By BEN NEARY
NMWF Conservation Director
The New Mexico State Game Commission took action Friday to try to encourage the state Legislature and others to reconcile conflicts between two provisions of state law that govern requirements on how the state issues bighorn sheep licenses.
The commission also rejected a separate proposal to set aside 500 cow elk tags in the resident draw pool for hunters who have reached the age of 70. The commission met Friday in Gallup.
The commission voted unanimously to continue the state’s current system of allocating bighorn sheep tags for only two years. Staff biologists with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish had recommended the commission adopt a four-year rule.
Commissioner Tirzio Lopez suggested cutting the duration of the rule to encourage public and legislative action to resolve conflicts in the governing laws.
The New Mexico Wildlife Federation and other groups have protested the draft bighorn plan that game department biologists released early this year. It called for continuing the practice that’s been in place since 2014 of lumping all Rocky Mountain ram tags into one hunt code, all Rocky Mountain ewe tags into a second hunt code and all desert ram tags into a third hunt code.
Lumping all the sheep tags together allows the state to give sheep licenses to hunters who retain an outfitter prior to submitting their license applications as well as to nonresident hunters.
Without lumping the tags together, those two groups would be ineligible to draw tags under the state’s quota law, which specifies that state residents must receive a minimum of 84 percent of the tags for each hunt.
The NMWF has criticized the current bighorn license system, pointing out that by lumping all the tags together under single hunt codes, the commission effectively has ignored the state law definition of “hunt code.” The law says a hunt code must specify the species, weapon type and time frame for a specific hunt. The bighorn and desert ram hunts are spread out over several months and many are hundreds of miles apart.
The NMWF has called for increased resident sheep hunting opportunities and supports legislative action to reconcile conflicts in the state statutes.
The New Mexico Wild Sheep Foundation and other groups support continuing the current approach of lumping all the sheep tags into single hunt codes. Group representatives and others have said that nonresidents have contributed much to sheep recovery efforts in the state and should not see their chances of hunting in the state diminished.
By approving the bighorn rule for only two years, Lopez said he hopes to encourage interested groups and individuals to work out their differences. He said he was not trying to force the Legislature to act, but said, “our leaders in Santa Fe need to look at this.”
Stewart Liley, game department biologist, told commissioners that it appears the state will be able to conduct a bighorn hunt in the Jemez starting in 2024. The state relocated sheep into the area several years ago and the population has grown.
On the elk issue, Commissioner Roberta Salazar-Henry proposed setting aside 500 cow elk licenses in the general draw for hunters who have reached the age of 70.
“I, for one, appreciate how much our older hunters want to stay in the game,” Salazar-Henry said. She emphasized that her proposal wouldn’t reduce the number of tags already earmarked for youth.
Commissioner Lopez said he agreed with the proposal. He said many older hunters may not have many more chances to get out in the field with their relatives. He said younger hunters generally will have more time left to apply for tags.
Jesse Deubel, executive director of the NMWF, spoke against the proposal.
“I don’t see providing a pool of tags for seniors as reactivation,” Deubel said. “These are seniors who already desperately want to hunt. We certainly want to retain them, but we want to retain all adult hunters of all ages. It’s my belief that all adult hunters of all ages should have an equal opportunity at this lottery draw.”
Albuquerque hunter Brandon Wynn also spoke against the idea. Now in his 60s, he said he and others in his age group lived through times in New Mexico when it was much easier to draw tags.
“When you do a carve-out and you do this for the seniors, you’re only taking it from everybody else,” Wynn said.
Salazar Henry and Lopez voted in favor of setting aside the tags for seniors. Commission Chair Sharon Salazar Hickey, Vice Chair Deanna Archuleta and Commissioner Gregg Fulfer voted against it.
The game commission is set to take final action on the elk rule at its October meeting.