Still a chance elk New Mexico
Elk
IMMEDIATE RELEASE, OCT. 16, 2015: Late-season archery elk licenses available online Oct. 28 SANTA FE –Two hundred seventy-five trophy bull elk archery hunting licenses will go on sale Wednesday, Oct. 28, first-come, first-served, on the Department of Game and Fish website, www.wildlife.state.nm.us. The sale will begin at 10 a.m. Oct. 28 and will be open only to New Mexico residents for the first 24 hours. Any remaining licenses will be available to nonresidents beginning at 10 a.m. Oct. 29. Only hunters who did not hold a 2015-2016 elk license are eligible to purchase the late- season licenses. The bag limit for the late-season hunts is one bull elk with antlers that have at least six points on one side.
Archery hunts, trophy bull elk (six-point antlers or more on one side): Unit 12: Nov. 21-25, 25 licenses. Unit 34: Dec. 19-23, 200 licenses. Unit 37: Dec, 5-9, 50 licenses.
200 tags in Unit 34??? What is the reason for these extra tags?
And to answer the forthcoming question, your odds of tagging a 6x on the unit 34 Dec hunt are a twitch above zero unless you live there.
Mid, it was to thin the herd. Now it's an opportunity hunt.
Special restrictions apply to elk harvested in unit 34. Please see page 79 of the New Mexico 2015-16 hunting rules and information booklet at www.wildlife.state.nm.us.
The Department makes late-season elk licenses available as biologists continue to assess annual population and harvest information, regional herd management objectives and additional harvest needs.
Resident willl take all of them
200 tags......only 10-15 bulls will hit the ground.
Revenue under the idea of population management
Well, the other thing it will accomplish is to save face with the ranchers who are bitching about having to cut cattle numbers on public land when there's "all these elk eating our grass."
These hunts have been available for years.
They sell out fast and due to the lag in when NR are eligible, none of these tags will be around by the time NR can try for them.
Extremely hard hunt, as it's for 6x (one side) bulls only, way, way, way after the rut. Historically something like 3% odds of success.
Among the other reasons stated above, it's an easy way for G&F to make $ by selling tags with virtually no animals killed.
I love it Elkmtngear! I thought the exact same thing when I read above!
LOL Jeff, that was the first thing that popped into my head when I opened this thread.
The dept is fleecing us as hunters. A six x six in late Dec. with a bow close to impossible.
I went last year and there is a ton of elk in 34, but a elk with six points on a antler in bow range, not to many.
The dept knows its easy $$ with little on no elk harvested.
Why would anyone apply and then hunt, well its your last chance to hunt elk in NM this season.
Oh and they will be rifle hunting cows the week before. In fact they are hunting constantly from the first of Sept. till end of Dec. the elk never get a break.
