New Mexico Pronghorn numbers down

[Gila]

Recent fawn recruitment data shows a rather concerning decline in the herds. The North East counties in particular. There may be fewer private land tags sold over the counter as well as public draw tags. Which counties that are affected and how many tags will be allocated should be finalized (I hope) at the upcoming Game commission meeting on Jan 10. Minutes of the meeting will be available to the public.

Actually the fawn recruitment - doe survival data is from 2019-2023 however the number of reduced tags will affect the fall season.

 

[Gila]

I have yet to see the minutes of the commission meeting on the 10th. However the results came out in the long awaited Hunting rules and info booklet just minutes after the meeting was adjourned. The results are clear, they put a cap on the quota of over-the-counter private land authorizations what-ever that number is I plan to find out. As I had previously surmised, they reduced the number of tags in the public draw so that residents and non-residents alike will have less opportunity to hunt on public lands. I do not know why the numbers of Pronghorn are reduced in those counties but I intend to find out. Once again the outfitters win and the public DIY hunter loses.

 

[Gila]

The Jan 10 Game commission meeting is on Youtube. The number of private land and public land doe tags has been reduced by 20%. But what they didn’t say was that Mature buck tags were also reduced by 20% for the public draw. Public draw MATURE BUCK tags in those affected counties are reduced by 20% across the board! They had no data to differentiate the population decline on public lands vs private land. The data showed about 75% of the tags in those affected NE counties are private land tags. They could have capped the over the counter female private land tags by about 75% and left the number of public draw mature buck tags alone to achieve the same objective! They attributed the main cause of the Northeast population decline to drought.

 

[WRO]

The Jan 10 Game commission meeting is on Youtube. The number of private land and public land doe tags has been reduced by 20%. But what they didn’t say was that Mature buck tags were also reduced by 20% for the public draw. Public draw MATURE BUCK tags in those affected counties are reduced by 20% across the board! They had no data to differentiate the population decline on public lands vs private land. The data showed about 75% of the tags in those affected NE counties are private land tags. They could have capped the over the counter female private land tags by about 75% and left the number of public draw mature buck tags alone to achieve the same objective! They attributed the main cause of the Northeast population decline to drought.

Horse shit, there’s a die off. We have had plenty of feed and water on the place we hunt and our numbers are down 75% easy. We never had trespassers and now they’re a constant problem.

What’s their plan to cap private land tags? It’s so bad we’re not planning on returning for until it gets better and I have been hunting the same 30K acres for 7 or 8 years now. The amount of pressure on the adjacent properties has tripled.

The A plus system needs to come back.

 

[Gila]

I am going to talk to BCHA and some other folks but the preliminary summary data I have seen indicates that those NE units may be over hunted and over grazed. However I plan on ferreting out the details. I am not so satisfied with the data the biolologist presented at the meeting. The resident outfitters and out of state brokers are buying up as many OTC private land authorizations they can get their hands on. Most of those authorizations are then re-sold. This coming season’s cap on OTC private land authorizations is at 80% for does only? but I need to verify this. For the public draw there is a reduction of 20% across the board for those same units including buck tags. I don’t agree with hunting Pronghorn during the peak of the rut, The NM biologist showed data that was a 1:15 buck/doe ratio which I think is too low. The Colorado biologists give a 1:8 buck to doe ratio which is more in line with what I have observed in the field over the years.

When conditions get rough Pronghorn will move their feet and could end up hundreds of miles away from where they were. Pronghorn can’t jump fences and have a tough time with the tight, range border fences. However with just a normal fence they know where the “holes” are under or through the bottom barb wire strand to get through. IMO the state needs to do away with private land authorizations and private land tags entirely across the board. Those tags belong in the public draw IMO. The state should lease the private land for public hunting access. I know of at least one state that has done this and it is a huge success for hunters and Pronghorn.

The state should give ranchers an incentive to modify border fences that are Pronghorn friendly. Also NM should get rid of the outfitters pool of 10% of the public draw. I think what may be workable is going with 90% res 10% non-res for the public draw like Wyoming did. We don’t have preference points and I think we should keep it random. New Mexico needs to get out of the outfitter business. Wildlife belongs to the public - Residents and non-Residents. It is our tax money that goes into managing the resource.

 

[WRO]

I am going to talk to BCHA and some other folks but the preliminary summary data I have seen indicates that those NE units may be over hunted and over grazed.

I have hunted it the last 7 or 8 years, the grazing is relatively unchanged, the pressure is through the roof, but there had to be a die off, there’s almost no fawns, the trend started in 2021 and it was dismal this year.

The doe count is literally 1/3 of 4 years ago.

 

[TurkeyReaper69]

Thank you @Gila for posting this and keeping up with it.

I can't say I'm shocked that NM screwed over the public hunter again. You mentioned reaching out to BHA, I'd also recommend reaching out to the NM Wildlife Federation, they have been doing some excellent data dives into private land allocations in NM.

I drew a tag in northeastern NM for the 3rd rifle season this past season as a non-resident. After putting in several hundred miles over a couple scouting days the writing was on the wall. I had only found 3 legal bucks the entire time. One that was nowhere near public ground, And two others that both clinged to public/private boundaries. I ended up harvesting an antelope, but it almost made me feel bad taking that goat. That trip was only my 2nd antelope hunt, but I knew something was seriously off in the unit. Hell I hardly even saw many does, I'd say maybe 15-20 of them. It was grim to say the least.

After I filled my tag I ended up doing some dove hunting on a piece of public I'd seen them using, and just happened to come across the other lucky non-resident ago pulled the other nonrez tag, he had arrived 5 days before the tag started and to say the least he was absolutely demoralized due to the lack of antelope. He said he'd been applying for that unit for a (I think he said 17 years) long time after his hunting partner drew the tag and they had a hell of a hunt together.

Needless to say I was incredibly disappointed with how things shaked out, of course I am grateful to have brought home a goat in the cooler, but I'd be lying if I wasn't disappointed on that 13 hour drive home due to the lack of encounters I'd had on the trip.