By BEN NEARY
NMWF Conservation Director
ALBUQUERQUE _ Fifty years ago, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish released a handful of Persian ibex into the Florida Mountains — a wickedly steep pile of jagged rocks adorned with cactus and crawling with rattlesnakes that juts into the sky southeast of Deming.
Ibex, a type of wild goat native to harsh, dry areas of Asia and Africa, don’t need supplemental water beyond what they get from sparse vegetation. They have huge horns and an almost supernatural ability to climb steep terrain.
New Mexico game managers in the early 1970s were betting that the rugged qualities of ibex would make them a perfect fit for the utterly unforgiving country of the Florida Mountains. At its highest elevations, the mountains are too steep and barren to support deer.
The bet paid off; today the Floridas boast hundreds of ibex, the only wild population in North America. Hunters from around the country are applying in increasing numbers for the limited licenses to hunt them. While many seek to draw the once-in-a-lifetime rifle tags, a few hardy souls hunt them with a bow. And every year, most of those bowhunters fail to bring home the groceries.
Two veteran bowhunters who have succeeded in hunting wild, New Mexico ibex will talk about the challenges they faced and offer tips for success at the New Mexico Wildlife Federation’s upcoming Wildlife Wednesdays event in June.
Their talk will be livestreamed on Zoom starting at 5:30 p.m. June 10. To join the Zoom meeting, use this link. Meeting ID: 839 5276 0507, Password: 684663.
B.J. Trejo of Deming will be talking at the presentation. He has taken six ibex with a bow over the past 12 years. He says he knows of one other bowhunter who has taken four ibex, but no one who has taken as many as he has. Trejo is the son of NMWF Southern New Mexico Outreach Coordinator Ray Trejo.
“A lot of it is they’re in my backyard,” B.J. Trejo responded when asked why he hunts ibex. “And the challenge. The mountain is like none other. It takes a special person with not a lot of brains, I think, to get up there.”
Trejo said he regards hunting ibex in the Floridas as the pinnacle of bowhunting. “I’m not a world bowhunter, but I can’t imagine any other hunt that is as challenging,” he said. “And we’re fortunate enough to have it in our backyard. I think the challenge of it is just incredible. You just can’t imagine these animals. They’re the most cagey creatures around.”
Joining Trejo in the Wildlife Wednesday discussion will be Trevon Stoltzfus of Windsor, Colo. A producer of a television show about hunting, he’s bowhunted for ibex twice, at first unsuccessfully in 2014 and then, in 2016, he took one in the last 30 minutes of light on the last day.
“It’s a tough one with a bow, for sure. And that was a January hunt,” Stoltzfus said. “It’s probably the most difficult animal to kill with a bow in the lower 48 states. It’s the challenge.”
A short film about Stoltzfus showing the animals and terrain is available on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0EMurLQYKE&feature=youtu.be
Stoltzfus made films about both his hunts and they were featured on the Sportsman’s Channel. The first was called “The Rock, an Ibex Adventure.” the second, “The Return to the Rock, an Ibex Adventure Continues.” Stoltzfus said he expects his films will be available soon on Amazon Prime. In the meantime, he said they’re available for rent or purchase on Vimeo:
The Rock – An Ibex Adventure: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/therockanibexadventure
The Return to the Rock – An Ibex Adventure – Part 2: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/returntotherock
Trejo, a high school educator in Deming, said he doesn’t use technical climbing gear such as ropes and pitons to scale the Florida Mountains. He said he’s seen people have to do that to retrieve downed game.
“Fortunately, I’ve never had to get there,” Trejo said. “I’m smart about it in a sense, I think about it. If there’s a goat in a place where I think I won’t be able to recover him, I do not pull the trigger, release the arrow. Because I owe it to the animal to not do that, because there are some places where you could die very easily up there.”
A large male ibex, called a “billy,” weighs about 150 pounds live weight, Trejo said. He said he once carried a field-dressed billy off the mountain whole on his back.
Trejo didn’t draw an archery tag this year, but intends to go with his father on his archery hunt in October. He said he sees the popularity of ibex hunting rising, in large part because of videos celebrating how challenging it is.
“People come down here, and it’s a cool thing to do, and they get here and they last two days and they’re out of here,” Trejo said. “I’ve seen people come from all over the nation and there’s been times they don’t get out of the truck, and they never see them. One or two days and they’re headed home with their tail tucked between their legs.”
Both bow and rifle hunters can be beaten down by the unexpectedly steep, tough terrain, Trejo said. “I’ve seen rifle hunters who have drawn the once-in-a-lifetime rifle tag, and never gotten halfway up the mountain,” he said. “They’re just like, ‘this is too much, I’m out.’”
Asked why he chooses to make such a difficult hunt with a bow, Trejo responded, “How do I say this without sounding pompous or cocky or something along those lines? Again, for the challenge. I’ve become a pretty good bow hunter. I stopped rifle hunting years and years ago because I didn’t think it was very hard to go up and shoot a deer 400 yards away with a rifle. So I ventured on to do something else.”
Trejo also noted that hunters are limited to a single ibex rifle tag in their lifetime while bowhunters may apply every year. There are bow hunts in both October and January and Trejo said he prefers the October hunt because the days are longer and he can make stalks easier around his work schedule.
Trejo said he generally hunts alone, but sometimes with his father. He said his girlfriend has sometimes helped him by spotting animals from the base of the mountain.
Hunting ibex alone has its advantages, Trejo said. “There’s always eyes watching you,” he said. “One set of boots is better than two sets onfboots in my opinion.”
But Trejo said it can be an advantage to have a spotter on the ground level who can tell a hunter when a herd has moved. “I don’t know how many times I’ve stalked up there, got right over the cliff where I think they are, and they’ve vanished,” he said. “And 30 minutes into a three-hour stalk, they may have already left.”
Although the Florida Mountains are well known for its healthy rattlesnake population, Trejo said he hasn’t had any problems with them. “I grew up here,” he said. “I am cognizant as to where they live. I stay out of the arroyos in the middle of the day, I know not to walk on the shady side of the bushes. As much as I can, I respect them in that aspect. I’ve never had an issue with them, I know again some other person who publicized them said he killed like 30 snakes in one day. That’s outlandish and really false.”
Trejo said rattlesnakes give people a warning. “And we owe them their life for that, at least they’ve given us that. I have the utmost respect for that,” he said. “ And there’s no sense in killing them.”
Ibex eat a lot of oak brush and other greens and will even eat cactus, Trejo said. “They’ll eat just about anything that’s there, they’re like any goat,” he said. He said he’s seen them congregate in groups of up to 100 animals.
While ibex will lick water coming out of seeps between the rocks, Trejo said he’s never seen them come down to a tank like a deer would. “I do not believe that they need to drink water,” he said. “I think they get enough of it out of their diet, kind of like a barbary sheep does.”
The meat of an ibex is wonderful, Trejo said. “My top meat is going to be a Coues deer, second is going to be ibex. I have never, ever turned a nose at those,” he said.
Trejo was on the hunt with Stoltzfus when he killed his ibex. Trejo said he’s looking forward to the Wildlife Wednesdays talk. “I think it’s just a couple of people educated in the matter, educated and experienced,” he said. “It would be just fun to talk.”
Stoltzfus grew up in southern New Mexico and killed his first quail at the base of the Floridas when he was 12. His sister still lives in Deming. He said he looks forward to talking with Trejo.
“I figured we just talk about hunting Ibex generally on the Floridas,” he said.