Barbary Sheep New Mexico Question

[Jessezb]

Hello everyone! I was lucky enough to draw a tag for a Barbary sheep in NM Unit 28. I was doing some research and I am able to hunt open areas before my scheduled two day hunt (I believe). I was looking in the south east part of NM at land maps, as I am living in El Paso right now. Has anyone hunted Barbary sheep in that area, and does anyone know if my tag does actually allow me to hunt open areas, which I assume are public areas, enforce my scheduled hunt.

Thanks for any info you can provide!

 

[kimbersig]

yes you can hunt the OTC areas of the state with your tag. the OTC areas are lower success and you probably won't find a ram near as good as you should in 28. good luck on your hunt.

 

[psycho]

Call the warden and ask him/her for recommendations of where to hunt and about the additional hunting timeframes. I believe those tags allow you to come back a month or so later to go into the general areas. The wardens were very helpful with that information when I called them.
I got a tag in area 32 two years ago. I didn't give myself near enough time to learn the land and I wasn't prepared for that amount of hiking. The best areas I could find away from people usually involved looking at Onex maps and finding small bridges of public leading to landlocked areas as fewer people were willing to hike all the way back there. It was a fun hunt even though I didn't shoot at the few that I saw. I hope to do it again so I can give myself 10 days. Take lots of water and be ready for long shots. Good Luck.

 

[Jessezb]

Thanks for the info. The NM Game and Fish folks said because I drew the active duty tag for 28, it is only good in 28. Good news is I scouted the area yesterday and came across 8 barbary sheep in just a few hours. I now have to wait months until I can do that again with a rifle, but I see many more trips to the area in my future to come up with a solid game plan.

 

[AggieOutlaw]

That is a ridiculous policy. But that is correct. For whatever reason, the 30 tags for GMU28 are not eligible for the unlimited OTC tag units. I suspect they want to make sure you go on the hunt on MacGregor.

But I don’t see why you couldn’t OTC Afterwards if you don’t tag out. It’s unlimited and OTC. And the 1275 draw tags are eligible year round.

A frustrating policy from G&F