Mexican Hunts
General Topic
With all of the increased turmoil going on between the US and Mexican border with illegals and the reporting of the drug cartels now in control of the crossing of illegals into the US and also in control of the Mexican border towns, what effect will this have any on US hunters going into Mexico to hunt deer, javelina and desert sheep? What will be the risk of cartel taking US hunters hostage and being held for ransom?
I for one would never cross that border. To many wonderful people here in the good old USA to give my money too.
I think you know the answer to that.
I've been to Mexico.... no thanks!!
Sounds like a lot of Fear Mongering.
Went to Mexico just fine, crossed the border just fine. I love the people there and the food! Lots of hard working folks. Glad if you don’t go, just less crowded for me.
Some of you guys need to turn off Fox news.
Absolutely None!! I just returned yesterday and am headed back down Next Friday.
Yeah, there are a lot of places in the US I would certainly think twice about going to before crossing into Mexico.
Was down there in January and never felt unsafe at all. I think you definitely need to be aware of your surroundings and don’t go looking for trouble, but it’s no where near as bad as the fear mongering that gets pushed.
None. The drug cartels have always been in charge of the Border, the difference is the President is doing their bidding now and forcing Border Patrol to be their Uber.
I wonder if you were in Mexico and set to be kidnapped if you would "feel" unsafe. I doubt you'd ever know it was fixing to happen until it did or that it almost went down and you never knew anything about it. I think to say it's "not going to happen" is being very naive.
I’ve been 3 times. Crossed in a vehicle twice and flew into HMO once. My wife went on 2 of those trips. We have never felt unsafe or seen anything that made us worry. I will likely be going back again this year, as a P&Y coues is still eluding me.
Your outfitter will know what is going on and be fluent in the happenings there. Trust them. They know where not to go.
I wouldn’t let fear or hype deter me from going to hunt somewhere new and enjoying a good time. If you’ve never been, you don’t know what you are missing.
I'd recommend you listen more to the advice of people who actually go down there to hunt each year, and less from those who only imagine what it's like.
Love Mexico. You do need to be careful down there though. It is a different country and you need to keep that in mind. If you are going with an outfitter, you will have no issues. It does help a lot if you speak the language...
I agree with Nick. Every single U.S. hunter should boycott Mexico. Then a few of us can hunt for half price.
I hunted Mexico in January and I will be fishing there in a few weeks. Like Stick pointed out, take advice from those with experience.
It offers what that you can’t find in the USA?
Love the people and the food. It’s the lawlessness that I don’t like. It’s bad enough that your insurance policy does not follow you into Mexico, excluded. It’s like insuring a burning building or a property in a flood plain. It’s not if something is going to happen, it’s when.
And I’m extremely happy to leave all the great hunting and fishing to those that choose to go. Good luck and stay safe!
The cartels have mostly always been in charge. And sadly, when the cartels are in charge and getting along with each other is when the Mexican border area is most stable. And while the news tries to make it sound like innocent citizens are being gunned down, almost all of the cartel violence is against others involved in the drug trade.
With that said I would never go hang out in a border town. I do feel safe enough to cross the border to hunt on a ranch away from town or go to somewhere like Baja to fish.
Bou’ bound,
Mexico offers amazing hunting and fishing opportunities, great people, and great food. If you have the money and/or connections, you can hunt high quality trophy animals like desert sheep without waiting forever on the hopes of someday drawing a limited tag. There are awesome freshwater and saltwater fishing opportunities that can be done very reasonably.
Additionally, it is a different country that you can drive into with opportunities to see and learn about a place with an increase history and amazing cultural blend that is far different from anything in the USA.
I do love Mexico. Wish I could spend a lot more time down there!
We went down last year after the families were gunned-down from the Mormon compound. The husbands were tied-in with the cartel, which is the reason this happened. They don't just take you out, they take your family out too. It's better for compliance to have that fear in the back of your mind.
As our outfitter said, there would be serious repercussions for someone who took out an innocent American. It would disrupt the cartel's flow of drugs across the border and cost them a lot of money. Therefore, don't screw with random, innocent Americans.
Mexico is great and I will go back. Sonora is a special place. The people, food, and culture are hard to beat.
My wife and I flew down to Hermosillo in January 2020 for a Coues’ deer hunt with Ward’s Outfitting. No difficulties whatsoever going and coming home.
It's safer in much of Mexico than it is in parts of Chicago and many other ghettos in the USA.
Ike, I agree wholeheartedly. Our go to family vacation spot is Mexico. Love the food, people and culture. I was in a much more dangerous Cleveland neighborhood the other day.
Stay away from drugs and use common sense and you will be just fine in old Mexico!
“It's safer in much of Mexico than it is in parts of Chicago and many other ghettos in the USA.”
Not hunting those places either!!
Mexico is as safe as anywhere else.........until it ain’t, and when it ain’t it can get really bad. I wouldn’t go there if they paid me. You guys that like it, knock yourselves out.
When is the last time you heard of a hunter getting kidnapped in Kino or Tiburon Island? I have gone there since I was a kid.
Actually not for the faint of heart. Probably should stay away!!
As said above, take advice from people that actually have experience there.
It’s risk vs reward for sure. Those acting like bad things don’t ever happen on these ranches or outside of the drug circles are naive or misleading. That said your odds are still great it won’t happen and the hunting sounds phenomenal. I’ll be going someday but to compare it to America crime stats is absurd.
Your odds of having bear problems in AK are way higher than Mexico problems- so you guys should stay away from Alaska as well!
The cartels control everything and somewhere along the line they are getting paid. Why would they ruin a good thing. See link.
Now Venezuela, you are on your own.
I was trying to remember any news story involving hunters being shot or kidnapped in Mexico.
I think I remember a grand total of 1 story within the last few years. I read about it on bow site. It started out something along the lines of an outfitter and client getting into a shootout with cartel or drug runners in the middle of the night. Then as more details came out I think it started sounded like the outfitter and clients ended up shooting at each other thinking some cartel guys were stacking them. Then the story kind of disappeared so not sure what really happened.
That’s the only incedent I can recall, and don’t know what really even happened on that one.
Bowhunt, if memory serves that was in New Mexico - not Mexico.
I have heard of one outfitter (second-hand information) who got killed in Mexico a decade or so ago during the act of having his shiny new truck stolen. A frat brother of my brother's was killed here in the state last year under even less avoidable circumstances.
I’d rather go to Mexico than Chicago.
Ok
That could be right. I just remember the initial story alluding to a shoot out with cartel drug runners on a ranch on the border.
Sounds like not much to worry about either way.
Bowhunt, I need to correct my comment above but the point stands in that the incident happened in TX. The guide involved was from New Mexico.
There was also a lot of speculation it had nothing to do with mexican cartels. There are some interesting comments by local law enforcement that are very relevant to this topic.
Well I’m heading down to the Yucatán on the 23 of April for a week. A friend has been down there 5 times and never had any issues. Stay out of cities except to fly in. I chose a flight from an airport that doesn’t go to Mexico City. It goes from San Diego to Houston and from there to Merida MX. I had a call last week from an outfitter here that books hunts into Turkey. The city they fly into is perfectly fine safety wise, Constantinople he said is another story. I would not drive into Mexico. I’ll check back in the first of may or you can read about me in the news if it goes south. Not concerned at all about safety. The Occelated Turkey will be shot with a shotgun. They are for me to mount. Arrows just tear the crap out of feathers.
Never been but, would definitely go there to hunt without a problem. Almost booked a Mule deer hunt there but chose an outfitter in Alberta instead.
