Senate bill 196

SB 196, in a final compromise, reduced the number of nonresident licenses to 6 percent without an outfitter requirement and what could be 10 percent required to use an outfitter. But this latest legislation made a major change in the drawing for those who intend to use outfitter services.

"Both resident and nonresident applicants will be competing against each other for these licenses," said Martin Frentzel, public information chief for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.

The new law actually reads: "Beginning with the licenses issued from a special drawing for a hunt code that commences on or after April 1, 2012: (1) licenses shall be issued as follows:

"(a) Ten percent of the licenses to be drawn by nonresidents AND residents who will be contracted with a New Mexico outfitter PRIOR to application; and (b) six percent of the licenses to be drawn by nonresidents who are not required to be contracted with an outfitter; and (2) a minimum of 84 percent of the licenses shall be issued to residents of New Mexico."

http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2011/jun/11/nm-law-to-affect-hunters/

Knew this was coming. It could have been a lot worse and its likely to get worse.

I drew unit 53 bull elk this year Looks like I'll enter the Colorado draw from here on out.

to heck with them i think texas should do the same thing to non resident hunters to,Its bull crap how all those other states put all them regs on us.They charge out the nose anyway so should we.

I believe right now it's 22 percent total to non residents. Divided down to 12 percent using guides and 10 percent not using guides. Now NM is cutting back to 16 percent total non residents? This will hurt for sure on draw results. I don't like it but that is their right to do so. I've talked to several NM residents who often complain they have not drawn an elk or mule deer tag in a prime unit for years. Time for me to start spreading out to other state draw hunts. Hunting continues to become more and more expensive. Oh well.

I think things have been changing everywhere over the years and it encourages illegal hunting especially when there aren't enough resources to police these areas. All this discourages good hunters.

I'm not going to lie and say I haven't popped a few animals on my NM property that backs up to Lincoln Forrest.

This was my last year to apply for New Mexico for the regular drawings b/c of the new changes. I could deal with the NR % decrease but I am not going to pay $65 to apply that is non refundable if you do not get drawn. There are too many other states with as good or better hunting that are far superior in how they handle the draw process.

Prohunter2011: You are exactly right. Texas should start making Nonresidents have to purchase a license to apply for Texas draw hunts. Make most of it refundable if you dont get drawn but do something.

Fewer non-residents means less money in the bank for NMGFD. Once they figure that out, it will change again! Big difference between $780 bull elk tag and a $60 bull elk tag.

jdickey..you got that right. Once they see the drop in revenue from nonresident hunters......it will change......albeit very slowly I'm sure.

I was thinking the same thing. I pay $270 for a standard deer license while residents pay $30..I figured they would want more NR hunting in their state..So they have to sell 9 Resident tags to equal 1 Non-Resident tag..

Yeah but if you read the study that NMGF put out for the legislators, they think they will make up for it with the $65 license fee to out of state hunters. What they aren't counting on is the number of hunters that will not apply specifically because of the effects of this new law.

As an aside, I wouldn't mind the reduction in tag percentages to non-residents or even the $65 non-refundable license fee IF THEY HAD A SOLID BONUS OR PREFERENCE POINT SYSTEM. They don't have one at all. So all I'm doing if I apply there is donating $65 each year to NMGF. Not worth it anymore. I'd rather put in for other states that actually WANT non-resident hunters. If I don't draw, I'll buy land owner tags. With the new regulations in New Mexico, that would be a more economical option in the long run anyway

"What they aren't counting on"

I don't think they really care. Military, SASS shooters,Off roaders, campers, hikers, tourist, and snow skiers account for far more revenue then the pittely hunters. As do Texans with vacation property used for non-huntin purposes.

The New Mexico hunters were the winners. Now the locals have a better chance of being drawn.

You got it. I lived there. They could care less if a single Texan or for that matter anybody from out of state EVER comes.

