Huting in Mexico
General Topic
My friends, I am a Mexican bowhunter, if anyone wants any info or tips to hunt in my country I will be glad to help you. I am not attached or represent any outfitter or ranch (I am a novelist, a screenwriter and a film director). I just want to be helpful to our community of bowhunters. Happy holidays to all of you.
Pretty cool! I did a lot of fishing in the sea of Cortez back in the day! What kind of hunting do you do! What’s it like hunting Mexico, not hunting the big high dollar ranches. Do you hunt public land? I’d love to hear some stories.
Cool, post up some pictures if you have some. What do you hunt?
Yep, lets see the critters!
Ok, you have my interest. Can I hunt without a guide/outfitter, is there a lot of public land, are licenses over the counter, are seasons/rules set by Federal, regional or local gov. Are there landowner tags or maybe best to hunt private for security and meat handling? Lot of questions but it is all foreign to me.
Went down to Mexico to fish in the Sea of Cortez. I asked where I could get a fishing license. They said "a what"?
Off topic but my dream is to paddle the Baja peninsula, Sea of Cortez.
Congratulations on your various nominations for Babel.
In Mexico there is basically no public land hunting for big game (there is for waterfowl, dove, whitewing doves, quail, etc.). Following the Spanish system, there are properties (private and communal) called UMA where supposedly biologists approve the management of the land. That doesn't means it has to be expensive. It depends on what kind of deer you're looking for. In some UMA you can buy a whitetail deer tag (the owners or managers of the UMA are the only ones that can sell those tags) for as little to 250. Nice bucks in the north of Mexico can be purchased for 500-600. Of course, the rate can go high up to 10,000 dollars or more depending in the facilities of the UMA (some even have landing strips, chefs, you know, the fancy stuff. Mule deer are more expensive and bighorn sheep is out of my league by far, at least 20 k). There is no problem bringing a bow into Mexico. It is considered a sports item, not an arm (the hassle with guns is unbelievable). So, a little research can help you suit your needs.
Ike, I hunt whitetail deer, mule deer, javelina, wild turkey, wild hogs and in some ranches, aoudad sheep and axis deer. The ranches I hunt are pretty big, around 12,000 acres. But I bought a small piece of land (250 acres, small considering the size of other properties), full of wild turkey and very nice deer. In January I will hunt it for the first time.
Marvin (StickFlicker) thank you very much.
Mexico is a big country what part of Mexico do you hunt?
Thanks for reaching offering help to us. Happy Holidays. PM sent.
No public land! I would expect one needs to know someone to hunt on private land for a less expensive hunt or hire an outfitter for a more expensive hunt. I hunted Coues deer 120 miles into the interior of Mexico on a private 40,000 acre cattle ranch, but went through an outfitter. The ranch offered Mule Deer hunting but the price of the hunt was WAY over my budget.
So how would someone from the States, find a less expensive Coues deer hunt on private property for $600 or less? Is there a list of these properties or do you have contacts?
There is no public land like we are used to in the USA.
I will try to explain the way I understand, but do not take my word on it!
Make sure if you go into Mexico to hunt that you understand what you are getting into! It is very confusing and the hunting laws change from year to year - sometimes significantly!
The tags that are good for export are issued to the landowners and they typically have to show what was paid for them and then have to pay the government for those tags. If they are issued export tags and do not use them and pay the government for those tags, the government can not issue export tags for the next season.
Typically, with an export tag, you can not bring any meat back and the skull cap or skull must be totally boiled out with no meat on it. Capes must be totally fleshed out, salted and dried. You will need paperwork in order before you go with US and Mexican customs. Have had hunters I was with get their trophies confiscated by US Customs when they claimed to have found a minute bit of flesh attached to a cape or rack.
There are also tags that do not allow export to the US and are much less but you cannot bring anything back. There is a lot of country that locals can hunt, but it is really limited to people that know people. If you know someone in Mexico with land, you can go down and hunt, but you can not legally bring anything back to the US that you shoot.
I have hunted in Mexico, Argentina and Peru. Their laws are much different than ours and import back to the USA without the right paperwork can get you in trouble in the US or the country you hunted in.
Be very, very careful about what you do In Central or South America!
I left a red stag in Argentina after more than a year of negotiating with Argentine exporters and them trying to get more to get the cape and rack out of the country than I paid for the hunt! Hell, and I lived in Peru at the time and could communicate in Spanish!
Mexico, Central America and South America have fabulous hunting opportunities for amazing animals in diverse environments with very wonderful people. Unfortunately, there are issues in many of these places with your basic safety and export of anything that you hunt can be a nightmare. I would love for it to be more like the USA for hunting, but unfortunately, it is definitely not.
It is worth the money to go with a reputable outfitter anytime you go to Latin America to hunt.
True story. My sis and I went to a bullfight in TJ when she was 18 and I was 16. The guys thought my sis was hot and gave each of us a skull cap with horns from two of the bulls they killed that day. We walked through the San Diego crossing with our gifts still dripping blood. No issues whatsoever a customs. I still have mine for decoration 20 years later! Ahhh different times!
Just got a text from Frank Noska who is headed down there this morning to hunt. He has been going down to hunt Mexico for many years.
A couple of items that he was saying were not correct or had changed since I was last down there.
You can bring your meat back, you just have to declare it on your import form with your cape and antlers.
Skulls or skull caps must be totally free of flesh or brain material.
Capes must not be salted and dried. If they are salted and dried and they cannot unfold it to check, USCS will confiscate it. There is a form that the hunter has to sign that says the cape has been frozen for at least 24 hours. No way for them to prove how long it was frozen. They will unfold the cape and inspect for ticks. If any ticks or tick parts are seen or fall off the cape, it will not be allowed into the US.
Some areas have a lot more ticks than others and mule deer always have a lot of ticks. If the deer had ticks, it may be better to leave the cape and get another one from Arizona for a mount.
An alternative is to use an expeditor and pay them to handle getting it back to you in the US - either mounted down there or the cape tanned and sent.
I have hunted Mexico a few times and love it. Beautiful country, good amount of game, great food, friendly people, and plenty of Tecate
Dan Wesson I usually hunt in Coahuila, close to the border with Del Rio and with Eagle Pass. I have also hunted in the central part of Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas. Coahuila is pretty safe and has unbelievable deer.
Paul Navarre, mule deer is quite expensive in Mexico, but doing the right research can get you good prices. In Coahuila, for example, a whitetail deer can go from 15,000 in a top ranch or as low as 500. And both, in the same region, so the quality is going to be very similar.
Huntcell, I hunt Rio Grande turkeys, but there are Goulds in Zacatecas, about 600 miles from the border. Treeline, you're right, the laws change often between Mexico and the USA regarding the import and export of the meat, the capes and the horns. In Mexico the laws have been more or less the same for the last five years.
I’ve always wanted to hunt Coues Deer in Mexico. Seems like the place for a good buck
Yes Ermine, it is. Sonora and Chihuahua have good chances to get a good one.
There are also Carmen Mountain deer just south of the big bend. Really neat country and neat deer. A lot like Coues. Some of the ranches are leased by outfitters but there are always available places if you have contacts.
Have you done any hunting in the south for brocket deer?
