Who's watching? - New Mexico Game and Fish

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Don't miss your shotat an oryx this yearBy LuAnn TafoyaGot oryx? New Mexico has moreof the African antelope thanit needs, and invites everyoneseeking an impressive trophy orwho is just fond of tasty gamemeat to take a crack at the annualdrawing for licenses.Applications for hunts must beeither postmarked or submittedonline by midnight Feb. 6. Hunterscan find all the details in the2008-2009 Big-Game Hunting &Trapping Rules & Informationbooklet, available. The bookletswill be available in December onthe Department of Game and Fishwebsite, www.wildlife.state.nm.us,and at vendors statewide andDepartment offices in Santa Fe,Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Ratonand Roswell.Various types of oryx hunts areoffered on White Sands MissileRange and on public and privatelands off-range. If you are lookingto hunt all month long, tryapplying for one of the off-rangepopulation-management hunts.Open areas include land controlledby the U.S. Forest Service, Bureauof Land Management, the Stateof New Mexico, and privateproperty with written permission.A good land-status map is highlyrecommended if you draw apopulation-management license.If you’re hunting just for someexcellent oryx meat, try applyingfor one of the “as called”population-management hunts.You may be assigned to hunt onWhite Sands Missile Range, SanAndres National Wildlife Refugeor on lands controlled by otheragencies that require a $150 accessfee. Up to 250 hunters may receivelicenses, based on a rankingsystem. Keep in mind that 155hunters were called during the2006-2007 hunting season, and thehigher your ranking number, theless likely you will get called. Ifyou are lucky enough to be called,it may be on short notice, so beprepared. Individuals can onlyapply for one type of populationmanagementhunt.If you’re looking for a trophy, tryapplying in for a weekend oncein-a-lifetimehunt on White SandsMissile Range. There are threedifferent locations on the rangethat are included in these hunts:Rhodes Canyon, Small MissileRange, and Stallion Range. Allareas offer good hunting, butkeep in mind that there are fewerlicenses issued for the SmallMissile Range, so your odds ofdrawing one may be longer. Youwill be required to pay the $150access fee and you will not be ableto apply for one of these huntsagain once you’ve drawn one.The odds of drawing a once-ina-lifetimeoryx license are about6.4-to-1. Last year, 10,179 huntersapplied for 1,585 licenses.Another option is to apply for abroken-horn hunt. These hunts areavailable to those who have notheld a once-in-a-lifetime hunt. Thebag limit for these hunts is an oryxof either sex that has one or morehorns missing at least 25 percent ofits normal growth.If you have never gone oryxhunting and are successful inthe drawing, expect a great time.Oryx are smart creatures, andover the years these hunts havebecome more difficult. Glassingand stalking are the most effectivehunting techniques. If you spooka herd or oryx, move on and findanother group to stalk. If you justdrive around the range all day,expect to come up empty handed.Get away from the roads andyou’ll find oryx.Once you have successfullyharvested your oryx, get ready forwork. Oryx have very tough hidesand you’ll go through severalknives if you don’t have the righttype. In the end, oryx meat will notdisappoint you. The meat is lean,with a rich but mild flavor. Trymarinating oryx steaks in olive oilbefore grilling them, then enjoy!LuAnn Tafoya is the Department ofGame and Fish public informationofficer for the Southwest Area. She canbe reached in area office in Las Crucesat (505) 532-2106 or luann.tafoya@state.nm.us.GAIN puts participants up-close-and-personal with wildlifeBy LuAnn TafoyaApplication deadline is Feb. 6If you’re looking for a non-huntingactivity that will put you in touchwith wildlife, check out GainingAccess into Nature (GAIN). Theprogram has become increasinglypopular since the New MexicoDepartment of Game and Fishstarted it two years ago. Activitiesinclude guided tours to see elk,deer, lesser prairie chickens, andbighorn sheep. Occasionally,participants can assist Departmentbiologists and conservation officersSouthwestin electroshocking fish surveys,bighorn sheep trapping operationsand other projects.Participants are