Take Back Your Elk

[Oak]

I figured this would get started eventually. What do you think of New Mexico's EPLUS system?

Take Back Your Elk: New Mexico Gives Huge Share of Elk Licenses to Private Interests

 

[2rocky]

When I was there hunting my draw elk tag, I was surprised how many people had or knew someone who had an elk tag for sale. Between the Indian tribes and private tags for sale, the well heeled elk hunter should be able to hunt New Mexico whenever he or she wants.

HankinNM is in the thick of it and can give the landowner perspective. I'd trust him to be impartial or fair...

 

[seeth07]

Its interesting how repetitive and nasty the situation is framed in that document. How political. Why can't we ever get a straight faced representation of the issue? As an outsider looking in on the issue with not much knowledge, my reaction to it is "omg, those poor NM residents are getting screwed and this sounds horrible" but I'm guessing its not that simple.

 

[TheTone]

Between the crazy amount of outfitter set asides and landowner/eplus tags nothing in it surprises me. What an awful system they have

 

[elkduds]

@hank4elk , care to comment?

 

[Valley1320]

It's the unit wide eplus tags that I don't like... I know a guy that has 13 acres he gets one pull tag, his land is in the eplus system no one is gonna go hunt his lil piece of private on a unit wide tag. He sells his private land/unit wide tag for a few thousand can't remember the exact number

 

[Valley1320]

I do know a few landowners that don't do that and keep their tags for themselves, friends and family instead of giving over to the greed of money. And the ones I know that do this are jus common pple that arnt wealthy.

 

[npaden]

Really the biggest difference is the transferable landowner tags. That and the outfitter set aside tags. Neither are reserved for non-resident hunters, they are just primarily utilized by non-residents.

The only real way to make a change would be to make the landowner tags non transferable. That will never make it through the legislature. I would love to see them eliminate the outfitter set aside as well. Doubt that has a chance of going away either. They may just decide that nonresidents get enough so cut the paltry 6% the DIY nonresidents get down to 1% that way they can't say they don't give any tags out to nonresidents.

 

[Bambistew]

So what is the intended outcome here and what will it solve?

 

[TheTone]

So what is the intended outcome here and what will it solve?

If I had to guess; a reduction in the non outfitted non res draw and putting those couple tags into the resident draw.

You aren’t going to see outfitters with political clout reduce their opportunities to make money and I think the same can be said for landowners selling their tags not wanting to lose that income

 

[Beignet]

It's the unit wide eplus tags that I don't like... I know a guy that has 13 acres he gets one pull tag, his land is in the eplus system no one is gonna go hunt his lil piece of private on a unit wide tag. He sells his private land/unit wide tag for a few thousand can't remember the exact number

Holleee smokes! I just looked up the cost of a landowner tag and you could get 13 acres paid off pretty quick with the going rate for those things.

 

[Addicting]

This is why I quit applying there, simply not worth it.

 

[seeth07]

TOTAL: 12757 NR received elk licenses in 2021. 23405 R received elk licenses.
11752 NR received their license either via EPLUS or outfitter draw. 3604 R received their license via EPLUS.

If I'm doing my math correctly from those numbers, that means only 1005 NR drew a tag in the "DIY" draw pool. 19801 R drew licenses. If the direction to give more residents tags is to simply just remove all of those tags and give them to residents, that's a whooping 5.08% boost to their elk licenses in the draw. I don't see that as helping but maybe it makes someone feel like they won the battle here?

I wonder what the revenue stream is like for those 1005 NR licenses to NMF&G?

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

It's not Texas... but it's just across the border.

I guess just add them below MT of states trying to kill the NA model.

 

[MTGomer]

TOTAL:
11752 NR received their license either via EPLUS or outfitter draw. 3604 R received their license via EPLUS.

That is 15,356 opportunities to hunt elk that are owned by the citizens of New Mexico, taken away from them and handed out in the form of welfare, for private individuals to profit off of.

 

[seeth07]

That is 15,356 opportunities to hunt elk that are owned by the citizens of New Mexico, taken away from them and handed out in the form of welfare, for private individuals to profit off of.

No doubt that is where the problem lies. Just as others have pointed out, I don't see that part (the main part) of the problem being addressed.

 

[npaden]

When nonresidents buy the landowner tags they have to pay the nonresident license cost so that is a big boost to the game and fish department revenue as well. One more group that would not want this to change.

 

[TheTone]

When nonresidents buy the landowner tags they have to pay the nonresident license cost so that is a big boost to the game and fish department revenue as well. One more group that would not want this to change.

But that money pails in comparison I’d bet in comparison to what the landowner is making off the tag

 

[Oak]

I don't see that part (the main part) of the problem being addressed.

I think it’s a poor excuse to say nothing will probably change so why try? There’s a cost to silence and a cost to using your voice. Each one of us gets up every morning and decides which bill we’re going to pay.

 

[seeth07]

I think it’s a poor excuse to say nothing will probably change so why try? There’s a cost to silence and a cost to using your voice. Each one of us gets up every morning and decides which bill we’re going to pay.

That's not the point I was making. Just saying that the likely outcome here, as others have said, is that one of the three aspects leading to the lopsided NR tags is likely to be the NR draw portion which unfortunately is the smallest piece of that NR pie.