Question for NM hunters
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sticksnskullsia
New Member
bern0134
Member
tdcour
Veteran member
The only chance you will have is a land owner tag. Another option is to cross over into Texas for some. They are all in private land and may be expensive but I would imagine you could still find somewhere there as well.
Doe Nob
Very Active Member
Yea I hear u there. I have family land to hunt that's about 3.5 hrs from Clovis. That's going to be my whitetail hunting location. Any advice on getting landowner tags for mulies and pronghorns would be appreciated. I've excepted that I'll prob have to wait until next year for a chance at an elk.
tdcour
Veteran member
I can't really help you with any contacts as I am originally from the Lubbock TX area. I did have a cousin that grew up in Clovis but he didn't hunt much. So can't help you there either. I know there are a lot of dairy farms nearby. Maybe talking to some of the guys at some of those places could help. Maybe you could work your way into some hunting that way. They usually have lots of farm ground to go with the feed lots. That would be my first stop. By your username I would guess you are heading to Clovis to the air base? You can get a long way with people in that area trading work to hunt as long as you work your tail end off. Good luck!
The irony is that you're correct about me being military but LT is my first and middle initials haha. Yeah I think I'll be spending some time driving around to local farms to see if I can get permission to hunt private land.
Do you guys know if there are antelope or mulies in the units close to clovis?
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tdcour
Veteran member
I'm not positive on that one. I know there are some, but they can be few and far between. I think it really all depends where you are at, food, water, etc. Water is the main point. It is really dry around there, so I would focus on finding some water. How far away from Clovis are you looking to hunt? If it were me, I would be looking out towards Tucomcari (N and W of there as well) and Ruidoso. My uncle has shot some really nice bucks around Carlsbad, but they are hard to find as well. I would say your best bet is rifle hunting around Clovis. It is pretty open and fairly flat around that area if I remember right, but it has been several years since I have been through there.
I went to college at Hobbs, NM and we hunted dove and quail like it was going out of style. Never saw any antelope and saw some decent deer, but they were scarce... of course we weren't really looking for them either so maybe it wasn't that bad.
I went to college at Hobbs, NM and we hunted dove and quail like it was going out of style. Never saw any antelope and saw some decent deer, but they were scarce... of course we weren't really looking for them either so maybe it wasn't that bad.
Thanks for the detailed info. I guess I just need to see if I can get any private land permission in the Clovis area, assuming I can get an over the counter tag for a muley. I def won't mind driving that far, say 2-3 hrs for a big hunt but would love somewhere closer where I could run some cameras and make it easier to scout on a regular basis.
Doe Nob
Very Active Member
I've heard 33 and 31 can hold good mulies in the sandhills but you really have to get out and do a good amount of scouting. 34 used to be great for deer, but from what I understand, too many tags and elk competition has crippled the herd there. Kind of same story in 36.
bern0134
Member
No over the counter tags in NM. Everything is draw. You MIGHT get lucky and look on the NMDGF website for left over tags if you really want to hunt.
I was under the impression that the "open gate" program was for OTC tags from Walmart? Is this not the case for mule deer and it is for other species or is not the case at all??
tdcour
Veteran member
To my understanding all big game is through the draw in NM. When I went to school in NM we hunted birds a lot with a license from Wal-Mart, but I don't believe you can hunt big game without getting a tag through the draw. As far as the open gate thing, I'm not familiar with that.