5yearcoueshunter
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2022
- Messages
- 123
May 28th commission meeting will really be the big one for Pronghorn discussion before the next meeting when they actually pass the rule. If you have feedback, make sure you send to the department but also the commissioners.
wildlife.dgf.nm.gov
Some positive changes IMO to the OTC private program on the pronghorn proposals they just updated:
- Implement a ranch registration process for purchase of private land OTC pronghorn licenses
- Implement a cap on private land OTC licenses and consider a more even distribution in hunts, similar to the public draw. If license distribution within a GMU is disproportionately skewed toward a particular hunt due to private land sales patterns, licenses will be redistributed to reduce that skew, though not necessarily distributed equally across all hunts.
These are definitely positive changes, but I would like to see something more concrete on how they will come up with the caps. If it's done purely on historical OTC sales, not really a fan of that. That can be used as a data point, but I think the cap should be based more on % of private in the unit, biological data of course and the amount of public tags given in that unit to keep the ratio at least in line based on land ownership.
I put this chart together today from the 2026 harvest report. The % public land is probably too high because a lot of the units with high % public is forest land, not pronghorn habitat. I would really like to see a ownership breakout based on pronghorn habitat land, but don't think that exists anywhere. I would guess Pronghorn habitat is about 65% - 70% private, so really the tag distribution isn't that far off if you are going solely on land ownership status.
Long term, I would love to see tags get closer to 50/50 on public draw vs private purchase, but probably an uphill battle. Would be great if we get could more public draw tags available to hunt on private land with cooperation with the landowner like other states have.
Proposals Under Consideration - NMDGF
Public Comment The following Game Commission documents are available for public comments. We encourage your participation. See also Meetings and Agendas for State Game Commission meeting notices, agenda item briefings, and calendar. Public Meetings The Department will be hosting public...
wildlife.dgf.nm.gov
Some positive changes IMO to the OTC private program on the pronghorn proposals they just updated:
- Implement a ranch registration process for purchase of private land OTC pronghorn licenses
- Implement a cap on private land OTC licenses and consider a more even distribution in hunts, similar to the public draw. If license distribution within a GMU is disproportionately skewed toward a particular hunt due to private land sales patterns, licenses will be redistributed to reduce that skew, though not necessarily distributed equally across all hunts.
These are definitely positive changes, but I would like to see something more concrete on how they will come up with the caps. If it's done purely on historical OTC sales, not really a fan of that. That can be used as a data point, but I think the cap should be based more on % of private in the unit, biological data of course and the amount of public tags given in that unit to keep the ratio at least in line based on land ownership.
I put this chart together today from the 2026 harvest report. The % public land is probably too high because a lot of the units with high % public is forest land, not pronghorn habitat. I would really like to see a ownership breakout based on pronghorn habitat land, but don't think that exists anywhere. I would guess Pronghorn habitat is about 65% - 70% private, so really the tag distribution isn't that far off if you are going solely on land ownership status.
Long term, I would love to see tags get closer to 50/50 on public draw vs private purchase, but probably an uphill battle. Would be great if we get could more public draw tags available to hunt on private land with cooperation with the landowner like other states have.
