NM Desert or Rocky Bighorn Tag Available

huntthebest

huntthebest

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I was the lucky winner of the NM FNAWS Bighorn Sheep raffle and have the option to hunt either Desert or Bighorn and can also transfer the tag. I am taking offers until July 20th and can be reached for details at [email protected]. Thanks, Justin Larsen, Minnesota.
 
Of course he wants it, but everything has its price. i never buy the NM tickets because I would absolutely hate to have that decision. Anyway, go for the desert if you do not get a good enough offer. Odds of drawing a rocky sometime in your life are better than a desert, plus rocky hunts in Canada are cheaper than Deserts in Mexico.
 
I have offers comming in now for more money than I make in a year. I could use that money towards a stone, dall and still have money left over for the wife. Its a tough decision, but its really a no brainer once you think about it. I spent $60 on 3 tickets and am hearing of realist value over $75,000.
 
Man......, If you win something you ought to be the one using it. Go with the DESERT, you don't want to screw with carma.
 
I wouldn't pay $50 for what you have and I wouldn't sell it for a $1,000,000.

Think real hard before you sell it.

JB
 
Not pay $50? Not sell for $1,000,000? I call B.S. on both. I would have to sell if you could get close to what the tags normally go for, but of course, it would be wih mixed feelings. There is really no right choice. I think they should make it non-transferable, so the lucky winner could just go enjoy the hunt. after all, the raffle tag is set up for the average Joe.
 
You want to know what I would do?? I would go desert hunting. No, let me rephrase that...I DID go desert hunting. I won the NM raffle in 2002 and had offers nearly twice my salary. Obviously not an easy decision I must admit but I can empathize with your situation.

For me I had to ignore the money. I bought NM raffle tickets for the chance to hunt sheep. I remember my friends/family saying "You can pay for half your house with that." My response was, "or I can go sheep hunting and build my house in two years and at that time have a house AND my grand slam."

What a fun situation it was and I'm sure it is for you as well. There is no wrong decision. Good luck and enjoy it! Let me know if I can do anything for you.

Glen
[email protected]
 
Ramslam,

Now there is a man who has his priorities srraight. If you just wanted the money play the lotto!! You probably will never regret that decision, there are other homes you will own in your lifetime, not sure how many sheep tags you will ever draw!!

Don
 
Hunt the deserts, money won't buy happiness and your chances of drawing another desert tag are very slim. Probably depends on how important a slam is to you though, but again why did you purchase raffle tickets, TO HUNT SHEEP. Go do it and don't look back.
 
If it was me, I would hunt the Rocky Mtn. Bighorn. There are very few places where you can have a legitimate chance at a 190+ ram, and the New Mexico tag is one of them. A 190+ bighorn is the ultimate trophy, and harder to come by, IMO, than a desert bighorn.

Sure, anyone can go hunt a dink Rocky bighorn in the non-res areas of Alberta, but a bighorn should have BIG HORNS. That's not possible everywhere.

Finally, if its legel to sell the tag, and you need the money, then sell the tag. But do it in private, and spare the rest of us from the conversation. I do have a problem with people seeking to profit from these public raffle tickets. I'm in favor of "transferability", it the tag is going to a youth hunter or some member of the immediate family. But to sell the ticket to the highest bidder? Now another tag, meant for the average hunter, will just go to another rich hunter, so that you can have more coin in the bank. IMO, if you never wanted the tag, you shouldn't have entered the public hunt raffles just to enrich yourself.
 
That guy who is always in Huntin' Fool--in fact I think that magazine had kind of morphed into his personal beauty contest--paid, I think, $175K for the NM auction tag last year and got a desert. I am sure he hired a guide and was probably into it clost to $200K. You might as well consider this the luckiest moment of your life and try to get one (desert) either on your own or hire a guide. I would probably hire a guide whether I could afford it or not.
 
First I have a question: Do you have to pay taxes on the sale of the tag? IF yes, I would needmuch more cash for the tag.

I think you are smart to sell the tag IF you can turn it into more sheep hunts.

If I could get $100,000 for my $50, I would turn that into a Desert hunt in Mexico, a Stone hunt in BC, and a Dall hunt in the Yukon.

If I could not get a whole lot extra, I would hunt the Desert...
 
SteveOz:

As as CPA, I will answer your question. The seller will have to pay Federal and state income taxes on the amount he sells if for. Ordinary tax rates, which are the highest.

