What does everyone have against New Mexico

[FLAK]

I'm in for Bighorn Sheep, Ibex, Elk and Lope.
First time applying in NM in several years.
I really need a sheep and a Ibex.

 

[weaver]

In for elk and deer. Antelope,Ibex and sheep odds are just to low to make it worth it for me. Better odds for you guys!

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[robie]

I get it a lot of the guys that have been at it get upset with the changes to the system. The only certainty is that every state with undergo some change into the their big game hunting programs over my lifetime.

IMO that is just part of the game, I want to hunt and will give them money every year to play the NM lottery.

Even states like MT that truly screw over NR with their cost to build bonus points is now selling out all tags after a few years of having leftover license. CO continues to require NR to make up a majority of the states budget, this year they increased NR elk fees by $17 and decreased resident fees by $3 WTF? Every state will do whatever it can to suck every last benefit out of the NR hunter.

NM does odd things like force you to hire a guide for better draw odds and assign you to a ranch, its just part of their game. I want to hunt as much of this big beautiful country as possible so I donate.

I apologize for getting off topic a bit but in NM you can either not donate, archery/muzzy hunt, hire a guide, buy a landowner tag or deal with their terrible tag allocation and luck of the draw ranch assignments for the unguided hunter.

 

[Andrew12gauge]

There are definitely problems with our draw especially antelope and the LO stuff, but tell me any other state in the west that you have the same odds at drawing a premium elk or deer tag every single year with no penalty for missing years. I will take our system any day over say Utah where because I didn't start buying points 10 years ago I will never draw a premium tag. As a resident we should get 84% or whatever it is of the tags since we have to deal with this liberal welfare state the rest of the year!

Idaho, and we don't have the BS with outfitters and landowners


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[npm352]

I quit NM when they cut their already tiny quotas in half. Too many other states that don't completely crap on NR DIY hunters.

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[Fitzwho]

I keep applying, but I can be in New Mexico in about an hour, so that’s where I do the majority of my quail hunting. I’ve applied 3 years and have drawn a Mule deer, an elk and now a Pronghorn tag this year. Hopefully I can connect on the Pronghorn because I didn’t get it done on either of the other two. It’s just part of the App game for me to try and fill my schedule for the year.

 

[TreeWalking]

I quit applying in NM the year they cut tag quotas for unguided hunters. They already offered landowner PLUS guided hunter tags prior to doing this! Another thing that has kept me from applying is my son got assigned a ranch many years ago. We drove to the ranch the day before the season and the rancher wouldn't allow us to scout things out. He also mentioned that he would drop us off on opening morning and we had to hunt on foot! All the guided hunters on the ranch were driving up and down the road accessing the entire ranch. We hardly saw an antelope until the rancher finally returned to pick us up and said we could then drive on the roads. What a joke!

NM has gobs of public land that is totally off limits to those that apply for rifle tags. It's weird how they assign ranches rather than allowing hunters to have the choice of hunting public or private land within a particular unit that is drawn. It is impossible to research and scout out a unit. You have no idea which ranch you will be "assigned" going into the draw. A few super lucky public hunters may get assigned an exclusive ranch but these are few and far between. NM's rifle antelope system is a total joke. Wealthy hunters that can afford guided hunts definitely have a great thing going. They can hunt the best ranches in the state every year while on your own hunters drawing assigned ranches are totally screwed!

With that said, I'll continue to apply and hunt elsewhere. I'm not willing to contribute $ to such a scam!

Similar experience about 10 years ago with a d-wad rancher. The map provided by rancher to NM F&G then provided to me was a hand-drawn map not to scale and lacking property lines. Rancher wanted me to stay on SE corner of a big property. He had his paying hunters zooming all over the place running the pronghorn ragged.

Called up F&G to complain and the local fish cop offered to move me to a nearby ranch but by then one day left in the short season. I hear UT has similar issues with their ranch tags where a couple of tags go via draw and rest are sold. The paying hunters get best parts of ranch to hunt.

 

[dane2992]

Similar experience about 10 years ago with a d-wad rancher. The map provided by rancher to NM F&G then provided to me was a hand-drawn map not to scale and lacking property lines. Rancher wanted me to stay on SE corner of a big property. He had his paying hunters zooming all over the place running the pronghorn ragged.

Called up F&G to complain and the local fish cop offered to move me to a nearby ranch but by then one day left in the short season. I hear UT has similar issues with their ranch tags where a couple of tags go via draw and rest are sold. The paying hunters get best parts of ranch to hunt.

I hope I don't run into something like this on my hunt this year. I'm on a huge piece of property as well. If I'm being limited to where I can hunt, ill be calling fish and game asap to get it figured out. I do plan on contacting the LO about their do's and dont's on their property.

 

[Silvaticus]

The outfitter welfare system is a slap in the face.

 

[Jimss]

When the NMG&F took additional tags away from the public DIY hunters I decided I had enough and haven't applied in NM since. The NM rifle antelope deal is a joke! I had a horrible experience when my son drew a ranch several years ago and the landowner wouldn't allow us to drive our truck on the ranch and dropped us off in a corner of his ranch where there were 0 antelope. He later came to check on us after all his guided hunters harvested nice bucks. What a horrible experience for my son! The only 2 left on the ranch were my son and a girl that also drew public youth tags. What a bunch of bull! I complained to the NMG&F but obviously it was too late to do anything. It's pretty sad when hunters have no idea which ranch they will be assigned when applying for tags. A large chunk of tags go to guided hunters and another chunk goes to landowner tags. Pretty poor system if you are a DIY rifle hunter like me! I no longer apply in NM!