NMPaul & MM,
As you all know the NM Exotic Rule has been opened and new proposals have been posted. My comments and views do not speak directly for WSMR, but are my personal and professional perspectives. For those who don't know me I have been associated with the WSMR Hunt program for the last 15 years.
Sportsmen and women of NM have an opportunity to help determine some important aspects on the structure of oryx hunting on WSMR, so I am asking all of you to make your views heard regardless of your stance.
Earlier this month WMSR presented the department and commission a second proposal that the department does not support, but through continued dialogue they are giving the public an opportunity to discuss these proposals. There will be a town meeting in Las Cruces in the near future and hopefully a survey sent out via email to all Oryx applicants requesting your feedback. THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY!!
First off Oryx numbers have been increasing steadily the last several years. The population, just in the core areas alone, is already at 2009 levels which is about 3000-3500 animals. At that time they had just over a thousand licenses. The population is projected to increase based on aerial surveys. In addition, calf numbers have been increasing 5%-6% each year the last two years. This has been compounded by the fact the harvest sex ratio for adult oryx has tilted towards bulls, 60/40, which means less cows are being harvested the last several years. This a great indicator that we can anticipate strong growth. At the current rate of growth the population could cause significant issues for the Missile range if not kept in check.
WSMR?s objective is to maintain the herd at about 2,500 to 3,000 animals. Based on decades of attempting to manage these animals they feel this number provides quality hunter opportunity while still maintaining the mission of WSMR.
What the proposals have in common:
- [ ] Make veteran hunts open to all NM vets.
- [ ] Remove the Rhodes and Stallion hunt area designation. This allows managers the flexibility to move hunt areas for management purposes. The proclamation will have designated hunt areas so hunters will know where they will be hunting prior to applying.
- [ ] Youth and mobility impaired hunts will go unchanged.
Here are the proposals differences:
Proposal 1 recap
- [ ] Add an additional 4 OIL Hunts on top of the current hunts being conducted. This would be a total of 10 hunts.
- [ ] The other nine hunts would have 65 OIL, 15 Broken Horn and 5 veteran licenses for a total of 85 licenses each hunt. ( Youth & MI Hunt is unchanged)
PROS: Increased OIL licenses, broken horn and vet hunts. Provides more OIL opportunity.
CONS: Hunt quality will be degraded due to increased licenses as a result of hunt pressure. This also will have an affect on trophy hunting on a 2 1/2 day hunt.
Proposal 2 recap-
- [ ] Maintain current hunts, increase OIL licenses to 60 plus 5 OIL Veteran hunts compared to this years allocation.
- [ ] Add an additional 4 hunts at the end of the year that are not Once in a life time and are OPEN to everyone. Each of those hunts would be approximately 100 licenses each.
- [ ] Removal of broken horn hunts.
The current 5 OIL hunts would only have 60-65 license each hunt and occur prior to the new 4 hunts. The new 4 hunts would have approximately 100 license each that anyone can apply for. These would not be a once in a life time hunt.
PROS: Creating a true Once in a life time experience with 5 designated OIL hunts with less hunt pressure to increase the quality of the hunt and more opportunities for trophy hunting. The last four years we have had 50-65 hunters a hunt and it provides an excellent experience for hunters. To me this is a OIL experiment. Once we start going above that i can see a big difference in hunt quality and experience. For those that have witnessed the ?Oryx 500? back in the day can relate.
These additional OPEN hunts would create increased hunt pressure to areas that need to be managed without the concern for success rate. These hunts would be sacrificing hunt quality for more opportunity since it is not a OIL hunt. Any one can apply for these hunts every year.
Broken horn hunts will be removed. Currently 12%-15% of OIL hunters already harvest broken horn oryx. This would reduce the need for specialized hunts targeting broken horns.
CONS: OIL opportunity maybe be decreased compared to proposal 1 overall.
Some hunters may feel removing broken horn hunts is not good. Some feel these hunts are important to manage quality, but the reality is OIL and OPEN hunters will manage this animals based on past harvest information.
The bottom line is both proposals satisfy the department and WSMR?s management goals. The only question left to answer is what does NM want from their Oryx hunts.
Simply do you want to maximize OIL opportunities at the expense of reducing hunt quality OR do you want to moderately increase OIL opportunity (compared to current opportunity not proposal 1) while maintaining a high quality hunt and experience, plus hunts that are open to all hunters that will sacrifice hunt quality for opportunity.
With that being said, I would like to thank WSMR, the Director, commissioners and the department for allowing different views and perspectives to be presented for public discussion.
Plus, you still have Barbary and Ibex changes that need your input. Make sure you attend town meetings, email the department and talk to your commissioner.
You decide!!! If you don't make your views heard the commission and department will make it for you.
One question that may arise, why can't we add more hunts to manage the same number of hunters and increase hunt quality? Range availability is a huge factor that drives these hunts. WSMR had nearly 5,500 missions last year and its increasing every year. WSMR almost cancelled two hunts this year alone just days before the hunt took place. Man power is another issue, along with logistics and safety. WSMR would like to manage the population by having 5-6 hunts a year like they currently do and not 11-13 hunts a year.
I hope to see you all in Las Cruces and hear your feedback.
