NM antelope landowner tags

[rmyoung1]

Anyone here hunted NM antelope on landowner tags? I've been thinking about trying to get my hands on a landowner tag in 2013, but I wanted to research this pretty thoroughly first. Now that NM has limited out-of-state tag allocations, I think I may be forced to go this route if I want to hunt NM speed goats next year with a rifle. Anyone done this before? Anyone familiar with the process? How much should I expect to pay? How does a guy go about researching quality ranches and getting in touch with the landowners who have transferable tags? Thanks for the help!

 

[wyoming556]

Huntin fool is one place to get info on landowner tags.

 

[EliAGrimmett]

My Dad and I are guides and outfitters and have been hunting and guiding on landowner tags in New Mexico since the 1980's.

You won't be able to accurately gauge the quality of the ranches without actually scouting them first. What we did in the early days was just get the landowner list from the New Mexico G&F website and call up the ranchers one by one. You can ask them all sorts of questions. A lot of them will tell you their ranches are better than they really are to try to squeeze a higher price out of you.

If you're looking for only one tag I'd suggest that you confine your search to ranches that only receive one tag. Most of the ranches that receive a bunch of tags will already be spoken for by outfitters. Even a lot of the smaller ranches will be spoken for so your best bet will be searching for a single tag ranch.

Depending on the part of the state you're looking to hunt you'll find tags anywhere from $800 to $4,000.

Here's the link for last years list of landowners - http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/rec.../2011-12_APLUS_Participating_Ranches_List.pdf

The new list isn't posted yet.

It changes a little from year to year since New Mexico generally tries to survey the populations and issue tags accordingly.

And what exactly do you mean by "transferable tags"?

 

[sagebrush]

My wife and I have hunted NM antelope on landowner tags twice. We had a good experience both times. You can pay as little as $500 or well over $5,000 depending on what you are looking for. I got the landowner tag list from Game & Fish and started calling the larger ranches in the units I had an interest. You can get a tag voucher directly from the landowner on some pretty good properties. If you are looking for a real trophy over 85" you probably won't be able to do it on your own and you can't beat the Grimmetts for giant antelope in my opinion. The best ranches turn their vouchers over to outfitters to get the best price.

 

[rmyoung1]

Thanks for the information, guys. I appreciate it. I'm going to have to look into this and start preparing early for '13. Eli, I think I used the wrong terminology there. I simply meant that I am after a landowner voucher in NM. I'm not 100% sure how all of that works, so that's why I asked the question. I'm sure "transferable tag" was misleading. Sorry about that. Thanks for the information, though.

 

[rmyoung1]

sagebrush, you wouldn't want to share specifics about your hunts with me (unit, ranch, etc)? Maybe send me a PM??? Please?

 

[bmack]

Depending on where you hunt will usually dictate the price. The NE has less trophy quality compared to other areas but I still think NM has good genetics in most areas.

For $1,300 - $1,800 you'll be able to get a LO tag plus the state antelope tag and stamps. You can hunt a few different 3 day seasons (check proclamation) over the designated season.

Tags can be hit and miss. Drought, public draw hunters, etc. all play a big factor. I've seen hundreds of goats on one ranch and a mile down on another next to nothing.

I've been fortunate to take 2 nice gotas with LO tags.

Send me a PM if you want more info. I have a few options that could be available this season.