Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game DIY Aoudad Hunt

Toby Joe,
You are correct, 110%. NMG&F need to pull that financial
d-doe' out of their rectum, sniff it, and maybe, just maybe, lick it for a taste test.
My problem is, I know what the state hired biologist know about the management of native species. I hope all those guy and gals have knee pads, for it is just a 'yes man's' game and they sold their souls for an income, rather then what they learned to be the truth. Helicopter gun the barbary, oryx and ibex, they are no different then feral pigs. And the real pigs are the one's makeing PR and DJ money back from non native species that compete severely with native species.

LNF150 I understand your side but, I had a blast chasing Ibex with a bow and my son and I have enjoyed hunting Oryx off range 3 times, it is a nice weekend get away to try and find a 30" Barbary so I totally disagree with your thinking but we all have an opinion.

LNF like I said I agree that The world would be a better place if we had Deserts in even half of their historic range. It's not impossible( AZ has done a good job) but in reality not gonna happen. Sounds Like you have some schooling, I also have the same degree as The black and blue guys. We all know introducing exotics is never good for an ecosystem, but(big but) in this case, might(big might) fill a niche that provides more opportunity(I hate that word) for hunters. The best thing for Deserts would have been to never have introduced the exotics, but even then they would still have to compete with the sheep ranchers, who typically have more clout in the political arena.
I also agree NMDGF usually have their Heads in their rears, but can you imagine the public outcry if they started arial gunning these animals. Santa Rosa Island is bad, this would be huge!

As far as lions and predator/prey relationships I have some problems with that. Like it or not WE have changed the ecosystem. Again in a perfect world there would be a balance but there is not. Get rid of the sheep and the already decimated deer herd(native) will take the brunt of it. That country down there is rough very little snow, it would take a bunch of good dry ground houndsmen(another dying breed) to really cut numbers. If you went in there and leg snared a bunch they'd be bichin that we're killing all the lions.

Any way you look at it, IT'S ALL F'ED!!!!!!!Might as well just enjoy the damned exotics!!!


Hope that didn't come off as argumantative or butt hurt. That's not how I meant it. I've enjoyed our "thought provoking conversation"!

NMDGF SUX!

SLM,
It actually is so cool to be able to hunt exotics on federal or private lands, just look at the ring neck pheasant or hungarian partridge. Yet we want the priviledge of hunting the prey, with out having to compete with the natural predators (who might actually run us down). If we are going to have oryx and barbary sheep, should we not import lions and hyenas to keep the pop. in check. Pants Crapping Terror! Or could 'we' all as paying 'wildlife managers' do it ourselves? Doubtfull. It takes a state game agency to expand a non native crop, for federal PR & DJ monies. Look at the eurasian dove...NM has a hunting season on them...why? Because it means money in to coffers of worthless biological supervisors at the state level, when it should be a shoot to kill order. AZ does it, why don't we? If aoudads impact native desert sheep or eurasian dove impact morning doves or english house sparrows impact native song birds, when do we take a stand...or do we?
Personally, I would rather my wife pull a 'last of the mohicans' shot on a wild bull elk, then have to pay $100.00 for a state run can hunt. And that is all NM has become is an exotic game ranch. Plus, how much do ibex, orxy and aoudads eat, your not paying for the grazing rights, nor are they overhauling grass on your back 40 that your cows could me chewing on. It's the ecomonics of ecology and what this land will support. Native hebivores, yes. Non Natives, No.

Simple question from a non sheep hunter. Does the desert bighorn survive, multiply and endure as good as the Auodads? It seems like Auodads are like our feral hogs. Unstoppable.

stumpy

Fortunately, their habitat preferences keep them pretty well confined to really rough country when they have a choice.

When I was in graduate school, I looked at a place in Central Texas that had introduced aoudads. The fellow had a section (640 acres) that was high-fenced so that the animals could not escape. He was charging for hunts. In the six years since he had released the aoudads, their numbers had tripled. Despite year-round hunting, only one animal had been harvested. This was a brushy, rocky section of land, and the aoudads knew every inch of it.

His whitetail numbers had dropped to almost nothing and the three axis deer that he had released along with the aoudads had vanished. He ended up paying a friend of mine to trap them all--an effort that took almost two years. The owner sold the live-trapped animals, but with the cost of trapping he just barely broke even.

