NM Wildlife Managers Recommend Action to Restore Populations

By Ben Neary/NMWF

New Mexico wildlife managers recommend that the state reduce hunting for pronghorn and ibex in response to falling population numbers that are likely the result of ongoing drought. The commission will hold more hearings on the proposals before adopting final rules later this year.

Stewart Lilley, chief biologist for the New Mexico Wildlife Department, told members of the state wildlife commission on Friday in Albuquerque that he recommends that they adopt a regulation for Ibex over the coming four years that cuts hunting to encourage a population rebound.

The state wants to see an ibex population of between 300 to 700  on the Florida Mountains, near Deming, Lilley said. He said an aerial survey early this year found only about 100 ibex.

New Mexico hunters harvested 16 male ibex and four females in the last year, Lilley said. He said fewer than 15 females have been harvested in the past four years. 

Lilley said game managers recently proposed reducing the number of ibex licenses that will be offered in the 2026-27 hunting season.

The wildlife department recommends that the commission set maximum caps on the number of ibex licenses to be issued over the next four years and then allow the department to adjust the number of draw licenses actually issued each year based on field survey results. Lilley said it’s possible the department may recommend not issuing any licenses in certain hunts based on results.

On pronghorn, Lilley said the department continues to see the population affected by long-term drought, particularly in the Northeast.

The state reduced pronghorn licenses by 20 percent last year and for the upcoming season, Lilley said. He said wildlife managers are working to keep the buck/doe ratio about 20 to 100. The state eliminated the hunts for female and immature pronghorn last year in the Northeast as well.

Statewide, pronghorn licenses were reduced from 6,429 in 2024 to 5,610 last year, Lilley said.. He said the buck harvest dropped from 4,176 to 3,488, with some reports from last year still coming in.

Lilley said many public comments the department has received so far voiced concern over the commission’s practice of allowing private landowners to grant unlimited hunting for pronghorn on their own land. In response to the falling population numbers, the state last year capped private pronghorn licenses in the northeast to 80 percent of the average sold in the previous two years.

The department proposes some new restrictions for pronghorn in this rule cycle. In common with other species, it recommends that hunters have to purchase their license at least a day before they start hunting and recommends that they not be able to buy a license once the hunt starts. Those provisions are intended to prevent people from buying licenses after they’ve killed an animal.

Lilley said the department recommends requiring ranches that offer private, over-the-counter pronghorn licenses be required to register with the department, similar to the requirement that landowners must register with the state in order to get authorizations for private-land elk licenses.

For oryx, Lilley said the department proposes that the commission increase the number of licenses issued for use off of military lands by 5 percent. He said the department also recommends requiring registration for private lands issuing over-the-counter licenses.

Lilley said the department recommends ending a provision enacted four years ago that set aside a special oryx hunt for hunters over the age of 70. Jesse Deubel, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, said the federation supports ending the special hunt for those over 70.

For more information about pending species proposals, go to the wildlife commission’s web site HERE.