Thank you
Gilbert Villegas
As you all know the NM Exotic Rule has been opened and new proposals have been posted. My comments and views do not speak directly for WSMR, but are my personal and professional perspectives. For those who don't know me I have been associated with the WSMR Hunt program for the last 15 years.
Sportsmen and women of NM have an opportunity to help determine some important aspects on the structure of oryx hunting on WSMR, so I am asking all of you to make your views heard regardless of your stance.
Earlier this month WMSR presented the department and commission a second proposal that the department does not support, but through continued dialogue they are giving the public an opportunity to discuss these proposals. There will be a town meeting in Las Cruces in the near future and hopefully a survey sent out via email to all Oryx applicants requesting your feedback. THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY!!
First off Oryx numbers have been increasing steadily the last several years. The population, just in the core areas alone, is already at 2009 levels which is about 3000-3500 animals. At that time they had just over a thousand licenses. The population is projected to increase based on aerial surveys. In addition, calf numbers have been increasing 5%-6% each year the last two years. This has been compounded by the fact the harvest sex ratio for adult oryx has tilted towards bulls, 60/40, which means less cows are being harvested the last several years. This a great indicator that we can anticipate strong growth. At the current rate of growth the population could cause significant issues for the Missile range if not kept in check.
WSMR?s objective is to maintain the herd at about 2,500 to 3,000 animals. Based on decades of attempting to manage these animals they feel this number provides quality hunter opportunity while still maintaining the mission of WSMR.
What the proposals have in common:
- [ ] Make veteran hunts open to all NM vets.
- [ ] Remove the Rhodes and Stallion hunt area designation. This allows managers the flexibility to move hunt areas for management purposes. The proclamation will have designated hunt areas so hunters will know where they will be hunting prior to applying.
- [ ] Youth and mobility impaired hunts will go unchanged.
Here are the proposals differences:
Proposal 1 recap
- [ ] Add an additional 4 OIL Hunts on top of the current hunts being conducted. This would be a total of 10 hunts.
- [ ] The other nine hunts would have 65 OIL, 15 Broken Horn and 5 veteran licenses for a total of 85 licenses each hunt. ( Youth & MI Hunt is unchanged)
PROS: Increased OIL licenses, broken horn and vet hunts. Provides more OIL opportunity.
CONS: Hunt quality will be degraded due to increased licenses as a result of hunt pressure. This also will have an affect on trophy hunting on a 2 1/2 day hunt.
Proposal 2 recap-
- [ ] Maintain current hunts, increase OIL licenses to 60 plus 5 OIL Veteran hunts compared to this years allocation.
- [ ] Add an additional 4 hunts at the end of the year that are not Once in a life time and are OPEN to everyone. Each of those hunts would be approximately 100 licenses each.
- [ ] Removal of broken horn hunts.
The current 5 OIL hunts would only have 60-65 license each hunt and occur prior to the new 4 hunts. The new 4 hunts would have approximately 100 license each that anyone can apply for. These would not be a once in a life time hunt.
PROS: Creating a true Once in a life time experience with 5 designated OIL hunts with less hunt pressure to increase the quality of the hunt and more opportunities for trophy hunting. The last four years we have had 50-65 hunters a hunt and it provides an excellent experience for hunters. To me this is a OIL experiment. Once we start going above that i can see a big difference in hunt quality and experience. For those that have witnessed the ?Oryx 500? back in the day can relate.
These additional OPEN hunts would create increased hunt pressure to areas that need to be managed without the concern for success rate. These hunts would be sacrificing hunt quality for more opportunity since it is not a OIL hunt. Any one can apply for these hunts every year.
Broken horn hunts will be removed. Currently 12%-15% of OIL hunters already harvest broken horn oryx. This would reduce the need for specialized hunts targeting broken horns.
CONS: OIL opportunity maybe be decreased compared to proposal 1 overall.
Some hunters may feel removing broken horn hunts is not good. Some feel these hunts are important to manage quality, but the reality is OIL and OPEN hunters will manage this animals based on past harvest information.
The bottom line is both proposals satisfy the department and WSMR?s management goals. The only question left to answer is what does NM want from their Oryx hunts.
Simply do you want to maximize OIL opportunities at the expense of reducing hunt quality OR do you want to moderately increase OIL opportunity (compared to current opportunity not proposal 1) while maintaining a high quality hunt and experience, plus hunts that are open to all hunters that will sacrifice hunt quality for opportunity.
With that being said, I would like to thank WSMR, the Director, commissioners and the department for allowing different views and perspectives to be presented for public discussion.
Plus, you still have Barbary and Ibex changes that need your input. Make sure you attend town meetings, email the department and talk to your commissioner.
You decide!!! If you don't make your views heard the commission and department will make it for you.
One question that may arise, why can't we add more hunts to manage the same number of hunters and increase hunt quality? Range availability is a huge factor that drives these hunts. WSMR had nearly 5,500 missions last year and its increasing every year. WSMR almost cancelled two hunts this year alone just days before the hunt took place. Man power is another issue, along with logistics and safety. WSMR would like to manage the population by having 5-6 hunts a year like they currently do and not 11-13 hunts a year.
I hope to see you all in Las Cruces and hear your feedback.
Thank you
Gilbert Villegas