Hello bow hunting friends. My son recently transferred to Albuquerque with the Air Force and the two of us are determined to find decent hunting opportunities near Albuquerque. Deer, bear, elk, pronghorn, turkey, a y advice would be appreciated.

My brother live in souther N.Mex. My understanding is that N. Mex has good hunting, but big game tags are hard to come by.

Brad Smith lives in Santa Fe, not too far from Albuquerque, give him a call and ask him about it. Brad makes selfbows and has an art studio there. bradsmithart.com

years ago i lived outside of Albuquerque in rio rancho. spent about four years there and would travel in and out of the area for a few years after.

i used to hunt the pecos wilderness quite a bit. it was about a two hour drive north if i recall. at the time, the elk numbers were decent, the bear numbers were very good, the deer numbers were not good, and almost no hunting pressure.

theft and damage to vehicles at trailheads and parking areas was a concern and i heard of it happening. i lucked out and used to have the owner of the general store pickup my truck and leave it at his place. when i would come out of the mountains i just found someone that would give me a ride to the store. i usually hitched a ride with a log truck driver or forest service worker.

I've elk hunted NM three times as a non-resident and really enjoyed every hunt. The biggest problem That I can see in your plan is drawing a hunting tag of any type. Residents have a fair chance at a tag and as a non-resident your chances of drawing are slim to none with the draw system the way it is now. Unless you use an outfitter or can afford thousands for a landowner tag. Other than that it is my favorite state to hunt in. Brad

My uncle has lived in White Rock since 1978 and he is an avid bow hunter. He told me the same thing about non resident tags being difficult to draw. He said that he mostly hunted in Gila National Forest & Jemez Mountains off horseback. He also mentioned that it is the most corrupt state when it comes to allocation of wildlife resources out west, hands down.

Roughneck, must be that corruption and the word Mexico are intertwined.

"Howdy stranger. I'm new to these parts. Say, how about tellin' me where's your NM honey holes are at." lol

I lived in NM for 17 years. Had no issues drawing tags. Now, as a non resident, having drawn any tags since 2011. And I've only skipped a few years applying. Drawing an antelope tag as a non resident is tough. Best plan on using an outfitter. YOu're chances will greatly improve.

Military personnel usually get Resident hunting permits for the State they are stationed in. I hunted all over the US during my 26 year career with Resident permits.

One thing of note, they used to have range tags for oryx on White sands, I believe all military personnel could get those. Not sure if that is still the case

Stop in to the Archery Shoppe in ABQ and talk with Noble Sinclair and his guys; you'll get some good pointers I'm sure...plus it's a great place to check out some used classic bows.

Noble doesn't have much to do with the Archery Shoppe now. He sold it over two years ago. Noble is on Facebook a lot.

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