Looking for Ideas

[tailchaser]

So I'm in a bit of a quandary, my daughters sports schedule makes it hard for her to do any normal hunts in the fall with Volleyball starting in early august and basketball lasting well into winter. It seems the only time I can carve out where I can take my daughters on a hunt is during Christmas break. The quandary is I'm from Oregon. We don't have a lot of options that time of year. I'm also not familiar enough with NM or AZ on what might be an option. So I'm throwing out a line here for ideas and experience.

So a little about what I'm looking for. Something that's a fun hunt where they can see animals and stay engaged. Deer/Elk/Havelina or ??? Shooting anything legal is what we're after. My wife loves to hunt so I'd buy a tag for her but I would essentially play guide. I'm open to discussion about purchasing tags but my daughters and wife are good with a bow also. Over the counter deer hunts are something I've heard can be fun but I simply don't know enough about it at this point, where to go or stay to plan it.

I appreciate any help or advice.

Jim

 

[TFAvalanche]

Go to Texas

 

[NMPaul]

There are off range youth oryx hunts entire months throughout the year. Hard to draw. AZ has great OTC hunts when your kids will be out of school. End of dec and January. I think there are javelina hunts in January in NM. Also Barbary in dec, jan, feb. NM

 

[Muleman]

There are the youth encentive cow hunts start on Dec 26 As a Non- resident you can’t apply for them but you could get a unit wide land owner tag and hunt. There is also private land only elk hunts. Obviously those are pricey for good ranches. Not much else in December in NM that’s not a draw. The OTC Barbary is not an easy hunt but can be fun if you don’t mind some hoofing in Tuff country.

Az has OTC deer archery in December might be a good option

 

[Barrera]

There are the youth encentive cow hunts start on Dec 26 As a Non- resident you can’t apply for them but you could get a unit wide land owner tag and hunt. There is also private land only elk hunts. Obviously those are pricey for good ranches. Not much else in December in NM that’s not a draw. The OTC Barbary is not an easy hunt but can be fun if you don’t mind some hoofing in Tuff country.

Az has OTC deer archery in December might be a good option

Ya good option to call eplus landowners to get a cow tag. Last yr estimated 30% of all eplus vouchers weren't ever transferred into lic so went unused. I bet you can find a landowner willing to get a youth cow hunt at a reasonable price.

 

[tailchaser]

Good ideas all around. The Arizona archery deer I know will perk my girls attention since they're all about bowhunting right now. But I'll definitely look into the eplus option too.

tc

 

[Panther]

Check out Compass West Outfitters. Chris always has a few options available for those types of hunts.

 

[BUGLEnmIN]

Some great suggestions here. Especially the L.O. cow tags.
Barbary sheep is a bad ass hunt .. if you go that route it's worth it to get a two day guided IMO .

 

[BrianID]

If you are going to travel that far to hunt Barbary and then pay nonresident fees and for an outfitter, you will find a Texas free range Barbary hunt a much better bargain than OTC Barbary in NM.
OTC archery deer in AZ is an option or javelina in AZ or NM is something you could look at if the dates work for you.

I don't think off range Oryx is really worth it for a nonresident unless you are really interested in hunting something unique like Oryx. Off range oryx high cost for nonresidents ($1600) and I think you are doing well to average seeing more than 1 off range Oryx per day. I'm sure there are many guys that hunt off range oryx for a week without seeing one.

I think you could find some better and cheaper cow elk hunts in late December closer to home in Idaho. Idaho's applications are due tomorrow. Idaho spring bear hunts is something else you could look into. Montana and Wyoming also have some late cow elk hunts you could look into that would be cheaper than NM landowner tags.

If you have the $$ for NM landowner tags, you should serious look at hunting options in Texas. There are many different hunting options in Texas and it has year round hunting.

If it is something your daughters would be interested in, look into learning how to call in coyotes. Calling coyotes is great fun, cheap and provides year round hunting in every western state.

 

[LT]

There are always left over coues deer hunts in AZ. I get a tag every year. Always see deer, perfect weather and it is something very different to hunt. I would be more than happy to give you more details.