Johnny Hughes
Johnny and his wife, Denise, are
the owners of Elite Outfitters and Antler Adventures. They live in Alto, NM, and
have one adult son, Eric. Johnny is 48 years old and was raised
in Junction, Texas and Ruidoso, New Mexico. He graduated from the University of
Texas @ Austin with a bachelors degree in geology and from Idaho State
University with a masters degree in geology. After working as a hydrogeologist
for 5 years, he left the industry to pursue a career in outfitting.
Johnny has guided full time for Elite since 1998. His personal hunting
interests revolve around bow and rifle hunting primarily for elk, mule deer, whitetail
deer, and aoudad sheep.
Joseph Graham
A life-long, 35-year
resident of Ruidoso, New Mexico, Joseph works as a lineman for PNM Power
Company. Joseph and his
wife, Leslie have four children, twins Riker and Josey, and Mackenzie and Savannah.
Joseph has been guiding for Elite since 1998. His
personal hunting interests include bow, muzzleloader and rifle hunting for
almost anything. In 2004, he harvested a Persian Ibex in the Florida Mountains
of southern New Mexico that is the #3
SCI Ibex in the world taken with a muzzleloader.
Brad
LaBounty
Brad is 32 years old and was raised in South Dakota. Brad is single and
has lived in Nogal, NM for the past three years.
He has been guiding professionally on a full-time basis since 2001 and for Elite
since 2008. He has guided over 30 elk hunters for Elite in the past two
years alone. He is an avid and accomplished shed-antler hunter in the
spring-time as well. Brad's primary hunting interests are elk, mule deer, aoudad
sheep and black bears. He's known around here as a bear magnet. He sees them no
matter where he goes.
Kenny
Espinosa
Kenny Espinosa is 46-years
old and is a lifetime resident of Ruidoso, NM. He has a degree in Petroleum
Engineering from Eastern New Mexico University. Kenny owns and operates a
heating and cooling business. He is currently single and has two teenage daughters
Kara and Kymbra.
Kenny has been guiding for Elite since 2000. Kenny is primarily a bowhunter but hunts any opportunity
that presents itself. His daughters are accomplished hunters and keep him
busy by themselves.
Mike Free
Born in Louisiana, Mike
and his wife, Cheryl have resided in Ruidoso, NM since 1989. He moved to
Ruidoso solely to be able to hunt elk more. He has been bowhunting them
religiously ever since. Mike is 50 years old and he works as the manager for Big-O Tires
in Ruidoso.
Mike has been guiding for Elite since 2002. Mike's personal hunting time is usually spent archery hunting
elk and bird hunting with his dogs.
Mike Acklin
Born and raised in Texas, Mike and his wife Donna, currently live in San Angelo,
TX. He is 58 years old and works as a wildlife specialist for the Federal
Government. Mike also works as a trapper during the winter months.
Mike has been guiding hunters for Elite since 2000. He will be the exclusive
guide for the Hondo Ranch hunts. Mike's personal
hunting interest is bowhunting for elk.
Hoyt
Graham
A lifelong resident of Ruidoso, NM, Hoyt and his wife
Kim have 2 adult children, Adam and Katie and Patti. He is 57 years old and
owns and operates his own excavating company. He is an avid musician and
regularly plays country music in the Graham Brothers Band.
Hoyt has guided for Elite since 2002. Hoyt hunts for various animals,
but his favorite hunting is for elk and turkey.
Dan
Cornelius
Dan is a life-long resident of Ruidoso, NM. He is 25
years old and single. He works as a carpenter when he's not
in the woods, but has always been a subscriber to the conspiracy theory, "Born
to hunt, forced to work."
Dan has guided hunters for Elite since 2009. He is an avid shed-antler hunter
and spends most of the spring scouring the mountains for horns. Dan bow and rifle hunts pretty much anything he can get a
tag for.
Jamie
Gibson
Jamie has lived in Ruidoso, NM
for the past 22 years. He and his wife
Susan have three daughters April, K.C., and Jessica. Jamie is 51 years old and
works for the Village of Ruidoso as the Foreman of the Water Department.
He has guided elk hunters for Elite since 2005. Jamie bowhunts exclusively. His primary interests are elk, mule deer and whitetail,
although his ultimate dream is to take a moose with his bow.
Andrew
McWilliams
Originally born in Massachusetts,
Andrew has been a resident of New Mexico his entire adult life. He has lived in
Nogal, NM for the past 10 years. Andrew and has wife, Rebecca, have two
boys, Ian and Andres and one daughter, Adriana. He is a certified Farrier by
trade.
Andrew will be joining the Elite/Antler crew for the first year in 2010. He
brings years of hunting experience in the Sacramento Mountains with
him. Andrew hunts many different animals, but his favorite hunt is chasing
and treeing mountain lions with his dogs.
Chris
Sanchez
Chris is 33 years old and
lives in Las Cruces, NM. He is currently single. Chris works at various jobs
keeping his falls open for guiding. Another subscriber to the conspiracy
theory, "Born to hunt, forced to work."
He has been guiding hunters for Elite since 2007. Chris is primarily a bowhunter
and hunts anything and everything he can get a tag for.
Jerry
Corliss
Jerry is 34 years old and grew up in the Silver City, NM area. He and his wife Gina have lived in Ruidoso, NM for 8 years. They have two sons, Josh and Lane. Jerry works for the Ruidoso Fire Department. He also is an assistant coach for the Ruidoso High School baseball team.
Jerry has been guiding elk hunters for Elite since 2005. Jerry's personal hunting interests are centered around elk, although he also pursues mule deer and coyotes whenever he can.
Randy
Eikanger
Randy is 28 years old and was born and raised in Silver City, NM. He has lived in Ruidoso the past 8 years. Randy works as a fireman for the Ruidoso Fire Department. He is currently single and has a young son named Jeran.
Randy has been guiding hunters for Elite since 2007. His personal hunting interests center on elk but Randy enjoys any type of hunting.
