New Mexico Livin'

[seldomseensmith]

Nice to see a small amount on NM love bubbling to the surface. Even thinhorn_AK had something decent to say about it..haha.
The Truchas are another place that I love spending time in. Quite remote and rugged.
The bighorns are taking root quite well and I feel that the tag allocation numbers will hopefully show that in my lifetime. I put in every year but on the Wheeler Peak area tags. If I'm gonna draw a once in a lfetime bighorn tag I want it to be in the high country, not the Rio Grande gorge area.
Also, NM is a blue state in the same way a state like NY is a blue state. Dense population areas of blue surrounded by vast red or at least diverse areas.
Update: I stopped using my turn signals because of this thread and I feel quite liberated. I feel more accepted now. Thanks Rokslide!!!

 

[AKBorn]

Question for you longtime New Mexicans - I am LEAVING California in March (exiled here for 8 months with my girlfriend, getting her home ready to sell). When I drove cross-country from Maryland last June, I stayed overnight in Gallup. Would like to overnight in Grants this time on my way to Tennessee - any hotels to recommend, and any to avoid?

 

[AKBorn]

And my small contribution to this thread - I lived in Santa Fe and Los Alamos from 1986 to 1990. Was recently married, and like a numbskull sold my rifles and never even tried hunting in NM while I was there. I bet there was some pretty good elk and mule deer hunting back in the late 80s....

Beautiful mountains in the northern part of the state, and a breakfast burrito with bacon and red chile is a wonderful thing...I like green chile too, just like red on my breakfast burrito...

 

[boom]

somebody mentioned Las Crusas. LC is kinda nice. close to El Paso, where i grew up. like you could move to Santa Teresa NM and be right on the border. hot in summer, and some epic dust storms in the spring.

but the resident tag for elk doesnt suck/.

i have a plot of land in Ruidoso..i dont know what i am going to do with it. unit 36, so great elk, but that place is getting depressed with the lack of snow every winter. that place is a goner.

 

[kentuckybowman]

New Mexico is quickly turning into old Mexico, I have spent a lot of business travel time there and would never live there.

 

[roadrunner]

Also, NM is a blue state in the same way a state like NY is a blue state. Dense population areas of blue surrounded by vast red or at least diverse areas.

And we get laws and economic policy that demonstrate the inmates run the asylum...

 

[ZDR]

And we get laws and economic policy that demonstrate the inmates run the asylum...

So so true. There is no reason this state is so economically in the toilet except for the politicians - both parties BTW...
I'm sick of it but I'm not running from it either. It wont change until the general population here confronts the reality and starts changing the way they vote.

 

[Seth]

Question for you longtime New Mexicans - I am LEAVING California in March (exiled here for 8 months with my girlfriend, getting her home ready to sell). When I drove cross-country from Maryland last June, I stayed overnight in Gallup. Would like to overnight in Grants this time on my way to Tennessee - any hotels to recommend, and any to avoid?

Two groups pretty well own all major hotels in Grants. I have personally stayed at both the Holiday Inn Express and the Quality Inn prior to relocating here for work. Either is nice enough, but I prefer the Holiday Inn. PM me for more info.

I’ve lived a lot of places in my career, and I prefer Grants to many of them. It has a small town feel, good access to ABQ, and I can be on the mountain in 15 minutes. The resident hunting opportunities are great, and I find most people here to be quite friendly.

NM certainly has its issues politically, economically, and the educational system is in dire need of reform. With that said, the low cost of living and outdoor opportunities have me wanting to finish out my career here.

 

[FLAK]

Bite of Belgium in LC has some good waffles.

 

[Felix40]

Thanks for the info about Las Cruces so far. I definitely meant to say NMSU and shouldn't be typing in the small hours of the morning.

I would only be in Las Cruces for the two to three years it would take to finish a program. I'm like a raccoon that can live anywhere, but my lady would be with me working her job remotely. She's Idaho-born and gets cabin fever pretty bad. It would be peace of mind knowing that I'm dragging her somewhere with good outdoor recreation opportunities within weekend warrior range.

It looks like big game tags are a lot more scarce than I'm used to, but I would be pretty excited to get into Javelina hunting for a couple of years.

It’s easy to think that but my experience has been that you can easily get more tags than you have time for.

You can basically get elk, deer, Barbary, javelina, and bear every year. Some of them won’t be great tags but there’s also always a chance you can get a really good tag at any time.

 

[Wagon77]

You will get a lot of opinions, but my perspective on NM is it is an absolutely beautiful state with a lot of really bad people inhabiting it. Lots of good people too, but just too much crime (violent crime 2nd highest behind Alaska in 2018). Roughly 1 in 5 live below the poverty level.

Dangerous states: Which states have the highest rates of violent crime and most murders?

