LAST EDITED ON Apr-02-13 AT 02:54PM (MST)[p]Just because more NR buy the LO vouchers does not mean they are not available to residents. The main reason residents don't buy them is because they don't value them the way NR's do. The reverse is not true. (Many will claim its because NM doesn't have the wealth of other states and that is true. However, that isn't because NM doesn't have resources and the ability to create higher paying jobs but because of a mindset and lack of ambition. I know I will catch flack for that, but as someone who grew up in Albuquerque, then lived in Roswell for 8 years as an adult and now lives in the Midwest, I can tell you firsthand there is a huge difference in the cultural mindset towards work, getting ahead and creating something better for yourself and your children.)
As for WY & CO being marginal because of their point system, that is crazy except for a few trophy hunts. The difference with WY and CO is that there are still a very large number of quality hunts available without a large number of points. For example most people draw a WY general tag with only one preference point. You can all but guarantee yourself a WY general elk tag every other year. Lots of outstanding hunting opportunities with general tags. In CO, yes there are a few units that unless you were on the ground floor buying points, you will never have enough, but there are many, many others that only take one or two points to draw and there are countless tags available OTC to anyone, resident or non resident.
Just because AZ rapes NR's doesn't make it "right" for everyone else to do the same. That logic is crazy. Every state has its share of stupid laws, do we really want other states to stoop to every other state's level of stupidity or protectionism?
Too many New Mexicans want to argue "Supply and Demand" for NR but protect quotas and prices for Residents at all costs. It can't go both ways. If someone wants to go the "Supply and Demand" route, then get ready to sacrifice percentages of tags that sell to locals.
If you want a "fair" system that allows and encourages a hunting heritage without it becoming a European Rich Man's Sport, then go to a wide open draw with reasonable tag fees (i.e. about double what the resident currently pays) that help support the department of game and fish and get rid of the landowner tag system. Otherwise, just be honest and admit the "tag grab." Those with the power (i.e. residents who convinced the NM legislature) have limited the number of tags that go to NR's and in doing so created both a resident and an outfitter preferential system. When that system wasn't good enough for the average resident, they increased their percentage of tags in a minute way at the expense of 40% of the available tags for DIY NR and 18% of those available to those in the outfitter pool.
My biggest problem with the changes in NM (outside the obvious fact that I will likely never draw tags for units I know well and put a lot of work into in the past) is that those pushing for those changes refuse to acknowledge that their selfishness (hence Ropinfool's post) over wanting those tags is no different than my selfishness of wanting the tags for me, nor is it really much different than the selfishness of the landowners wanting tags for themselves that they can then sale. Bottom line is that tags are a limited resource and everyone can't have one every year. How those tags are distributed then becomes a question of who has the power to protect, or grab, them for themselves. Right now, the residents have that power and they have exercised it at the expense of the DIY NR. (I know you will say that was not the intent, but you cannot deny it was and is the result)
However, there may come a day when there is a power shift. Yes, residents may have the power to determine who gets the tags. However, the feds also have the power to determine who can use the land and they could even start charging states for grazing for the wildlife if the states want to claim total ownership of the animals.
No, I don't advocate the above and the last thing I would want is the feds in control of hunting opportunities. However, it is becoming more of a possibility with the expanding of the federal government and the frustration level of those who see our vast resource (Nationally owned lands) being used in ways they are currently used.
Good luck to everyone in the draw and on your hunts. Maybe I will hit the tag lottery in future years. Maybe I will have such a good time in Wyoming this year that I quit fighting the NM nonsense.