If you are a resident hunter in New Mexico, you may have noticed that the odds to draw a tag for any big game species has been cut in half. This goes for Do -It- Youself non-resident hunters as well. More tags are being handed to land owners who in turn sell them to the outfitters and hunt clubs.
EPLUS: The land owners who do not have enough elk on their property to hunt, quite often opt in for unit wide tags which can be used to hunt any public lands in the unit. What has happened is landowners are plopping down $350 (or whatever the small fee is now) getting an outfitter license and putting up cabins for their hunt clubs. The landowner/outfitters broker those tags, roll them into guided hunts or trade with other landowners/outfitters. More and more land eventually gets into land trusts and sold to investment firms on Wallstreet. This is what is going on in the primary elk management zones.
Secondary Elk Management Zones either border or run right through the Elk Primary Elk Management Zones. For the Secondary Management Zones, landowner tags are sold Over The Counter, no quota mostly either sex. Some of those Secondary Managment Zone elk hunts are allowed during peak rut, any weapon, either sex.
Most of the Pronghorn and Deer hunting is conducted very similar to the secondary elk management zone. Landowner tags are sold over the counter with no quota. Some GMUs have unit wide landowner tags for those species as well. Once again the Outfitters\landowners\huntclubs: trade, barter, or sell landowner tags. I have never been drawn for Pronghorn since I’ve been here which is 10 years. I have drawn three deer tags in 10 years, but two of those tags weren’t even worth hunting.
We were close to a solution to get more tags into the public draw last year when our anti-hunting and anti-gun Governor appointed Richard Stump to chair the Game Commission. Richard Stump is the hunting “program” manager for Trout Stalker Ranch which supposedly is owned by a law firm out East. Apparently, the ranch owners were a major donor to the Governor’s campaign. The fox is in the hen house:
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EPLUS: The land owners who do not have enough elk on their property to hunt, quite often opt in for unit wide tags which can be used to hunt any public lands in the unit. What has happened is landowners are plopping down $350 (or whatever the small fee is now) getting an outfitter license and putting up cabins for their hunt clubs. The landowner/outfitters broker those tags, roll them into guided hunts or trade with other landowners/outfitters. More and more land eventually gets into land trusts and sold to investment firms on Wallstreet. This is what is going on in the primary elk management zones.
Secondary Elk Management Zones either border or run right through the Elk Primary Elk Management Zones. For the Secondary Management Zones, landowner tags are sold Over The Counter, no quota mostly either sex. Some of those Secondary Managment Zone elk hunts are allowed during peak rut, any weapon, either sex.
Most of the Pronghorn and Deer hunting is conducted very similar to the secondary elk management zone. Landowner tags are sold over the counter with no quota. Some GMUs have unit wide landowner tags for those species as well. Once again the Outfitters\landowners\huntclubs: trade, barter, or sell landowner tags. I have never been drawn for Pronghorn since I’ve been here which is 10 years. I have drawn three deer tags in 10 years, but two of those tags weren’t even worth hunting.
We were close to a solution to get more tags into the public draw last year when our anti-hunting and anti-gun Governor appointed Richard Stump to chair the Game Commission. Richard Stump is the hunting “program” manager for Trout Stalker Ranch which supposedly is owned by a law firm out East. Apparently, the ranch owners were a major donor to the Governor’s campaign. The fox is in the hen house:
Ep. 283: Landowner Tags and EPLUS Access with Jesse Deubel of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation | MeatEater Podcasts
For this week's interview, Cal talks with Jesse Deubel about elk tag distribution and the EPLUS system in New Mexico, why draw odds are slim for non-residents and residents alike, "Take Back Your Elk," and the new game commissioner. Connect with Cal and MeatEater Cal on Instagram and Twitter...
Exposing the Truth About Elk Hunting License Allocation in New Mexico
In 2022, the New Mexico Wildlife Federation (NMWF) and New Mexico Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) released a groundbreaking report titled “Take Back Your Elk.” Looking at data from the 2020-21 elk season, the report documented for the first time exact
www.takebackyourelk.com