Go sheep hunting. You will get plenty of chances to earn more money.

"Hunt when you can - You're gonna' run out of health before you run out of money!"
 
I say keep the tag! No matter what amount of money you sell the tag for you will end up spending it one way or another. On the other hand you have just been given the ultimate hunting experience. I will bet that if this tag is given its full potential and a guy is willing to work and spend some time in the state looking for a good ram, the memories that you will have would be far better than any amount of money. If it were my tag I would say keep it and go hunt those monster bighorns 190+ that NM is known for. Remember money is expendable and this opprotunity of a lifetime will be one to remember for the rest of your lifetime. GO HUNTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Yes, you must declare what you sell it for as income, you get to keep 2/3. You probabally can not get as much as an auction tag will go for, as that money goes to a nonprofit. The buyer gets to write it off, so he really is only paying about 2/3. Plus the auction buyer is helping wildlife, not you, so he might feel better about spending more. I doubt it goes for more than 1/2 what the auction tag went for.

As for the tag, declared value might be what NM charges for a tag. That is $3000 or so for a nonresident. They have to 1099 anything over $599. So you might have to pay some income tax if you are a nonresident. I am not sure.
 
I was just at the B&C awards banquest in Ft. Worth 2 weeks ago. I think there were 3 desert entries. 2 were from Hidalgo County NM. With that kind of money staring at you, I'd hate to make the choice. I guess it would depend on where I was in life to some extent. I'd also hate to pay the taxes.......
 
Go for the desert!

A sheep hunter would give his left nut to be in your shoes and have to decide between the desert or a rocky. It's only money and chances are you'll never have a another decision like this to make. If by chance you are faced with the decision again, go for the Rocky the 2nd time around.

I agree with ElmerFudd, I think the tag should also be non-transferable. It's a raffle giving the average Joe a chance to hunt a monster ram, not for a chance to be a tag pimp.
 
My hunting and guiding parter won this tag 03. He killed a 195" rocky. Also dosent the auction hunter have first choice of what he wants to hunt.
 
Yes, the auction hunter gets first choice. That person has already chosen to hunt Wheeler for Rocky's. The only year it was open for both was the year your friend won it.
 
A'h helll , sell it and buy you what ever. Not all people are hunt nutt crazy , LIKE US! If it were Me , hard to say, but if your asking us if we would be interested , than I think your probly one who enjoys hunting , but doesn't have to be on the hill chasing sheep. Go buy you a nice 4 door diesal and 5th wheel and enjoy life beyond one hunt...
 
O.K. back to the original question, sell or hunt. If I had it, I would for sure hunt if I could only get $50K ($33K or so after taxes). I would sell if I could get $100K ($66K or so after taxes). Somewhere in between would be where I would agonize. If had the choice, I would go desert, NM has top trophy potential for both.
 
I can honestly say I would be hunting sheep this fall, even if someone offered me a million bucks. And I am far from being well off.
 
for me it would be a sheep hunt! no question about it! I've been lucky enough times to know what a life changing experence a sheep hunt can be. I might not have been able to sell any of my tags like you, but after my first bighorn hunt i never will. ( i was offered a brand new pickup truck on my second tag though)i hunted that tag with only help from my cousin and wouldnt have changed anything. even when my old 87 ford broak down on two scouting trips.
bryan
 
Hard choice.. I surely want to go desert sheep hunting one day, and I put in every year in NM and AZ for tags, and buy all the raffle tickets available to me as well, but if I was to be in your shoes, I'd probably sell that tag and go on MY dream hunt.. a 21 day full liscense hunt in Tanzania.. big bull elephant, lion, leopard, cape buff, hippo, croc, and all the high dollar East African species that come only with a 21 day liscense.. ie. lesser kudu, Grants gazzelle, Robert's gazzelle, gerenuk, etc...

That's what I'd do if I was in your shoes.. But then again, Africa is what is in my blood first and foremost.. I'll ALWAYS spend my money hunting there..
Sheep are fun, but think what you could do with that much cash at your disposal .. plenty of other cool hunts out there as well.. money and time are all it takes to go on those hunts..

It must suck to be in your shoes.. How 'bout I go ahead and take over from here and I'll show you what I'll do.. Besides, you have my tag anyways.. They musta sent it to ya by mistake.
 
