[D Winkler]

New Mexico Considers Big Game Changes

December 2, 2008.

The New Mexico State Game Commission will meet December 4 to consider a variety of topics related to big game hunting.

These include:

* A proposal to require all public and private hunting license applicants to obtain a customer identification number before applying.
* A proposal to establish a one-year hold-out period for all public drawing pronghorn antelope hunts and deer and elk public drawing hunts designated as "quality" or "high demand." The hold-out would make anyone who holds those licenses ineligible to hold another license of the same type the following year.
* A proposal to solicit public input for a system to require all special hunt drawing applicants, including online applicants, to submit the full license fee prior to the drawing.
* Proposals to change all public draw deer permits to deer licenses, and to move the drawing for public deer licenses from April to February beginning in the 2010-2011 season.
* The Department of Game and Fish will recommend that the Commission give the agency another year to address concerns expressed during statewide public meetings over a plan to restructure the way the agency allocates pronghorn licenses on public and private land. The Department will recommend that the Commission adopt rules for the 2009-2010 pronghorn season that are similar to the 2008-2009 season while the Department develops a new proposal to revise the Antelope Private Land Use System (A-PLUS).

Hunt The West - New Mexico Considers Big Game Changes