Antelope ranch assignments

[ridgerunner]

I'd like to hear what people have experienced with these. Has it been a good experience or not a good experience, also the area of the state that you drew. Feel free to share any pics of bucks you took as well. Thanks.

 

[compasswest]

Over all my hunters have done OK with the way it works, but last year we had 2 hunters get on ranches in NE NM that were really bad, only found 1 goat on the whole ranch 11" and had to kill it, the other ranch we never got one and were given 2 other ranches to hunt, both were also very poor. Hunter did not kill a goat, my first in 5 years.... If you get a UW ranch be ready for a less quality hunt!


www.200inches.com

 

[medicinebow]

I've drawn antelope twice and have had good and not so friendly experiences with both hunts. The first hunt the landowner was very difficult to get ahold of and he wasn't too friendly. This hunt took place in Antelope unit 38. I harvested my first antelope buck on this ranch. Unfortunately I don't have a picture.

The second hunt was awesome. The landowner was extremely friendly when I talked with him on the phone prior to the hunt and he was very forthcoming with good information. He also had private land hunters hunting his ranch, but was still willing to provide info on trophy animals. This hunt was in unit 11, which is muzzleloader only. I harvested this buck opening morning. I saw about a dozen bucks on his ranch and supposedly there was a huge buck on the ranch that hung out in the thich PJ and hardly ever came out. The buck I killed was the next biggest buck on the ranch from all the bucks I'd seen. I would definitely put in for this hunt again.

MBBGH

 

[mickeyelk]

I've had the opportunity to hunt antelope in New Mexico three times. I was successful all three times but the quality and quantity of bucks was less than expected. My first ranch was 20,000 acres and held about 20 goats. I believe I saw all the antelope and I took the biggest one. There was also two other hunters there with me. The second ranch was 10,000 acres with three hunters assigned with me being the only public hunter. I prescouted the area on the Friday before the season and saw one small buck. Barely legal in size of horns. Opening day found all three of us surrounding this poor creature. We all passed but by noon on Sunday I decided to take him. I like and enjoy antelope meat, so!!! My last hunt was the best but the owner failed to tell me of all the areas that were open for my hunting. Also he said that one particular area I wasn't allowed to hunt because of the proximity to his one out building about a mile from his ranch house. I spotted three very large bucks in the area. The rest of the ranch had an assortment of antelope and I took a nice buck. All in all I will continue to apply every year. In the future I might hook up with a landowner tag if I don't ever get drawn for the public tag. Have fun.

 

[jims]

My son drew a NW NM ranch a few years ago and it was the worst hunting experience we have ever had...period! The landowner required us to be dropped off and hike in a far corner of the ranch where there were few to 0 antelope. He would not allow us to drive our truck at all on the property! He came by and checked on us at noon and we were REALLY frustrated! All the guided hunters on the ranch were hunting from trucks. Us and another public draw tag hunter were the only hunters left at noon without antelope and by that time the guided hunters had cherry-picked the bucks on the ranch. It was very frustrating to say the least!

According to the regulations public hunters are "supposed" to get equal and fair treatment to guided clients hunting the same time. I can see how this must be a headache for both public hunters, guides, landowners, and game wardens!

There are several billion acres of public land in New Mexico that currently aren't available for rifle hunters to research, scout, and draw a public rifle tag to hunt. Hopefully the NMG&F will continue to work on changing the current policy so DIY rifle hunters have the opportunity to hunt public land or secure permission to hunt private land within a unit (rather than applying and not knowing where the heck you'll end up)!

 

[rcutchen]

My buddy and I had a slightly similar experience in 2006 in central NM. When we called the landowner to ask about scouting, he replied that no one is allowed to scout. However, on opening day, we ran into a "paying" hunter who told us how he had scouted several nice bucks the day before. There was definitely different treatment between the state and landowner tag hunters.

 

[hunting1]

I have mixxed opinions. I drew near Clayton and there were 8-Texas paid hunters and 2-draw hunters. They had guides and we were told go into a corner. We started out and were trying to stalk in our corner and here comes two of the trucks. After that we said to hell with that and started driving around like the guided hunters. I was lucky to have taken the best antelope on that hunt, but we were deffinetly second-rate citizens on the ranch. I think it should be 50/50 for land owners and draw hunters.

 

[trophytruck1]

My daughter was drawn for the public buck youth in the NE part of the state this year. We hunted a small ranch NE of Mosquero.

I called the rancher and let her know who we were and the dates we were coming to hunt.

Even though I could not scout the ranch except the day before, I scouted by using the mapping website ACMEMAPPER.COM.. This gave me a full layout of the ranch.

We arrived the day before and met with the rancher. She told me that there were 4-5 guided hunters who would also be hunting.

My daughter and I were setting up camp, when the guide came by to express his displeasure that a public hunter was going to compete with his clients on the ranch. After a brief conversation: I basically told him we were going to hunt the ranch and access everywhere we wanted to access. He huffed a little bit and went on his way.

My daughter and I scouted that afternoon and spotted 7 bucks on the ranch we were assigned to and 15-20 on the sourounding ranches.

We saw from 12-17 inch bucks in the general area would be hunting.

We walked into the ranch at first light and stalked a 15-16 inch buck but could not get a shot off.

I decoyed three smaller bucks, two about 12 inch and one about 14 inch.

She shot one the first one who gave her the best shot. A 12inch goat. It was a great hunt.

I was prepared and you should be also, if you have a problem with the rancher or a guide, you need to call the Game and Fish and the State Land Office or the BLM office. NOT when you finish the hunt but immediatly.

I already had several contact numbers for the Game And Fish officers who were going to be working in the area. I got them from Game and Fish.

My advice is, prepare yourself in advance of the hunt, and stick to your guns when is comes to dealing with the rancher and the guides, because you DO HAVE THE SAME ACCESS AS THEM DURING THE HUNT.

TT