Photo by Chuck and Grace Bartlett

As a veteran outfitter and a serious hunter, Albuquerque resident Jim Welles can tell you all about pronghorn in the Land of Enchantment. And when the conversation turns to hunting New Mexico bucks that wear extraordinarily large sets of jet-black headgear, Welles doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the walk. One glance at his trophy room wall and another at the record books tell of his credentials.

Welles, you see, shot one of the biggest archery antelope bucks to ever come from the Land of Enchantment, a 1991 pronghorn arrowed in legendary Catron County, with horn length measurements of 16 4/8 inches and 16 3/8 inches, and an impressive 83 2/8 final score. Certainly Catron County is home to some of North America's finest trophy speed goat hunting.

When his spot-and-stalk hunting adventure had ended, the proprietor of JFW Ranch Consulting www.newmexicobiggamehunting.com, 505-294-7861) found himself tagging an antelope buck most hunters will only dream of shooting. Better yet, the big buck's score grabbed hold of the top rung in the Pope & Young Club's archery record book for New Mexico.

While the Welles' buck now ranks sixth in the Pope & Young Club's antelope records for the Land of Enchantment, it helps to underscore Catron County as one of the best spots in the nation to chase trophy antelope bucks.

Pope & Young's current state record archery antelope also hails from Catron County. Martin Silva shot it the 84 4/8 speed goat in 1997. The Boone & Crockett Club's record book shows that the state's second best overall antelope is another Catron County giant, a 90 6/8 buck taken by John P. Grimmett in 1986. That antelope is just a few fractions of an inch better, by the way, than the 90 2/8 antelope taken in Catron County by Robert N. Bushong in 1998.

While such record book antelope bucks obviously don't grow on cholla cactus, if you're fortunate enough to find a tag to hunt antelope in Catron County this fall, you might want to keep the number for your taxidermist on speed dial. With the snow and rain that has finally returned to the state during the past year, things are looking up for antelope herds here and throughout New Mexico, according to Game and Fish Department biologist Julie Cummings, who serves as the state's coordinator for the antelope landowner program.

"We've actually gotten more snow and rain statewide, so we're expecting a much better year (for antelope)," Cummings said.

Snow and rainfall are important to stimulate food growth in New Mexico. As selective foragers, the state's 30,000 or so speed goats obtain much of their annual diet from forbs, then shrubs, and finally, in a very minute portion, from some grasses, according to Cummings.

When more food is available -- and the quality of that food is high -- that normally means improving antelope numbers and better horn growth, two factors that should mean plenty of smiles for New Mexico hunters late this summer and early this fall.

While Cummings hesitated to look too far down the road, she indicated that antelope hunters -- including those in Catron County -- could probably look forward to a solid season of hunting as long as searing drought conditions don't return to the state over the summer.

"As for a prognosis, I probably wouldn't go as far as an 'A' but I'd probably rate it as a 'B,' " Cummings said.