Violent crimes including murder and robbery are down in the U.S. But some states are more dangerous than others, based on 24/7 Wall St.'s ranking.

www.google.com

That’s all Albuquerque as far as crime! Mostly everywhere else is pretty good

 

[Wagon77]

This is a great thread. I got stationed in CA, moved to AZ and then went to TX. Feel bad about skipping over NM. Honestly, I miss the public land in the west and I spend all my time off hunting in the west. I am tired of driving all the time for hunting and looking to move back west. I have been looking into NM, specifically Silver City area, and I know its a pretty blue in the larger population centers which control the states politics. I think I would rather have that then pay to hunt anywhere close by me.

I’m from silver! Dm me if you need info!

 

[MattB]

That’s all Albuquerque as far as crime! Mostly everywhere else is pretty good

A friend elk hunted in one of the 50's units (51/52/53?) and they had a truck come into camp in the middle of the night and the passengers tried to steal their coolers. When they talked to the game warden about it, he told them theft from hunting camps was rampant in the area.

Albuquerque may be worse, but I have heard tidbits here and there which leads me to believe the crime issue extends to other areas of the state as well.

 

[Wagon77]

A friend elk hunted in one of the 50's units (51/52/53?) and they had a truck come into camp in the middle of the night and the passengers tried to steal their coolers. When they talked to the game warden about it, he told them theft from hunting camps was rampant in the area.

Albuquerque may be worse, but I have heard tidbits here and there which leads me to believe the crime issue extends to other areas of the state as well.

I don’t doubt it! But Albuquerque is the worst area in the state! Up by Farmington, the theft is bad by the Navajo nation! Everywhere has their shit! And New Mexico is no exception for sure! But I’ve lived in this state for 40 years and have seen my share!

 

[Rusty Shackelford]

New Mexico is quickly turning into old Mexico, I have spent a lot of business travel time there and would never live there.

Curious what you mean by turning into old mexico?

 

[JLane330]

I grew up South of Alb, and have lived in Alb since college. The good about NM...decent hunting (elk is good, deer not so much save a few areas), green chile, diverse people group, public land, scenery and mountains. There is way more that's bad though. I didn't read all the replies, but those who say the politics, education, crime, etc are spot on. It's gotten pretty bad the last decade or so, and it's largely blue for some reason. Housing is ridiculously priced, as is land for building if you need to be around Alb. For an idea, vacant land can easily run $100-300K per acre with power at the lot line and no water/sewer/etc. Taxes are also very high whether it's personal or business. Income and earnings can be hit and miss, some good paying jobs, but many are not. Water is usually a drive, and with the current drought conditions, the rivers and lakes will likely be very poor this year. If you like to boat, plan on a 2+ hr drive to any lake that's big enough for boating and allows wake.
Personally, I'm ready to move out of this state and never come back. I've had many friends leave in the last decade and none, not one, ever want to move back. The good stuff definitely does not outweigh the bad, and it's getting worse every year.

 

[ericF]

So this just happened in Cruces today on the main freeway. I went to college in Cruces and never felt it was particularly unsafe. However I grew up in a different part of NM and there is definitely a different mentality to the state. My hunting buddy doesn't understand why I am so paranoid about thieves now that I live in CO, but he grew up in the Midwest.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CK4hV2bnd7T/?igshid=emp637xbctpy

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I grew up South of Alb, and have lived in Alb since college. The good about NM...decent hunting (elk is good, deer not so much save a few areas), green chile, diverse people group, public land, scenery and mountains. There is way more that's bad though. I didn't read all the replies, but those who say the politics, education, crime, etc are spot on. It's gotten pretty bad the last decade or so, and it's largely blue for some reason. Housing is ridiculously priced, as is land for building if you need to be around Alb. For an idea, vacant land can easily run $100-300K per acre with power at the lot line and no water/sewer/etc. Taxes are also very high whether it's personal or business. Income and earnings can be hit and miss, some good paying jobs, but many are not. Water is usually a drive, and with the current drought conditions, the rivers and lakes will likely be very poor this year. If you like to boat, plan on a 2+ hr drive to any lake that's big enough for boating and allows wake.
Personally, I'm ready to move out of this state and never come back. I've had many friends leave in the last decade and none, not one, ever want to move back. The good stuff definitely does not outweigh the bad, and it's getting worse every year.

I’ve never known anybody who moved BACK to New Mexico, some moved back to los Alamos but non left the state and came back. Only an idiot would do that.

 

[.270]

I’ve never known anybody who moved BACK to New Mexico, some moved back to los Alamos but non left the state and came back. Only an idiot would do that

Jeez that's a pretty strong opinion but I suppose I feel the same about AK. Every one moves to Anchorage or Fairbanks and some find Seattle. The ones that return back, ehh.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Jeez that's a pretty strong opinion but I suppose I feel the same about AK. Every one moves to Anchorage or Fairbanks and some find Seattle. The ones that return back, ehh.

Go hang around the rural hub villages of Alaska....they are full of people who left and came back. It’s strange because most of them do t have jobs or any prospects in life but bay they are from bethel and now they are re back!!!