Fork horns legal again in NM.

[NMHUNTNUTT1]

Looking over the 2007-2008 regs I see the Game & Fish went back to making 2point fork horns legal again.
My buddy works for the G&F and said they just found too many dead forks during this past hunting season. Its very dis hearting to hear this. I hunted unit 38 on a muzzle loader hunt this past Oct. and saw alot of 2 pt forks , more this year than I have in the last 5 or six hunts. I liked seeing that many bucks even though they were just 2x2s' , in another year or two the deer numbers would be alot more stable , more mature bucks breeding doe = better deer numbers right? I just don't think they gave the 3 point minimum a fair chance. There will always be slob hunters who shoot first and check later on deer whether they are bucks or doe. Its always been a problem here in NM. I have shot more forks than any thing in my life and have only killed forks with my bow , but that was before a 3 point minimum. Now after just two years of this , I've personally seen the benifit to a point restriction.....I sure wished NM had a team of knowledgable persons to manage JUST OUT DEER HERDS!
What are your thoughts on this?

 

[lve2143]

You nailed it Huntnutt. I saw that also and
couldn't beleive it. I really thought they were
headed down the right path, then boom, they scrap it.
If what your freind says about the poached forkhorns is true,
thats a dang shame. Just kinda seems like they're letting
the bad guys win.

 

[TFinalshot]

On the other hand a bunch of forkies doing all the breeding aint good either. . . Anlter point restrictions are pointless. . . IMHO. If it's a trophy unit then make it a trophy unit and limit access or weapon or season, or whatever, but keeping it open and just puting an anlter restriction in place is not wise.. . IMHO.

 

[lve2143]

I just think, Tfinal that a lot of the forkie
problem is age class, not genetics.

 

[NMHUNTNUTT1]

TFINALSHOT, I've heard the same thing you said and agree to some extent.But NM has only unit 2 and 5 that are considered trophy units. And every January big mature bucks are seen /hunted during the bow hunt(very few taken) which tells me enough mature bucks are still breeding doe. Yes I think smaller bucks do breed some , but atleast the deer are getting bred , but the bigger mature bucks are still getting enough doe bred.
Now my arguement is this. NM has been in a sever drought the last 10 years , but in 2006 we got extreme moiture, that is continueing still in this winter. 2007 looks to produce a very good fawn crop , better than in the last few years and with good vegitation NM deer numbers are headed in a positive direction.But now opening up 2 point deer state wide will only cause a decline in what has proven to work to increase deer numbers. NM deer numbers are no where near the deer you photograph, 95% of the bucks in the photos you share here with us would seriously be considered Bucks of a Lifetime.I don't know what the deer numbers are like up there , but I'm willing to bet they are still alot better than here in NM, and all I'm saying is deer numbers have increased since the entire state has gone to a draw system and point restriction, both events help the deer herds..

 

[couesmaster]

thats what i saw in unit 34 forkies been killed and left it a shame . lucky we caught a few of them and the nmgfd took care of them. the problem i think with the point restricition is most hunters dont look at a buck long enough to decide if it has 3 points or 2 . so they shoot first and look second.

 

[Bigbuck9]

The problem is that point restrictions as t-final stated don't work unless you limit access.

 

[wesmd]

Finally got rid of that useless point restriction. If NM would just limit the number of permits state wide, provide better hunts, and just forget about revenue, our deer would reap the rewards. All point restrictions do is keep hunters that would of killed their forkie first morning in the woods, increasing the chance that they would shoot a mature deer. If they hadn't changed it you would of have started seeing more deer but no trophy bucks. Point restrictions completely wipe out older age classes over time. LIMIT the # of hunters! 465 tags in 2B for the quality hunt? The game commission needs to get their ducks in a row.

 

[jims]

LAST EDITED ON Dec-13-06 AT 07:56AM (MST)[p]Colo had a forked horn rule quite a few years ago and they dropped it pretty quick as well. I saw several forked horn bucks shot and left during that time so I have a feeling it is fairly common. The 4 pt or better rule has also been eliminated in most states because this usually produces 3 pt genetics.

It seems like there is quite a bit of excitement about the quality of bucks in Colo in recent years and there are several reasons for the comeback. Mild winters have sure helped but limiting tag numbers is one of the key reasons. One other thing Colo did was eliminate deer hunting during the first rifle season (when elk season is open). Obviously the smart old bucks have figured out it is hunting season by the time the 2nd rifle season opens and often go into seclusion until the rut or snow drives them down. I have a feeling limiting buck tag numbers has been one of the key ingredients to Colo's current success.

It sounds like the few NM units that are currently being managed for quality are getting a lot of attention so hopefully NM hunters will contact the NMG&F in regard to limiting buck tags and opening more quality units in the future! It may be a little tougher to draw tags but you will likely see a leap in quality of bucks in only a few years!

 

[lchcguide]

Huntnutt,


I hunt unit 38 every year but since the draw it has only been on private land. I agree that G&F has not given that point restriction a chance. I spend a lot of time in the forest in 38 and see some really nice bucks, especially on the north end of the forest away from the roads. If we had the point restriction remain in place I think that the quality would raise in that unit. I currently guide hunters on the old Erramouspe place and we kill 180+ bucks every year. This area has the genetics, and all it needs is a litle time in my opinion.

 

[NMHUNTNUTT1]

Is it your outfit or do you just work for the outfitter? I saw a 370 bull that came off of Erramouspe's , I freaked out !

 

[Bigbuck9]

The point restrictions don't work and haven't worked in other states that have already tried them. Reducing tags will help but that means there is less chance of drawing, and most people just want to go deer hunting and are satisfied with a small buck if they can get one.

Everone that hunts private says well we only kill mature four point bucks and we have bigger deer than on public land so point restrictions must work. However they neglect the point that they harvest fewer deer than are taken on public land.

Harvest fewer deer = more deer that get older = more big deer

Harvest deer with 3 points or better = more deer 3 points are better killed = more 2 points and fewer old deer because they get hunted harder.

 

[NMuzzy]

You surely can't compare CO or any other state like it with NM because the deer numbers are not equal or even close.
The 3 pt rule was a failure IMO from the very beginning. The G&F should have made that rule not counting "eyeguards". A legal buck would have to have 3 points coming off the main beam excluding the G1. This would have made easier field ID's of legal bucks and less Wonton Waste of forkie's left by slobs who say to them selves "it's at least a fork, I'll pull the trigger and hope he has eye guards". They walk up to the dead deer and see it indeed is a fork and leave it to rot.
I hunted the Jan. 2B bowhunt the first year this law went into effect. It was pretty damn hard to determing if a fork had eye guards at 200+ yards or 50 for that matter. This was frustrating in that you didn't know if to attempt a stalk or not for fear of it not being a legal buck hence wasting your time. I must have seen 40+ forkies in the week I hunted (some were probably the same bucks).

jo

 

[mossback50cal]

I dont know wut u r talking about in this. deer numbers declined drastically in the three years that the three point antler restriction was in place. Mature bucks anyways. I hunt in a trophy unit, bow hunt at that, and i hunted my legs off and couldn't find near the numbers of mature bucks that i have in the past.

 

[hunt1]

I'm friends with the game warden down in my corner of the state and last year he showed me lots of pictures of forkies left to rot. That's unfortunate, but realistically they should just cut down the number of tags and keep the point restriction. To be honest, I think the point restriction has helped (with the exception of downhill genetics). Places that offer 500 or more tags each season are suffering the most from ground checking IMO.