Kilimanjaro Report post Posted August 16, 2006 Just passing some time and thought I'd pick some brains here on CWT.. Have any of you guys ever drawn an Ibex tag in NM?? OR, helped someone on a hunt who did have a tag?? Would you even consider the hunt a "must do" in your book, or a hunt that just doesn't do it for you... I think I've read every peice of info there is to be found on this hunt.. And looked at every photo that has ever been published or put out. There just isn't much info out there on this hunt. I do believe this hunt has got to be my number one dream hunt here in the States to draw.. Awesome mountain range (Florida range) that the hunt takes place in, and an even more unbelievable animal that you are getting to match wits with. Just about the baddest Mothers that call the mountains home.. These goats seem to defy gravity.. They are unreal. I put in every year... and get the boot every year! But one of these days I'll get that tag and then I'll be looking for one of these bad boyz thru my 15's.. What a game animal!!! What do you guys think? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WFGinNM Report post Posted August 16, 2006 Scotty, I hunted Ibex about 8 years ago with muzzleloader. I would say it was probably one of my favorite hunts. I did not get one but I was being very selective, had numerous nannies and immature billies within 100 yards. I actually had more fun videoing and glassing them, the way they run through the cliffs is amazing. It was like hunting pronghorns in the cliffs. One of the major distractions we had was the number of illegals roaming around the foothills of the mountains (and our camp). I had no idea what I was doing on that hunt although I did do some scouting before the season, I was under glassed with my nikon 10X42's but it wasn't to bad one you found the Ibex. I did have one stalk which I was about 200 yards from 2 nice white billies bedded and all the sudden I heard a radio. Turns out a hunter was being guided by his guide over the radio. I just hung back and watched this guy try to walk right up to them and get busted, frustrating but life. I live in north central NM so it's quite a haul down southwest to hunt, I'll be trying again to get a tag after I go to Alaska next year ('07). My son will be 14 then and be able to make his way around the mountains then as well have to start putting him in for the youth hunts. It is an awesome hunt and I wish they were inhabiting the Tres Hermanas range still. A few folks I've talked to said there was a pretty good population awhile back but with the game managment the way is was they were wiped out, as was planned. I'm going to have to go home soon and watch the video I taped, I've got Ibex on the brain. Later, --Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Report post Posted August 16, 2006 I'm with you Scotty, have the desire but can't draw the tag. Since the mountains are only an hour away from home, I get to watch the goats occasionally. They are amazing animals! Kevin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy Report post Posted August 16, 2006 My dad hunted them when back in the mid to late 80's. They had the hunt set up to were you went in and killed 2 females or young ones, sorry I don't know the proper names. Then if you got your two tags filled you got to go on a trophy hunt later and go for a big one. He killed 2 small ones and went back on the trophy hunt but was holding out because of course during the first hunt he saw a huge one. I will have to look in the old photo albums and see if I can find the pics. I will also talk to my dad and make sure I explained the hunt corectly. They definately don't do the hunt that way now. I do know that you can get an over the counter tag and hunt them year round as long as you aren't in the Floridas, at least it was like that about 3 years ago, but I don't know if there are any populations out there other than the floridas. I would suggest talking to ranchers in the area. Also, Kevin, what do you do in LC. I was born and raised there. Graduated from Mayfield and NMSU. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hunter4life Report post Posted August 16, 2006 My dad and grandpa both hunted them with muzzleloaders in the late 80's or early 90's, I can't quite remember when. Back in those days they wanted to cut down the numbers of ibex and they had to shoot two nannies or young ones and once they shot those they could shoot a trophy. My dad shot his two to qualify and then got a pretty nice billy that was about 38". He did all this with a Hawken with iron sights, not even a peep. My grandpa only got one young one and didn't get to go after a big one. The game department in their infinite wisdom kept shooting all of the nannies and young ones and the numbers eventually plummeted until there were hardly any left. With the healthy mt. lion population the numbers stayed pretty low for quite awhile, but in the last few years the ibex seem like they have bounced back. I had a friend with a muzzleloader tag who got one about 3 or 4 years ago that was close to 40 inches. I was too young to hunt them back in the good days when there were quite a few tags and it was actually possible to draw a tag. I have put in for years and never drawn a tag. This hunt is definitely one of the hunts in North America that I would like to do. One of the great things about NM is that we have some really neat exotics like aoudad, ibex, and oryx that are totally free-ranging and are huntable on public land. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DEERSLAM Report post Posted August 16, 2006 I'd love to do that hunt but have not been able to draw a tag, big shocker huh. Awesome animals for sure. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Report post Posted August 17, 2006 Andy, I work for the University. Kevin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kilimanjaro Report post Posted August 18, 2006 WFGinNM, cool story... I know whatcha mean about having those goats on the brain.. awesome animals, aren't they?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
