Unit 072, 074 - 075 (O'Neil Basin, Browns Bench and the Snake Mountains)

Poison Creek to Elk Mountain and O'Neil Basin

On the northern part of Unit 072, antelope live in the drainages between Poison Creek and Elk Mountain. On the east side of 072, O'Neil Basin and the Wildcat Creek area hold most of them. NDOW says most of the group's harvest comes from Poison Creek to Elk Mountain, O'Neil Basin and the east side of the Snake Mountains.

Browns Bench, Tabor Creek and Summer Camp

In Unit 074, Browns Bench, Mahogany Basin and Hubbard Basin provide habitat for most of the antelope. In Unit 075, it's Tabor Creek, Summer Camp and Dry Creek.

Within a mile of water

Antelope are generally tied to water in August and early September. Water sources range from perennial streams to small springs, and when it's dry, small local groups usually stay within a mile of dependable water. NDOW suggests starting with a map that marks water sources. Summer thunderstorms, common in August and September, can end that dependence quickly and change how the animals are spread out, so after a storm the water may not hold them.

The ground NDOW draws for this tag

A pronghorn tag for this group is good in units 072, 074 and 075, about 1,837 square miles measured on NDOW's own boundary, in Elko County. The named ranges inside the line are Salmon River Range, Snake Mountains, Marys River Range, Elk Mountains, Jarbidge Mountains and Fox Creek Range. The highest named points are Jarbidge Peak (10,790 ft), Matterhorn (10,741 ft) and Square Top (10,681 ft), and the lowest named ground sits near 5,324 feet. We don't print a land-status split for Nevada groups, because the figures we held didn't come from BLM's surface-management data; check BLM's current map for private parcels before you cross a fence or a cattle guard. GNIS names 61 springs inside it, Chicken Spring, Hillside Spring, Jim Bob Spring and H Spring among them.

Mostly public, with a few marked exceptions

Hunter access is good across much of the group, and most of the land is BLM and Forest Service ground. Part of Unit 072 is in the Jarbidge Wilderness; NDOW refers hunters to the wilderness.net listing for details. In Unit 075 there are a few areas of restricted private property, mostly on the northwest part of the Snake Mountains, and they're well marked.

Loomis Mountain walk-in access

Around Loomis Mountain in Unit 075 there's an area closed to motorized vehicles, but the Winecup Gamble Ranch grants walk-in access. Named roads in the group include US 93, O'Neil-Deeth County Road, O'Neil Hubbard Road and Oneil Basin Road.

After the opening weekend

Most of the hunting pressure lands on opening weekend. Hunters who stay with it afterward may find the antelope a bit more wary, but they'll have little or no competition for them. Keep an eye on the weather too, because a summer thunderstorm can free antelope from permanent water sources and spread them out across the unit.

The 2025 season in NDOW's own numbers

NDOW's 2025 Big Game Hunt Data is the hunter survey behind these figures: who drew, who went, who filled a tag. Success there is NDOW's own figure, successful hunters over hunters afield. NDOW ran 1 more pronghorn hunt on this group, smaller ones; the draw panel lists them.

• Horns longer than ears, any legal weapon, Aug 22 - Sep 07: 60 resident and 6 nonresident tags. 65 hunters went afield and 57 filled their tag (88%). Hunters reported 2.6 days afield on average. 23% of the resident bucks had horns of 15 inches or longer.
• Horns longer than ears, archery, Aug 01 - Aug 21: 25 resident and 3 nonresident tags. 23 hunters went afield and 5 filled their tag (22%). Hunters reported 7.1 days afield on average. 0% of the resident bucks had horns of 15 inches or longer.
• Junior antelope horns shorter than ears, any legal weapon, Sep 08 - Sep 24: 15 resident tags. 13 hunters went afield and 10 filled their tag (77%). Hunters reported 1.9 days afield on average.
• Horns shorter than ears, any legal weapon, Sep 08 - Sep 24: 5 resident tags. 4 hunters went afield and 3 filled their tag (75%). Hunters reported 2.5 days afield on average.

Roads in and the nearest towns

The longest named roads through the group are US 93, O'Neil-Deeth County Road, I 80 and O'Neil Hubbard Road. Our road inventory counts roughly 50 miles of pavement, 87 of gravel and 202 of high-clearance or four-wheel-drive track. The nearest towns are Jackpot (15 mi), Wells (19 mi) and Hollister (40 mi), measured from the centre of the closest unit in the group.