I talked to Jim about New Mexico DIY hunts for about 45 minutes this morning. He was very helpful, and has some excellent options for DIY hunters. If you are interested in New Mexico, you should definitely call him. I am studying the proclamation to figure out some options, if not for this year, in 2010. One warning, looks like New Mexico changed the hunt numbers for this year, so you have to go to last year's proclamation to get the correct number to check draw odds.
On another topic, heard from a fiend of mine that he heard that elk applications in Wyoming are down big time, and they are going to extend the deadline to Feb 2. Anyone hear about this? I went to the website, did not find anything about it.
It looks like it could be a rough year for the outfitting business. I have mixed feelings. Things have gotten pretty ridiculous the last few years in some ways, but a lot of good outfitters who work hard to provide a quality experience are going to get hurt.
Scoutdog