Mule Deer Fanatic

The Deadline is March 20, 2024

In the New Mexico town of Ruidoso. in May 2011, a mountain lion refused to be frightened away from a school yard. The New Mexico Game and Fish decided to kill the lion instead of taking chances. It is bad PR when the cats kill and eat school children. Everyone knows they are not supposed to do that. They only eat mule deer and not enough of those to do any permanent harm.

On March 24, New Mexico sent out a letter, informing hunters of a change in the application date. I’m sure many hunters were caught unaware. I was, and I apologize to you, the subscribers. The new date was March 28 and is now past. We will watch this a little closer next year. Better Luck Next Year.

New Mexico claims they moved the date forward to allow hunters to take advantage of the lower license costs, since April 1 (April Fools Day) begins the 2011 licence year. Fees are $290 and $375 for standard and quality tags, respectively.  These fees do not include the Habitat stamp. Anyone applying for any public draw deer license, must pay the full license fee plus the nonrefundable application fee when applying. Unsuccessful applicants will receive refunds for the license fee. The new nonrefundable application fees are $20 for nonresidents.

The Mule Deer drawing is subject to a quota system.  78 percent of the licenses go to New Mexico residents, 12 percent to nonresidents who’ve contracted with an outfitter and 10 percent to nonresidents who have not contracted with an outfitter .

Note that it is necessary to have reported your harvest for the prior year or your application gets rejected. This is a sign of things to come.

Utah                  March 3

Wyoming           March 15

New Mexico     March 28

Colorado           April 6

Nevada              April 18

Kansas              April 29

Oregon              May 15

Washington       May 26

California           June 1

Montana           June 1

Idaho                June 5

Arizona             June 8

South Dakota    July 23

Starting January 5, you may apply for hunts in New Mexico. Good Luck

See the States tab for more info.

The full fee is required up front and there is a non-refundable $27 non-resident application fee. Cost for a standard deer hunt is $270, and for a quality hunt – $355.

Click NEW MEXICO APPLICATION to apply.

APPLICATION DEADLINE EXTENDED TO APRIL 17 FOR BIG-GAME LICENSES, PERMITS SANTA FE

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The Department of Game and Fish has extended the deadline to apply for big-game licenses and permits to Friday, April 17, in response to delays caused by extreme pressure on the agency’s telephones and computer server.

Many customers who waited until the last few days before the original April 8 deadline were not able to connect by computer to obtain a new Customer Identification Number. The number is required this year for everyone applying for licenses and permits. The free numbers only can be obtained online or at a Department office in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Raton, Roswell or Las Cruces. Two days before the original deadline the Department Web site recorded more than 1.6 million hits, almost three times the daily average.

Department office telephone lines also were deluged with calls about the Customer ID Number, forgotten passwords and other questions.

The Department is expecting to receive more than 150,000 applications for about 50,000 available licenses and permits for deer, elk, antelope, javelina, ibex, Barbary sheep and bighorn sheep.

Online applications must be received by 5 p.m. MDT April 17. Paper applications must be postmarked by April 17 or delivered to the Department office in Santa Fe by 5 p.m. MDT April 17.

Online applicants are encouraged to apply early to avoid missing the deadline because of forgotten passwords or other computer-related issues at the last minute. Late applications will not be accepted.

Applicants are reminded that everyone applying for a public-land license or permit, or purchasing a license via a private land authorization or the Valles Caldera must first obtain a free Customer ID Number online at www.wildlife.state.nm.us or in person from any Department office. This number must be included on each application, paper or online, or the application will be rejected.

All applicants who were licensed to hunt deer or elk, or to hunt or trap furbearers in the 2008-2009 seasons must have submitted a harvest report to be eligible for the upcoming drawing. Hunters and trappers who did not report by the deadlines — Feb. 15 for deer and elk hunters, April 7 for furbearer hunters and trappers — can still participate in the 2009-2010 drawings if they submit their harvest survey and pay an $8 late fee before applying. Hunters who fail to report their 2008-2009 harvest results — successful or not — will have their 2009-2010 applications rejected. Harvest reports can be submitted online at www.newmexico-hunt.com or by calling toll-free (888) 248-6866.
    
