Nebraska also offers a separate muzzleloader season, which in 2006 should run from mid-September through early October. Muzzleloader hunters active in the ‘05 season shot 101 pronghorns -- a 59 percent success rate. Nebraska’s muzzleloader hunt is widely regarded as one of the state’s best-quality hunts.

Nebraska’s archery season, for which licenses are unlimited, is open to non-residents. Archery season is anticipated to open the third week in August, to close in early November, and to reopen in late November through Dec. 31; it’s also closed during the pronghorn firearm season. Archers killed 49 pronghorns in 2005 -- a 13 percent success rate.

Resident archery and firearm permits cost $27 -- $13.50 for resident landowners -- while non-resident archery permits cost $132. Beginning in April and continuing through the season, archers can pick permits up at any district office. The application period for firearm and muzzleloader permits begins in early April. Nebraska provides a preference-point system giving priority to those unsuccessful in previous drawings.

KANSAS
Kansas, known more for whitetails than for pronghorns, goes into 2006 with more of the antelope. According to Matt Peek, pronghorn project coordinator for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, 2006 may well shape up to be one of the best pronghorn years in the past five. Reproductive success and fawn recruitment have been high. Peek believes that though Kansas continues dry, the past two years’ timely rains have increased habitat critical for fawn survival. Coyotes still plague Kansas’ pronghorns, but improved cover enables enough fawns to survive to boost overall population.

“We estimate there are approximately 2,000 pronghorns in Kansas,” said Peek. “It’s one of the smallest populations, but our success rates compare well to the rest of the pronghorn states. We do an aerial production survey in July and August to establish buck, doe and fawn ratios. In January and February we fly again, and run what we consider our population estimate surveys. When we combine that with a harvest report from nearly every hunter, we feel we are getting a good look at our overall population.”

The strongest pronghorn populations are found along the Colorado border in the western half of the state. The three top hunt units: 2, 17 and 18. Unit 2, in the northwest corner, has the highest pronghorn densities.

Non-residents should take a look at archery pronghorn hunting, as Peek reports that the commission is considering unlimited licenses for bowhunters both resident and non-resident. Ordinarily, non-residents can’t hunt in any of Kansas’ archery, muzzleloader or firearm pronghorn seasons. Opportunities are few: It takes a resident at least 5 to 6 preference points to draw a firearm license, while 2 to 4 points will secure a muzzleloader license.

Licenses cost $47.15 for both resident archery and firearm permits, and landowner/tenant licenses run $27.15; archery permits are unlimited. The season is tentatively set to run from Sept. 23 to Oct. 1; it will reopen on Oct. 1 and run through Oct. 31.

In 2005, Kansas sold 153 archery permits; those bowhunters attained a 20 percent success rate. Archers can take an animal of either sex. Hunting takes place primarily in the west and southwest corner of the state; detailed units describe archery areas.