WyoDoug
Well-known member
Well I delivered a landowner coupon to Gretchen Nimmo, owner/GM of Nimmo Ranch and got to talk to her foreman. See, it used to be that Nimmo access was controlled directly by Gretchen and you had to get her to sign your permission slip to hunt on Nimmo Ranch.
However, two Air Force members were caught by a game warden and a ranch hand poaching antelope on the ranch. They had no license. WGF informed Gretchen that they preferred that she went to an HMA status to control which vehicles can enter the ranch. As it was, WGF had no record and did not know status of any one vehicle on the ranch. Gretchen went along.
Now Nimmo and state lands within the boundaries are HMA and they went from allowing 20 hunters a year on Nimmo to 150. Nimmo is a medium size ranch if that and does not support that many hunters. One day while I was glassing, I counted over 12 vehicles go by me and most tried to get information out of me. I don't give accurate info while I am actively hunting to hunters not in my group, so I referred them to the other side of the HMA (not knowing the ranch was moving cattle into that area and getting ready to close that section).
Poachers ruined a good area here. This HMA used to provide quality hunts. I caught a poacher hunting coyotes and turned his license plate number and him in. Nimmo does not allow predator hunting, so I knew he was doing it illegally.
This is how poachers ruin good hunting opportunities. Back in the early 2000-2005 era when I first hunted Nimmo, I used to get decent bucks and extra doe tags filled within 2-3 days and had plenty of opportunities and was successful in 1 in 12 stalks. This year I put in more than three dozen stalks on Nimmo and about to give up when I got my buck this year. I also put in stalks on private land near Burns and a lot more in the Chugwater area. One lesson learned that I preached over and over, persistence pays off when hunting antelope along with patience. It still peeves me off that this change happened because of poachers entering the ranch without permission and hunting without a license to top it off. Poaching is one thing I will report if I see it.
However, two Air Force members were caught by a game warden and a ranch hand poaching antelope on the ranch. They had no license. WGF informed Gretchen that they preferred that she went to an HMA status to control which vehicles can enter the ranch. As it was, WGF had no record and did not know status of any one vehicle on the ranch. Gretchen went along.
Now Nimmo and state lands within the boundaries are HMA and they went from allowing 20 hunters a year on Nimmo to 150. Nimmo is a medium size ranch if that and does not support that many hunters. One day while I was glassing, I counted over 12 vehicles go by me and most tried to get information out of me. I don't give accurate info while I am actively hunting to hunters not in my group, so I referred them to the other side of the HMA (not knowing the ranch was moving cattle into that area and getting ready to close that section).
Poachers ruined a good area here. This HMA used to provide quality hunts. I caught a poacher hunting coyotes and turned his license plate number and him in. Nimmo does not allow predator hunting, so I knew he was doing it illegally.
This is how poachers ruin good hunting opportunities. Back in the early 2000-2005 era when I first hunted Nimmo, I used to get decent bucks and extra doe tags filled within 2-3 days and had plenty of opportunities and was successful in 1 in 12 stalks. This year I put in more than three dozen stalks on Nimmo and about to give up when I got my buck this year. I also put in stalks on private land near Burns and a lot more in the Chugwater area. One lesson learned that I preached over and over, persistence pays off when hunting antelope along with patience. It still peeves me off that this change happened because of poachers entering the ranch without permission and hunting without a license to top it off. Poaching is one thing I will report if I see it.
