January issue of the American Hunter has a artical about introduced big game. Ibex in southern New Mexcio sence 1970. They speck about over the counter permitt, anyone know anything about this or ever hunted in this area there talking about ? Bill

I've been applying for the once in a lifetime permit on the Florida Mtns for many years. No tag yet. Will try agian next year. My guess is there is about 100 applilcations for every availaible tag - most of which go to out of staters since they pay a lot more and it's about the $s here with Buddy Bill and the recently departed poacher/Chief Game Warden. The over the counter tags are for goats that wander off the mountain. Good deal for the locals that spend months scouting for them. Not a good deal for an out of towner - he'd never find one. Just my .02 worth.

There are three "categories" of ibex license in NM. The first is the holy grail - a once in a lifetime rifle hunt in the Florida Mountains, the "home range" of the ibex where about 250-300 of them live. The second is not much different - bow and muzzleloader tags in the Floridas for either sex that are not once in a lifetime (BTW, I have a bow tag for them with a hunt starting 1/1) and rifle tags for nannies. Both of these categories have very limited numbers of tags. The third category has unlimited tags which can be purchased over the counter (at least at NMDGF offices). As Pancho pointed out though, ibex are pretty scarce outside the Floridas these days. It would be an extreme long shot for a non-local to expect a reasonable chance of killing one. I'm semi-local (about an hour away) and have spent quite a bit of time in the area over the past several years and have only seen a pair (nanny and kid) in all that time. A fella could burn lots of gas, lots of time, and lots of shoe leather hoping for an ibex outside the Floridas. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, as I hear of one or two killed each year "off-range." However, if your luck is like mine, you could fly over to a "-stan" country and hunt them in their native range for less money than you'd spend trying to find one here.

I've only hunted them in the Floridas once, but if you have more questions, just send me a PM and I'll try to help.

Thanks guys I finaley got on there web site and it looks to me like you have to put up front $1622.00 and then you can apply each year ,but my question can a guy go a life time and never get drawn or is it a better chance then that ?

Odds for OIL ibex- 0.4%
Archery 17.2%
Muzzleloader - 1.2%
Pretty tough odds but everybody(redidents and Non-res)is on the same field.

PS please don't draw MY TAG.

If you draw an Ibex, Kauffman Outfitters (Dennis Kauffman) has an excellent reputation on these hunts. I used him on an Oryx hunt at WSMR in Feb 06 and he is a super outfitter. Tom

You actually have to pony up the $8 application fee first. Then, if (a big if) you get drawn, they hit your card for the rest of the money. If you choose to apply on paper, you have to submit the entire amount.

And yes, the odds suck. I just spent this past weekend hunting for them with a bow. What a hoot. I think average success is about 1%, but at least you get to hunt.