JB's correct, however.
If he does sell it, there will come a day
he'll regret the hell out of it.
He may never admit it to anyone, but he will.
lrv
 
If you sell you will pay much more of it than you would like in taxes, you might not have as much left over as you thought you might.
 
Did you buy raffle tickets to make a huge return on your investment or did you buy tickets to go sheep hunting.

Go after the sheep and find a better job!
 
I have never had the opportunity to go sheep hunting so I can not call myself a sheep hunter.

I am going to go against the grain here and say I would sell it.

I like to hunt and the money from this one tag could be used to finance many hunts:

1. MX coues
2. AK dall
3. AK sitka deer
4. AK moose
5. NM antelope
6. Africa
7. Alberta whitetail
8. etc
9. etc

I would find out how much the auction tag sold for and try to get 80% to 90% of that amount. There are probably a couple sheep guides who were with unsuccessful clients who were bidding on the auction tag.

MY QUESTION IS - if you pay taxes on the value of the tag - $3K for non resident and then you sell it, do you have to pay taxes on it again? this does not make sense. if I win a $20K car in a raffle and pay taxes on the $20K and then someone offers me $40K and I sell it for that much, I do not think I have to pay taxes on the $40K also.
 
First I don't think they should have the tag as transferable. But that is beside the point. You had the luck to draw a once in a lifetime item. So congrats...

As much as I think the tag shouldn't be transferable this is what I would do. I have drawn a Bighorn tag in Colorado and very happy with my ram. However I know I will never be able to afford the other 3 this is what I would do.


Sell the tag and go on the following.

Stone Sheep $25,000 Yukon
Dall Ram $12,000 Alaska
Bighorn Ram $15,000 Alberta (in my case $15,000 more for the family to enjoy).

Tax Man $30,000+

The rest of the money would be for the family to enjoy.

I would then have 3/4 of the slam or a chance to have hunted them and never regret a moment of it.


Just my opinion


Goatslayer........
 
Thanks all for your feedback,

I will be making my decision on Friday the 20th. High bid is currently at $60,000 and I plan on doing exactly what Goatslayer thought. Its easy for you guys to jump to the conclusion of hunting the tag. I never new the tag was transferable, but for me I have dreamed of going to Alaska or B.C. for Stone much more than a desert.
I plan to take my dad on a Moose hunt he has talked about for the past 30 years and buy my wife what ever she would like to have put up with my hunting habit for the past 9 years.
No Regrets,
Raffle winner.
 
Whatever you decide, it is best for you. Have no regrets. Cash talks, BS walks. If the guys who want to hunt sheep as bad as they say, you have given them the opportunity to buck up and show it. I really doubt you can get close to the auction tag price, as that is at an event that benifits wildlife, guys are in that spirit, and the auction tag price is tax deductible to the bidder.
 
"and the auction tag price is tax deductible to the bidder." This is a common mis-perception about auction tags, not all auction tags are tax deductible.

There are people who buy hunts at auction and take them off on their taxes. Technically speaking, that is not necessarily legal. The funds have to go to a qualifying conservation project for it to be fully tax deductible.

Huntthebest, enjoy that moose hunt with your dad, should be a good one. I do hope you do make it to Alaska for a dall and BC for a stone sheep hunt someday.
 
I agree with HornedToad. That tag is for the average joe and it would be a shame to give it to another rich guy. Don't tell your wife its transferable and go hunting in NM. My two cents.
 
If I was going for the grand slam I would keep the tag. If not I would have sold the tag and went on a grizzly bear hunt, elk hunt the San Carlos reservation, and mexico mule deer hunt, and a family vacation.
 
Well it was fun to look back on this thread, I did sell the tag to Jim, and went on the hunt with him. Spotted the ram he ended up shooting with his bow that became the P&Y World Record Desert Ram for a few years. Met some great folks on that hunt, and used the funds to pay for my dall and Moose hunts in Alaska.
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Well, okay then.
I had never seen this thread until tonight and was afraid you wouldn’t come back and tell us what you did.
Damn fine Dall sheep and moose!

It was fun to look back and see the price guys said Stone sheep were. $25000. Haha, that’s a good down payment for one now. That kind of money does get a good Dall sheep hunt.

Again, congrats man!

Zeke
 
So are any draw tags still transferable? It seems most have done away with the ability to resell them. It obviously worked well for huntthebeast, but is that even possible now? Just asking for a friend. :ROFLMAO:
 

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