chosen by alottery-type online drawing, andsuccessful applicants are chargednominal fees. To see current GAINopportunities and applicationdeadlines, please visit www.wildlife.state.nm.us, and click onthe “Recreation” tab at the top ofthe page.GAIN activities in the southwestarea include visits to the RedRock Wildlife Management Area,home of the endangered desertbighorn sheep. Visitors to the area24 miles north of Lordsburg getto see the site of the Department’scaptive breeding program,where sheep are raised, thentrapped and released in bighornhabitat elsewhere in the state.GAIN participants are escortedthrough the expansive sheeppens, where they have excellentphoto opportunities and views ofthe sheep. Lucky applicants alsolearn about the desert bighornmanagement plan and objectives,funding for the program, predatorcontrol, and sheep biology. Somelucky GAIN applicants get to tagalong, shoot photos and evenpitch in and help biologists as theycatch, treat, transport and releasethe sheep into new habitats.Perhaps the most popular of theGAIN activities in the southwestalso is the newest. This past fall,12 lucky participants accompaniedDepartment’s wolf biologist andregional outlookPhoto: Don MacCarterHunters who apply for a once-in-a-lifetime hunt for oryx in NewMexico have about a 1-in-6 chance of getting a license in the annualdrawing.tracked Mexican wolves in theGila National Forest. Individualslearned what a day in the life of awolf biologist was like and detailsabout the wolf reintroductionprogram. The tour was a full dayof driving forest roads and usingelectronic monitoring equipmentto “track” wolves.More GAIN activities are expectedto be offered in 2008, so stay tunedto the Department website fordetails.Desert bighornsheep are raisedat the RedRock WildlifeManagementArea and thencaptured andrelocatedin suitablehabitat suchas the HatchetMountains ofsouthern NewMexico.Photo: Dan Williams6Volume 52, Number 2
Head southeast for a mixed bag of birdsHunt for waterfowlin the morning,quail after noonBy Mark MadsenEarly morning ... sun’s coming up… clear sky … looks like it’s goingto be a beautiful, mild winter day.Decoys are set … very little wind… and the birds are starting to fly.Sounds like the start of a goodmorning of waterfowl hunting.The location could be in the upperMidwest or the flooded timber ofthe Mississippi Delta. But whatabout New Mexico?When you mention New Mexico,most hunters think about monsterRocky Mountain elk or trophymule deer. People don’t normallyassociate New Mexico withgood hunting opportunities forwaterfowl. That said, severallocations in New Mexico offerexcellent waterfowl hunting. Oneof those areas is the Pecos RiverValley from Roswell to Carlsbad,where hunters can find lots ofducks, geese and sandhill cranes.Eastern New Mexico is part ofthe Central Flyway and containsnumerous locations where ducks,geese and cranes stop on theirsouthern migration. Some flockseven hang around all winter.Places like Bitter Lakes NationalWildlife Refuge, the OverflowWetlands, and the Seven RiversWaterfowl Management Areaoffer food and security tomigrating waterfowl.Open Gate, a new landownerincentiveprogram offered by theDepartment of Game and Fish,also opens a couple of privateproperties for waterfowl hunting.Both of these areas are along thePecos River east of Roswell.Waterfowl outlook goodThis season, hunters can expectto find many species of ducks,with mallards being especiallyplentiful. Good opportunities alsoexist for pintails and canvasbacks.The valley attracts good numbersof snow geese, some CanadaPhoto: Lance CherryWaterfowl hunting is expected to be good to excellent this seasonin southeastern New Mexico.geese and sandhill cranes that callthe valley home for the wintermonths. Duck season opened inlate October and runs throughJan. 27. Pintail and canvasbackseason opens Dec. 20. The seasonfor light and dark geese openedin mid-October and runs throughJan. 