TAM

Last year I paid real close attention to my moon table that is programed into my Garmin GPS. Over 20 days of hunting in December and January and for the most part it was pretty accurate. There were a few times where the weather disrupted the pattern, but I was very impressed. I came home and did a little research on the different moon phases and basicly any time the moon is directly over head or under feet are the best times to hunt with the full moon and new moon being the best of the best. I guess it's a lot like the tide and the moon plays a huge role in that. I think a lot of folks don't realize that about 12 hours after the full moon is directly over your head it's now directly under your feet and that can be a very effective time to hunt. Pay attention next time your out and you never know what you might find! I'm not saying I live and die by it, but I usually plan my afternoon nap around it

This only applies to "maintained" roads. The regs point that for saftey reasons you shouldn't shood across "any" road, but the law only applies to maintained roads.

Welcome to the site Jed! And congrats on an awesome buck! It was a tough year for antelope in 10 but it paid off for you in a big way. How did things turn out for Ben?

After years of anxiously waiting my oldest son Kade finally turned 10, passed his hunters saftey, and drew a youth deer and javelina tag! We spent all summer practicing shooting rabbits and prarie dogs and by the time the hunt rolled around Kade could hit a 10 inch steel gong every time out to 600 yards. He was ready! The first weekend we went out with Blake Lanoue (Thanks Blake!) to an area we had scouted and after a little while behind the glass Blake spotted a herd of pigs on a point about a mile away. Since Kade had tags for both deer and javelina we hurried down after them. We were able to get less than 200 yards twice, but because of the steep angle and awkward shooting position Kade missed... twice! After a few days of rest Kade and I were at it again. This time we would haul all our gear in with us on the quad and plan on spending the night on the mountain so we wouldn't have to waste time traveling in the dark. Our first night back we glassed up 6 does and one real nice buck but with light fading fast and the buck being 3/4 of a mile away we would have to hope we could find him in the morning. As the light faded we packed our gear on the quad to go find a flat spot to camp. Just as I had everything put away and secured with tie-downs Kade spotted a deer about a hundred yards away moving towards us. I confirmed that it was a buck and hesitantly began un-strapping our gear so I could get to the gun case. I knew there was no way the buck would stick around long enough with the noise and movement to actually get a shot, but I had to try. As I was hurrying to get to the gun Kade kept telling me the buck was walking right towards us getting closer and closer. Finally the gun was out and as I was loading a round in the chamber Kade asked... "Why does he keep walking straight to us?" I just responded... "Because he's going home with us!" At that point the buck was less than a hundred yards away crossing the two track quad trail in front of us. The rifle was rested securely on the bi-pod, Kade had him in the scope and I gave Kade the go ahead... BOOM - THWACK! Kade ran the bullet perfectly into the point of the shoulder, through the lung, heart, and liver before exiting the other side. Kade had his first buck and his smile on his face says it all!!!

Well obviously the cartels got Tony and they are now using his identity to lure unsuspecting hunters down to Mexico with visions of pool side bikini babes so they can kill them as well. When is the insanity going to stop!!!

Kind of looks like it may be a father and son. Teaching your kid how to swipe other peoples stuff is always a great way to help them learn to be an ethical sportsman. POS is right!!!

Congratulations on a nice buck!!!

Congratulations to you and Levi... Great job!!!

Great job... congratulations on three nice bucks!!!

Congrats on a nice buck and an adventure to remember. Thanks for sharing!

Great job... That's a cool looking buck!!!

Great job... Congratulations!!!

Best of luck Tommy... I can't wait to hear the rest of the story!!!

J, the reason 70% of the tags go to NR's is because the land owners and outfitters have the G&F by the short hairs! The truth is the NR's don't even have a say as far as I know, so they're not even the real problem. I'm not arguing with you or ffdoc I am agreeing, just suggesting what I think is a stronger approach. Take the real issues which in my non-resident opinion are land owner tags and the outfitters pool and combine that with the hunters pent up emotions on the fairness of the current system and you have a winning combination that will put hunting back in the hands of the hunters and not behind the big money LO's and outfitters. However if you simply rely on the emotional side it's like going into a gun fight with with one bullet in your gun. I hope you guys do put the hunters back in the drivers seat. Even if it means fewer tags for me. I would much rather see the hunters behind the wheel than big money.

Fatfootdoc, no second guessing here! If you carefully re-read my comments you will see where right up front I say: "I have often said that it's too bad that I can draw an antelope tag so easily when there are many residents that have been applying for years and years without success." I've drawn 4 NM antelope tags, one unit 17 archery bull tag, and 2 Burro Mtn deer tags in 6 years of applying as a non-resident. I will be the first to admit that it seems wrong! All I am saying is that Mr. Munoz has brought up a fair question but in doing so it seems that he is basing his position off of the emotional side of the arguement (fairness in comparison with other states). I would like to see some of the other issues that I pointed out be considered as well. I am not against NM keeping more tags for residents. But I do think that there are more issues in play than just trying to keep up with the same percentage of resident tags as Arizona. At least look into the other issues that I pointed out about the quanity of game versus other states, the land owner issues, and the fact that Colorado has similar numbers of resident tags being issued as NM. Once all these issues have been considered if it is in the best interest of NM, Residents, G&F, and the wildlife then go for it! Get your 90% and sleep well knowing that you covered all your bases rather than a knee jerk recation based on an emotional arguement.