I know there are five military bases in New Mexico, one which doesn't exist, and an unholy amount of Federal land. With that much revenue from federal funds, I'd love to see GI's, Vets, and Federal employees get first shot. I think the Native Americans should only be allowed to hunt on their reserve.

The state ultimately knows that the hunting revenues will depend upon resident hunters. Texas will get the message too eventually. God help the big landowners in the process.

The other issue is that unless they increase the allotments for the elk tags, they will not be able to make up that huge difference in the fees. IMO, if the State does try to make up that gap, that puts undue hunting pressure across the entire state. More hunters, more kills - more kills, less game animals! So....who is the real winner.....NOBODY!

You're fooling yourself. The state won't miss a heartbeat on revenues.

The state will most certainly miss the revenue on the elk apps! If they are planning on banking the $65 non-refundable hunting license, that's still a far cry from a non-res bull elk fee! They've converted a majority of the bull elk tags to HD-Q, which means nearly all the non-res bull elk tags are $780.00. The state will maintain the same allocation of tags, therefore a 6% reduction in those non-resident tags will still leave a big void in their bank account! Plus the additional cost of having to refund all those tag fees to non-res who did not get drawn.

Guess everyone should know by this time next year!

Hahahahaha.... Politicians want to continue to be politicians. They are willing to trade a puny loss of revenue for votes (puny compared to other revenue streams in the state). And they will make that no-brainer decision 100% of the time. Animals, fairness, etc. don't figure into it. NM residents vote in NM, others do not.

The businesses will also suffer. I've spoke to a few who did not want to see the decrease because the locals spend a heck of a lot less than non-residents. The store owners look forward to us coming in every year. Alot of the residents were complaining because they have not got drawn for a HD tag. As for myself, I could cared less and go for the hunt itself and being with family and friends. I'm not sure if I'll put in for it next year or not. Makes it hard when you give them the money up front and they keep it, interest free until the drawing. When you have several states that do this, it makes it hard the balance the budget.

They're just losing out on possible revenue by doing this

Not a chance. They won't lose a cent and if they do the amount is so low they could care less. They'll raise the fees on out of state hunters or apply a surcharge to landowner tags filled by out of state hunters. There will always be somebody willing to pay and if not that's fine by them. I lived there and if no one came from out of state that would make the majority of the hunters there thrilled to death. You're fooling yourself is you think the revenue issue will bother them a bit. The state will dust off a gas well and make it up in a week. It's not like Texas where a hunter sitout would cripple local economies.

A 6% reduction in state hunting revenue will most certainly affect NMGFD revenue. Not to mention the reduction in revenue to the retail merchants! That's where the real outcry will happen! When non-res hunting fess are twice or ten times the amount residents pay, that money will not be replaced by this new method. There will also be a decline in non-res applications because of the upfront nonrefundable license fee and application fee. Then of course, fewer non-res being drawn. Fewer out of state hunters means retail merchants will not be getting the motels filled, cafe dinners reduced, gasoline, reduced supplies....and so on!

Like I stated earlier....if the state does not increase the allotment of ALL tags, not just elk, their revenues will go down. A non-res bull elk tag is $780, that means at least 13 resident tags must be issued to offset that difference. Oryx tag is $1600 = 27 resident tags. Will the state increase it's tag allotments on all the species? They will have to in order make up the deficit. More tags, more hunters....more hunters kill more game....more game killed, less game to hunt!

We'll see come next fall!

Like I said earlier they don't care and like someone else said NM hunters vote in NM. During a special session of the legislature they couldn't get a quorum because it was during the hunting season. They would be more than happy to make it up in any other way and if that didn't happen then tough. When I lived there I felt the same way and wished I'd never see another out of state hunter ever again. In state hunting is so cheap compared to Texas that the state residents would by a huge majority make it for the exclusive use of in state residents. Any politician voting any other way might as well declare himself a card carrying member of NAMBLA and the Communist Party.