27. Sandhill crane seasonopened Oct. 31 and runs throughthe end of January.The majority of the waterfowland cranes in the Pecos Valleyroost on Bitter Lakes NationalWildlife Refuge and then scatterthroughout the valley duringthe early morning hours to feed.Smaller numbers of ducks, geeseand cranes roost on the OverflowWetlands.Hunters have good success inthe public hunt area along thesouthern boundary of the middletract of the refuge as well as theprivate property just north of U.S.380. One of the new Open Gateproperties is north of U.S. 380along the Pecos River and shouldoffer hunters some good passshootingopportunities.Duck hunters also might try theOverflow Wetlands just westof Bottomless Lakes State Park.Another Open Gate property isjust south of the state park andborders the Overflow Wetlands.The Seven Rivers WildlifeManagement Area is at thenorth end of Brantley Reservoirbetween Artesia and Carlsbad.This area offers good-to-excellentlate-season hunting opportunitiesfor waterfowl and sandhill cranes.Special hunt rules are in affectfor Bitter Lakes National WildlifeRefuge and Seven Rivers WildlifeArea.Most of the better goose huntingopportunities occur on privatelands throughout the valley whenflocks land to feed in agriculturalfields. Some access may beobtained by hunters who takethe time to find out who ownsthe fields and then get writtenpermission to hunt from thelandowner. The same scenario istrue for sandhill crane hunting.Some geese and sandhill cranesalso can be taken when they areleaving the Bitter Lakes refugefirst thing in the morning.Afternoon quail, dovesSo, you’ve had a good morninghunting waterfowl and sandhillcranes, but you haven’t had yourfill of bird hunting for the day?Before you pack everything upand head to the house, how aboutchanging out the non-toxic shotfor some lead and hunting doveand quail?The nice thing about winterhunting in southeastern NewMexico is that waterfowl seasonsare open during the same times asupland game birds. Dove seasonis open until the end of December,and quail season runs until Feb.15. You can hunt waterfowl andcranes in the morning, switch toupland game birds during themiddle of the day, and then beback in your favorite duck blindfor the evening hunt.last fall also kept a lot of dovesin the country. Good numbers ofmourning and white-wings canstill be found. Eurasian collareddoves also live year-round in thePecos Valley.Hunters wanting to pursuebobwhite quail should try theClovis/Portales area. Most of thebetter bobwhite hunting is onprivate property, so you must getwritten permission.Public hunting opportunitiesfor bobwhites can be found onthe Department’s lesser prairiechicken areas in the Milnesandarea. Only non-toxic shot maybe used on Department-ownedwildlife areas.Lots of public landGood scaled quail hunting can befound throughout southeasternNew Mexico. Scaled quail occupymany habitat types and it comesdown to the type of terrain youprefer to hunt. Scaled quail canbe found in the sand county thatstarts east of Roswell and runsall the way to the Texas stateline southeast of Carlsbad. Theyalso can be found throughoutthe Pecos River Valley and thefoothills of the lower Sacramentoand Guadalupe Mountains.Thousands of acres of publiclands (BLM, state, and NationalForest) can be found throughoutsoutheastern New Mexico,providing more than adequateaccess for upland game birdhunting. Several Open Gateproperties also have been openedup, providing additional huntingopportunities on private land.For more information about birdhunting opportunities on theBitter Lakes National WildlifeRefuge, call Steve Alvarez at(505) 625-4009. For informationabout Seven Rivers WaterfowlManagement Area, call RichardArtrip at (505) 457-2660. Moreinformation about the OpenGate program can be found onthe Department of Game andFish website, www.wildlife.state.nm.us, or by calling GeorgeFarmer at (505) 624-6135.Mark Madsen is the Department ofGame and Fish public informationofficer for the southeastern area ofthe state. He can be reached in theRoswell area office at (505) 624-6135or mark.madsen@state.nm.us.Photo: Dan WilliamsPlenty of spring and summer moistsure brought good quail habitatfor quail in southeastern New Mexico. Scaled quail are the mostcommon species, although hunters also can find bobwhite andGambel's quail.Better-than-average precipitationduring the spring and summerhas resulted in excellent doveand quail habitat. Some arearanchers have reported seeingseveral hatches of quail thisyear, especially scaled quail.Bird numbers should be good,with coveys scattered just abouteverywhere. The mild weatherSoutheast7
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Who's watching? - New Mexico Game and Fish

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