Has anyone around here hunted the Ibex that are down on the Florida Mountain Range in Southwest N.M.? Anybody hunted the wanderers that cross out of the designated range for them? It is my understanding that an out of stater can buy a tag thats good for a year and allows him/her to take as many Ibex as can be found north of I-10 or west of Highway 11. Worth trying for $1500 or not?

Thanks,

JohnTheGreek

John,
That's BIG country. There is a lot of BLM land out there. But finding an Ibex? I lived and hunted in the area for seven years. Have extensive time fly fishing the Gila wilderness and countless hours in the Organ Mountains near White Sands. Laos lots of time in the Lincoln Mountains. (supposedly also home to a resident herd of Ibex) I've never seen a real Ibex in NM. Maybe I just don't know where to look or maybe I was looking for the wrong things. But I've spent thousands of hours in the mountains of southern NM and never have seen an Ibex.

Kentucky,

Ibex are allegedly quite prevelant in the Florida range. I hunted Pronghorn with a couple of guys who have drawn tags there and both filled them. Drawing odds really suck but you can buy an over the counter tag and take anything that wanders west across the highway.
I corresponded with a Border Patrol guy out of Deming who worked down there and he had seen them southwest of the Floridas and had planned to email me GPS readings for various waterholes that he had seen hit. This was a year or so ago and I have yet to hear from him. Really lookin' to take one of these critters and simultaneously avoid the $4k price tag in Mongolia.

Thanks,

JohnTheGreek

John
Are you sure you are not thinking of Oryx?

rockhead,

No, I can almost fly to Namibia and shoot an Oryx for what it would cost me for a tresspass fee and the $1500 N.M. non-resident tag. NO THANKS! Shot one already anyway in South Africa
New Mexico does, in fact, have a herd of Persian Ibex on the Florida Mountain Range South of Deming that has been there for decades now. Some of 'em apparently drift a bit and the State Wildlife department issues statewide tags for anything that you see across a few detailed lines on a map. The highway that runs north/south to the west of the Floridas is one of those lines and is pretty close to the intended range of these critters. I have been wondering for a while now if anyone has seen any ibex in the smaller mountain range to the southwest of there. I thought my border patrol buddy was gonna come through for me since I can't think of anyone that would know these canyons any better but no dice yet!

Thanks,

JohnTheGreek

John

Sorry I did not realize there were Ibex in NM.

I live in Deming. I also work of the United States Border Patrol. I don't think that I've ever promised any GPS coordinates to anyone. I've been here since '97. I have never seen, nor heard of any Ibex coming off of the Floridas. Years ago they used to and one could get shooting at some. If they moved, I'd know it, and if I didn't, someone in town would "leak" and I'd know it.

Ibex used to number in the 2XXX's, now it's probably in the hundreds. Proclamations just dropped and the same old news.........5 rifle tags. I don't know what the non-res percentage is, maybe one? I did see a guy take a muzzleloader Ibex. Think it was about a 46-48"er. Saw the guys picture in the Barnes flyer. Guess he's a pro-staffer.

To sum it up, if I thought there was a band off the Floridas, I'd be climbing right now at 3:00 AM.

Jesse,

Thanks for the information! I hope you don't think I was making specific reference to you in my posts. I honestly don't even know the name of the gent I spoke with on some other hunting site.
Good to know one way or another whether anything is off that mountain range as it might have cost me $1500 to find out!
Really appreciate your post!

Regards,

JohnTheGreek