+1

Lefthunter,

I'm curious as to how you did finding an OTC tag and whether you had success on your hunt?

The main carrier for disease for Bighorns are domestic sheep not exotics. One Texas Bighorn was headed for the Guadalupes all by himself.

If you hunt Oryx or Aoudads hard enough they move. I've seen this in Texas and Namibia.

Hope there are both OTC exotic permits and more sheep restoration efforts in the future.

While it wasn't public land, I had an awesome time in Texas a few years ago. I was very fortunate to shoot a pretty good ram, also. Free ranging south of Balmorhea.

huntem

That's a very nice aoudad, & a great picture too! I shot a decent ram just south of there near Alpine a few years ago.

After chasing them through the desert mountains for 5 days I realized it wouldn't take much to turn me into a sheep addict.

Huntem,

That is a REALLY nice aoudad man! Thanks for sharing the picture!

What'd you shoot him with? What was the range of the shot? How was the experience of the hunt?

I've wanted to hunt these for a while now. I think I may have to fund a trip for myself and one of my sons before too long.

Yep. that's a dandy for free ranging. nice going.

I'm witth LNF and a couple others here.

NEW MEXICO IS [bleep] STUPID for making aoudads a draw requirement. Its a friggin exotic, non-native species that DIDN'T BELONG THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

I've killed several aoudads in the Big Bend area, they are very challenging to hunt and make a fine mount, but they are starting to compete heavily with the mule deer in our area, they eat all the same things in our area and the mule deer population has suffered because of them.

All I'm saying is the aoudads are there(NM), thats fine. But you should be able to shoot them any time of year without a tag, period, just like Texas.

In Texas you can shoot them anytime just like any varmint or exotic and their populations are still increasing.

Bill

You know of any places wanting to get rid of them that aren't charging large fees to shoot them? I'd love to get one, but am having a hard time swallowing the price tag on some of the hunts I've found.

pointer,

The problem now is the TV hunting shows and folks that have hunted them have figured they are a challenging hunt that typically takes place in very pretty country.

So now outfitters and ranches have figured out they can make big bucks off them.

I'm not putting down the outifitters or ranches, they are just trying to make a living, if something new comes along they can supplement their income with, thats just business.

The problem I see is now they are protected more in some areas because of $$ than they should be at the sacrafice of the native species.

The ranches that don't outfit have gone to helicopter gunning for them.

Bill

"It is NMDGF policy to eliminate aoudads that occur in bighorn sheep habitat." This comes directly from the official state NM desert bighorn recovery program. pg. 40

http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/documents/everythingfinalBighornSheepPlan.pdf

Yet, if that is our goal, why would you have a draw for aoudad hunting with very high prices attached to the tags??? An aoudad tag should cost $20-30 dollars over the counter at walmart, if your honest goal is to eliminate them from New Mexico desert bighorn sheep range.

That's a stud huntem.......Congrats!

I'm totally with you; the fact of the matter is that governments are very short on monies right now and will do whatever it takes to raise funds, including violating the express will of their own science-based policies.

There is nothing that the gov't can't politicize if there is enough money in it for them. You gotta believe that there are wildlife management areas all over wishing that wild hogs were more desireable to sportsmen so they could take full advantage of that invasive.

The thing that tips the scale and pisses me off every single time are the blantant lies being told over pitman/robertson money. The NMDGF wrote that 10 yr action plan to get the p/r money to fund the reintroduction program, with the huge cavat that barbaries would be killed to the extreme in the home ranges of the desert bighorn. So in the time I have been here, the over the counter tag went to an expensive draw and that will not live up to the promised plan.

I know time in our daily lives is precious, so reading that whole 60+ pages of desert bighorn reintro management into NM is boring at best. But, all I ask is to look at the contridictions. This federal money was paid for by everyone on the 24 hour site for on purpose and one purpose only, returning desert bighorns to there home. And you were told a flat lie by the new mexico game and fish that they would clear out the best habitat for desert bighorn sheep...Bull Schitt they did not. All they did was charge higher prices for aoudad tags and make the tags a draw.

Not, you, me or anyone can set back down an aoudad population under those guidelines.

I just hope whoever wrote or thought up that desert bighorn reintro plan goes to jail for diverting federal wildlife funds. Because that plan is a 10 year lie on how to support aoudads and not desert bighorns.