Results will be available in early June on the Department Web site or in person at any Department office

The original deadline was April 8 2009, however, owing to overcrowding of the internet resources, the deadline has been extended to April 15, 2009

$$$$$$$  Is it all about money?  $$$$$$$

What is being done with the money to benefit the average mule deer hunter?

New Mexico has way less mule deer than habitat for them.

$145k could keep me killing predators night and day for three years. Don’t you think New Mexico should hire me to help the deer herd before they start planting more sage brush for the mule deer that aren’t there?

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Auction nets $568,000 for NM big-game licenses

SANTA FE — New Mexico has gained $568,000 from auctions for special big-game hunting licenses.

The state Department of Game and Fish says that the auctions are an important fundraising tool and that the money is used for big game habitat and conservation.

A hunter from Washington bid $172,000 for a package of hunts – deer, elk, pronghorn, oryx and ibex – at the recent annual Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation National Convention in Reno, Nev. A second package sold for $145,000 to a hunter from California at the Mule Deer Foundation Convention in Salt Lake City.

In addition, a Tennessee hunter bid $90,000 for an elk license, a hunter from Illinois bid $90,000 for a bighorn sheep license, and an Arizona hunter bid $71,000 for a mule deer license, the department said.

Taxidermy makes lasting trophies

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Hunting season doesn’t just comprise the hunter and the animal being hunted, but also the taxidermist who chooses to bring the animal back to life in a whole new way.A taxidermist is given the task of mounting the animal for display by incorporating a process that evolves over several months. Learning the craft doesn’t exactly come at an easy price, however, since the cost of taxidermy schooling can be in the thousands.

Taxidermy can be learned through an alternate route, though. Demecio Silva, co-owner of Heads & Tails Taxidermy in Magdalena, learned the craft by observing.

“I learned it the hard way because I didn’t have the money,” he said.

Silva is a self-taught taxidermist who has been around hunting all of his life. Silva said he thought about going to taxidermy school about eight years ago, but the $10,000 cost was too great.

Silva said he used to sweep around the taxidermy shops and watched the details that went into all of the different stages.

This careful observation paid off because Silva and co-owner Joe Don Autrey are now award-winning New Mexico state taxidermists with a successful business.

Silva said he and Autrey attended a taxidermy competition at the Sky City Casino in Acoma held in March. Silva received second place in the state in his category with a bull elk mount and third place with his mule deer mount.

Autrey received third place in the state in his category with his two white-tailed deer mounts.

The competition at the casino included about 70 participants from all over the state. Silva said they also did very well in a competition in Las Cruces.

Silva and Autrey have been competing for about three years and they’ve been in business for seven years.

The taxidermy process occurs through several stages that take months to complete.

Silva said the first stage is the “fleshing” stage, where all the flesh is taken off and the hide is salted and dried. This stage usually takes two to three months.

Next, the animal hide is sent to Idaho to get tanned. This is about a three to four month process.

The hide is then stuffed with styrofoam and mounted. The artificial eyes are put in place and the product is finished.

Heads & Tails Taxidermy is strategically located in Magdalena. Silva said their business location has changed a couple of times and is currently beginning to settle down right off Kelly Road.

The strategy of having the business right off of the highway has paid off, since people traveling through for hunting season get to see it.

“Everybody traveling down U.S. 60 has to pass through Magdalena,” Silva said.

Silva and Autrey have mounted caribou for clients from as far away as Alaska. Silva said they only produce competition mounts, not commercial mounts. Competition mounts include finer detail in areas such as the inside of the mouth and nose.

Apart from the business, Silva is also a guide for Three Lynx Outfitters, where he directs hunting groups. He said New Mexico is one of the states that produces the biggest trophy animals.

Heads & Tails Taxidermy has more than 1,000 mounts to choose from for any size of animal, and it’s open daily from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Silva can be contacted at 505-418-8215 and the office number is 505-854-2453.