How and why is it that an antelope rifle or muzzy tag gets assigned a private ranch that you have no say in? How was game and fish able to get private landowners to agree to that? Just seems odd and I want to learn more about it. Also rifle or muzzy can't hunt public ground? Just archery can?
New Mexico? Ranch assingment
- Thread starter Dieseldog
- Start date
LopeHunter
Well-known member
If you want landowner tags that you can sell to anyone then you agree to allow placement of a similar number of hunters that drew tags in the public draw. The plus side for a hunter is you get access to private land. The downside is the landowner may not cooperate with the public tag holder as much as the buyer of the landowner tags. Is a bit of a crap shoot and with a short season you may not see many bucks or any bucks. I suppose if you want to venture hundreds of acres then WY would be a great option and you will more likely draw a comparable pronghorn tag 5x as often in WY compared to the 6% NR allocation in NM.
dan.kirkpatrick
Well-known member
in 2012 when I drew a rifle ant tag,,i was assigned a ranch that was about 2/3rds blm lease and 1/3 private.pretty much had 17000 acres to myself..nice folks,good hunt,but not a b and c throphy found.never done it before,my first nm ranch assignment,,nothing like that in Oregon?
AggieOutlaw
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The LOs get most of the tags...that’s how. The system is called A PLUS. You can read more about it and see the data on tag distributions. It’s a very screwed up system. And to blame for the extremely poor draw odds for an animal that you can hunt every year in other states, even OTC.
They are looking at changing the system towards more public land hunts but special interests are objecting.
To the best of my knowledge the ML tags, like archery, are unit wide (multi unit in some cases). Likewise, Youth and mobility impaired rifle tags are not assigned a ranch.
They are looking at changing the system towards more public land hunts but special interests are objecting.
To the best of my knowledge the ML tags, like archery, are unit wide (multi unit in some cases). Likewise, Youth and mobility impaired rifle tags are not assigned a ranch.
El Serio
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- Jan 23, 2018
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As stated by others, it is an unusual system. I have hunted there twice, once with a rifle and the other archery. On the rifle hunt my "ranch" assignment consisted of 86% public land. There were no really big bucks within the boundary, but at least there were only 2 other hunters. For the archery tag I had a much larger area to hunt and saw some big bucks, but often I was looking enviously at them from the road as they remained safely on private property.
The proposed changes were a mixed bag:
The good: more freedom to roam for public draw hunters & improved draw odds
The bad: no more guaranteed access to private for draw hunters (some units have very little public land) & unlimited tags for landowners.
The proposed changes were a mixed bag:
The good: more freedom to roam for public draw hunters & improved draw odds
The bad: no more guaranteed access to private for draw hunters (some units have very little public land) & unlimited tags for landowners.
I believe if/when the tags are separated between private and public land the public tag holders will discover that many blocks of public land are inaccessible - especially State Trust Land. I don't know a solution but it has always irked me that the Land Commission extorted Game and Fish for increased lease fees with no solutions to improve access or the camping issue.
AggieOutlaw
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NM State Lands are Not Public Lands
While certainly true, I am speaking in terms of hunting, which those lands are open to the hunting public.
AggieOutlaw
Active member
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Roger that. I meant nothing by my comment towards you. My snarky tone was meant only to reiterate the ridiculous management of NM trust lands.
None taken and agree with your point.
prhunter
Well-known member
2008 NM Antelope
Back in 2008 I drew a NM antelope tag. After the draw I received a letter in the mail with my ranch assignment along with a ranch map and the ranchers contact info. Although its really nice to have access to private land that's mixed in with public you have to keep in mind that there will be other hunters assigned to that same ranch not to mention the hunters with landowner permits.
At the time I thought I would be the only one in the ranch given the low number of tags in that unit but I found some competition once the season started. I did see some nice bucks, put on some stalks in the morning and I was able to take this buck in the early afternoon of opening day using my Traditions muzzleloader. Will do it again for sure but haven't drawn an antelope tag since.
Back in 2008 I drew a NM antelope tag. After the draw I received a letter in the mail with my ranch assignment along with a ranch map and the ranchers contact info. Although its really nice to have access to private land that's mixed in with public you have to keep in mind that there will be other hunters assigned to that same ranch not to mention the hunters with landowner permits.
At the time I thought I would be the only one in the ranch given the low number of tags in that unit but I found some competition once the season started. I did see some nice bucks, put on some stalks in the morning and I was able to take this buck in the early afternoon of opening day using my Traditions muzzleloader. Will do it again for sure but haven't drawn an antelope tag since.
