NM changes to Bear, Cougar regulations

[Conejos]

I will be attending one of the discussion meetings with NM game and fish tonight. I was wondering if all you NM houndsmen would like to post your concerns, questions, or sugestions here and I can print out this page and take it to the meeting and give it to the game and fish. This might be a good way for more of us to be heard. So if any of you want just post here and adress your comments to the nmdgf concerning proposed rule changes to bear and lion hunting.

[Big Mike]

Everyone can send in there own comments to the Email address listed at the meetings. You can also find the email address on NM G$F website. Email address is
nmdept.ofgameandfish@state.nm.us

I encorage everyone to send in there comments, dont just send it once flood them with comments.

Whats has been everyone's opinions of the meetings so far??

I like it until they said the spring seasons wouldnt allow dogs, thats BullSh!t.

I sent in to extend the length of lions seasons to Sept 1 thru May 31 or leave them open as long as the quotas arnt filled. I also voted no for spring seasons if hounds are not going to be allowed

[Mike Leonard]

Big Mike funny how the perspective changes once you see it for what it is and how it will impact you.

I will give comment both written and they will hear from me tonight. I will tell them BS on their no hounds crap as well.

[Big Mike]

Your right about that Mike.

Still like the overalls changes just not the BS with the spring hunts.

[bency]

Big Mike...add me to your idea, I like that one.

[Mike Leonard]

Well I went to the meeting last night and you can scratch hound for the spring hunt. They are so smart they know excactly when the boars come out and when the sows come out so the only bears that will get shot are boars becasue all the sows will still be sleeping. They don't want them barking dogs to wake up the sows prematurely. LOL!


Oh Big Mike by the way they don't want to raise the quota in my area from 27 to 43. They want to raise it to 73!

When challenged on their justifiication they just had a blank look at said that is what the statisics show. they were asked had the past quota been reached? They said Uh Well Er ah? they killed enough females to close it down. Dumb! Dumb! Dumb! 8 lions total 2 males and 6 females where taken in there last year and they closed it down now threy want toraise it to 73 total lions with 22 females. NUTS!!!!

[Big Mike]

Whoa 73 is out of hand. Looking at the matrix I cant see how they come up with that number and still call the population stable. Our zone here has roughly the same habitat km's and the quota is 36 and 11. 73 is going to knock the hell out your population!

[Mike Leonard]

It is already in the tank but allowing them to just keep pecking off those females that wander in from the Jic. and Ute during the snow months will not only further deteriorate what little breeding population there is in units 2 and 7 but also will impact the cougars of the Jicarilla Apache and the Southern Ute Nation.

The road boys can just keep driving around or making car meets with other hunters who can bring them a cat to tag from another area that is closed or that they don't want to close completely. Very muddy waters!

[nmplott]

you began to wonder if they tank the population so low as to put it off limits for a long time and then you know how hard it is to regain the ability to hunt em. Even when the populations rebound as the wolves did it took forever to get the ability to hunt it.

[Big Mike]

I think those quotas are so high in most units they will never be reached, it will be just like it use to be before the quota system started.

[Mike Leonard]

Big Mike,

They stated that with about 330 lions hitting the ground in NM each year now they would like to see about 600 hit the ground. But if you go back and average out say the last three years before the quota system was put in place I think you will find there was less that 300 taken per year. You I am sure can get this from Santa Fe I use to keep it all the time. So what impact will this have? Well I think in the bulk of the areas south of Interstate 40 almost none, but north of that line I think it will just allow more time to peck away at the breeding population that is fair in the central to easter side of the state and weak in the NW portion of public hunting areas of the state.


What would be your estimate of the lions killed in New Mexico yearly that are never reported?

[Big Mike]

I agree it could have some big effects on the northern lion population, but that is kind of the intent.

I feel Number of lions not reported or illegally killed is very small. Mainly because it is so easy to say a lion was killed on private land and report it so its not illegal whether it was really killed there or not. I feel the overall number reported killed is pretty accurate give or take a few. Most ranchers even report lions they kill.

Now the numbers killed and reported in the correct zones, i think there is quite a bit of fibbing going on there

[Mike Leonard]

Yes that is their intent clearly in the northern zones. By doing the numbers they feel there are 300 harvesable lions in CMZ A. And that around 100 of those harvestable lions are harvestable females. This equated to their 25% -30% numbers. 300 lions is a lot of lions in that area. Just imagine a herd of 300 deer or antelope and then scatter them in the lion habitat that is in that zone. Well you would have ungulates running over you in every canyon and on every mesa. But lions they say are so sneaky they are there you just can't see them. Yes they are sneakier than deer or antelope but the fact is that lions do make tracks and 300 lions would make unreal amounts of tracks in that range. The tracks ain't there because the lions ain't there. It all smoke and mirrors and no substitive data to base it on. After listening to that the other night and watching them present their agenda without care or even respect I now am more convinced than ever the paid flunkies that run the state game department are completly politcal and it's all about the money.And they are hoping to put a lock on this for the next 4 years before the administration at the jolly roundhouse in Santa Fe is shook up and changed and Slick Billy is off to pardon another murdering outlaw.

[Big Mike]

These numbers arnt set in stone yet. Be interesting to see what gets passed.