We'll be heading out tomorrow after school for my son's first deer hunt. As an added bonus he also drew one of the youth javelina tags for the same unit, so he's got two tags burning a hole in his pocket. He's not picky either, if it's legal it's getting shot. Good luck to all the kids!!!

I am a non resident to New Mexico and I have done very well in drawing tags there over the years. I have often said that it's too bad that I can draw an antelope tag so easily when there are many residents that have been applying for years and years without success. I think the knee-jerk reaction is yes of course the residents deserve more tags! However I think a little caution behind the motivation is in order. It seems that the reasoning behind Mr. Munoz idea is that if other states residents are getting more tags then so should the residents of NM. While this in fact may be true I think it's a dangerous road to travel. Every state is different, and each state has a limited resource to manage. On top of that each state has different management styles and objectives to maintain. I think there is a lot more to look at than just saying "all the other states have more resident tags available so I think we should too". Imagine what would happen if all the western states started competing with one another to see who could get the highest number of resident tags guaranteed its residents? Pretty soon non resident opportunities would go down the toilet. Also, Mr. Munoz is quick to point at Arizona "right across the border", but what about the northern border? Colorado seems to have a very effective game management plan which guarantees its residents fewer than 90% of the tags. Mr. Munoz also failed to include the fact that while AZ and NM may be neighbors they are VERY different when it comes to hunting opportunity! Arizona has no land owner tag program while New Mexico does. Arizona has twice the population and much fewer game animals than New Mexico. I think Mr. Munoz needs to look at the big picture and not just use the facts that benefit his idea to steer people into making a decision based on emotion. I'm not saying 90% is right or wrong. I'm just saying that there are a lot of other facts to consider. Sometimes it's not in my sons best interest for me to go buy him a new bike just because the neighbor kid down the street got a new bike. One way or the other this will be an interesting story to follow and I sincerely hope it plays out to the best possible benefit for the hunters and wildlife of New Mexico.

I do the same thing with my boys... only proplem is all the new cuss words they pick up from Dad after we see that our trail camera has been stolen I think it's a great idea and you never know what kind of memories you'll make out of it!!!

A couple years ago while hunting in Mexico I found 5 or 6 indian metate's on a ridge.

I don't know the answer to your question, but I think things are supposed to dry out by this weekend.

Now that my archery elk hunt is behind me I had some time yesterday to go do some scouting for my son Kade's first deer/javelina hunt. He drew the juniors tags and gets to hunt both deer and javelina in the same unit at the same time. Prior to Kade drawing for these hunts I had ZERO experience in this unit. The plan was to go and check our DLC Covert II trail camera which we had set out on a remote water tank back in August and hopefully have some time to hike in to a rim which over looks some lower benches and hopefully find some deer or pigs. After picking up the camera we had about a 3/4 mile hike to our glassing spot and as always if we're hiking we're looking for bone! We had only gone about 1/3 of a mile when we got our first glimpse of long white tines lying on the ground. I was a little surprised at the size of the antler for being in a non-trophy unit. After taking some pic's and marking the location on the GPS I told Kade that we didn't have time to look for the other side right now, but perhaps we'd match it up on the way to our glassing point. Well, sure enough not more than 80 yards away we caught another glimpse of antler tips sticking through the yellow grass. Sure enough we got lucky and after a few more pic's the other side was ours! After getting home and running a tape on them I came up with 180" using a 22" inside spread! Not bad for a couple of newbies to the unit And for what it's worth... our Covert II trail camera had over 150 video clips of critters coming to water including several nice bucks and lots of javelina. Looks like Kade won't be getting much sleep between now and his hunt on October 8th.

I'll say 112 pounds.

Congratulations on a fine looking antelope buck! I've killed 6 antelope now from Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona and that buck has by far the largest body I've ever seen on an an antelope. Did they all seem that large in the body or was yours just a fat boy? Sounds like the Bergers performed perfectly as well. Thanks for sharing!

No way I'd let someone else do it for me. First off, as already mentioned for about the same money a person could get their own reloading set up. Second, the experience of reloading makes me a better shot. Everything from tweaking the load to the field work. I'm just not willing to give that up. Perhaps a third reason is that I can smile just a little bit bigger after I shoot a nice animal because I know that on top of making the shot I loaded the cartridge as well. I think there are a lot of hunters that are just looking for that "magic bullet" that will make them a better shot. Having someone else load your ammo may make you a better shot for the short term, but in the long run you'll become much better if you load your own. Now with that said I'm sure there are many guys out there that would gladly pay for that kind of service. I'm just not one of them.

Looks GREAT.... Now sit back and enjoy him for the rest of your life!!!