain mule deer in the northern half of the state, and the desert mule deer in the southern half of the state. New Mexico Game and Fish populations are estimated to be around 200,000 today.

With human expansion affecting habitat and migration routes mule deer population is affected. With mule deer populations bottoming out in the 1900’s with approximately 40,000 animals. With the help of state and federal organization, and other volunteer programs like the mule deer foundation, RMEF restoring grasslands, prescribed fire to increase browsing vegetation and habitat, predator control Mule-deer population where on a rebound.

Mule deer are known for their keen eye sight and giant 9″ ears. Built to bound off all four legs rather than run like that of any other ungulate. The mule deer rut extends from mid-November to early January depends on location in the state. Fawns are typically born in June or July and typically stay with the mother till the following breeding season.  Bucks typically cast their antlers in late April early May and grow a new set every year.

New Mexico has several hunting seasons open for mule deer. Early season for velvet mule deer opens September 1st-24th and is archery only. Late October for muzzleloader and early November for rifle and a January rut hunt with archery.

New Mexico Elk Hunts

Trophy Elk Hunting in New Mexico for 300″-400″ bulls

If you’re looking for a serious New Mexico elk hunting adventure — the kind of hunting experience that brings majestic, bugling, trophy bulls in so close the hair will stand up on the back of your neck, then you’ll want to book with LOH Outfitters. With comfortable accommodations, good food, and a 90+ percent opportunity on 300” – 400” bulls, we’re hard to beat for blood-pumping action in the Gila wilderness and Southwestern New Mexico.

Our elk hunts feature 1-on-1 professional guides in units 13, 15, 16, 17, and 36. Units 13, 15 and 17 are trophy units and can only be hunted with bow or muzzleloader. We also offer a demanding unit 16B* trip that is a horseback bow hunt 10 to 20 miles deep into the pristine Gila wilderness.

Trophy Elk Hunt Packages and Prices

The draw deadline for these tags is in March and costs between $555-$780 for a successful draw.

Unsuccessful draws refund all but a $89 processing fee, and we can provide guaranteed land owner tags ranging from $4,000 – $7,500 (prices are subject to New Mexico sales tax).

Rifle and Archery Pronghorn Antelope Hunts in New Mexico

Outfitter for Trophy Pronghorn Antelope in New Mexico

Across the wide open spaces of New Mexico roams an unlikely creature, the North American pronghorn antelope. Although they may look like an African species they are Native to North America. New Mexico’s antelope herd is well know for trophy antelope producing numerous goats every year that exceed the Boone and Crockett  mark. Know for their speed and keen eye site make for an experience filled hunt.

While on your hunt be prepared to spend a lot of time glassing and covering country looking at 10-20 bucks a day. They are a very territorial animal which makes using decoys very effective.

Be prepared to shoot out to 500 yards. If you choose archery practice out to 80+ yards and from the sitting position.

Oryx Hunting in New Mexico

New Mexico Oryx Antelope Hunts

A Oryx hunt can be an amazing experience. These animals, also known as gemsbok, the oryx is visually striking antelope with distinct markings and long, straight horns (30–40 inches) grown by both sexes. Approximately 46 inches at the shoulder and six feet in length, oryx often weigh near 500 pounds. You can check out more images on our Instagram page of these amazing animals.

The thick tan-colored hide covering the oryx is marked on the face with symmetrical black and white triangular patches and broad stripes from the horns over the eyes to a white muzzle. Black stripes continues down the neck and around the underbody, forming bands around all four legs. A black stripe also extends along the spine form the short black mane at the neck to the black tasseled tail.

Oryx are found in desert, steppe and savanna ecosystems of Africa and the Middle East at elevations between 3,500–4,800 feet. The Chihuahuan Desert in White Sands Missile Range and the surrounding areas is remarkably similar to the arid, native habitats where oryx subsist with very little water.

The idea originated in the late 1940’s when Frank C. Hibben, an avid big-game hunter and then chairman of the New Mexico State Game Commission, remembered hunting the African oryx in arid deserts similar to regions of southern New Mexico. Subsequently, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) from 1969–1977 released 93 captivity bred oryx onto White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in the Tularosa Basin.

Similar to Africa, the Tularosa Basin has a large predator, the native mountain lion, that was expected to prey on oryx and help maintain a localized and healthy population— hopefully of about 600 animals. But lack of predation and rapid reproduction by this exotic species quickly established a population that spread into surrounding areas, peaking at 4,000–6,000 animals by 2001.

Already by the mid-1990s, the overabundance had prompted NMDGF and WSMR to develop a management plan to address the spreading population. Working with private landowners and public-land managers from the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, USDA Forest Service and BLM, population management hunts now are conducted regularly and licenses issued periodically to hunt oryx beyond the boundaries of WSMR ( off range ).

Oryx primarily live in herds of 10–40 animals, comprised of one dominant male, a harem of females and a few non-dominant males. Many males remain solitary and defend a sole territory by marking it with dung deposits.