Proceedings of the Seventh Mountain Lion Workshop

40 NEW MEXICO MOUNTAIN LION STATUS REPORT · Winslow
resulted in more conservative harvest
strategies.
In 1984 the cougar season was shortened
to 3 months in most of the state, with longer
seasons in units that had high numbers of
depredation complaints. From 1985 until
1999 the season was 4 months long
throughout the state with a bag limit of one
cougar. In 1999 the state instituted a zone
management system with harvest objectives
and quotas. The season was extended to 6
months throughout the majority of the state
with low-elevation bighorn sheep ranges
open year round.
In 2002, the cougar season remained at 6
months with a 1 cougar bag limit throughout
most of the state with the following
exceptions: year around hunting in selected
desert bighorn sheep areas and Rocky
Mountain bighorn sheep areas in the
southern part of the state and on private
property, and year round hunting in specific
units in the southeastern corner of the state
that have historically suffered high
depredation losses. The bag limit was
increased to 2 cougars in bighorn areas.
Currently the state has 15 cougar
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEVENTH MOUNTAIN LION WORKSHOP
Figure 1. Cougar Harvest Management
Zones in New Mexico during 2002-03.
management zones (Figure 1). Each is
managed through a quota system for
increasing, decreasing or stable populations
of cougar (Table 1). The ratio of males to
females harvested generally equals 60:40
Table 1. Cougar harvest objectives by management zone in New Mexico, 2002-03.
Zone Game Management Units Included in Zone Harvest Objective
A 2 and 7 14
B 5 and 50-51 20
C 43-46, 48-49, and 53-55 38
D 41-42, 47, and 56-58 16
E 9 and 10 16
F 6 and 8 16
G 13-14, and 17 17
H 19, 20, and 28-29 3
I 18, 30, 34, and 36-38 20
J 15-16, 21, and 25 38
K 22-24 22
L 26-27 Unlimited
M 31-33, and 39-40 5
N 4 and 52 3
O 12 3
231 a
a Not including unlimited areas.