New Mexico Hunters help please

cwbycrshr

cwbycrshr

New member
I am looking to do a little Mountain Lion Hunting (calling)in NM next March or so. I have been looking around Units 23,15,and 16. I am likely looking to drive in as far as posible, to National Forest land and/or BLM, park and pack in for 5-6 days.
From ya'lls expertise, where should one concintrate their search (North of 78 looks good, but the BLM land on the North side of 15 also looks good)?
Also, can Night Vision and/or spotlights be used in New Mexico?
Thanks for any help and advice...I am likley going to have to do this from suggestions, research, sat. maps, and such and then just head up ther next late winter.
 
I'd take a hard look at the Jemez Mtns. (Cuba area). I spent a few months on a construction project in the are summer before last. Locals said cat, elk, and bear hunting was some of the best in the state. Cannot attest to the validity of that statement, but can guarantee you it is some beautiful country. I spent nearly every evening after work up the those mtns to get out of the heat. Vehicle access was decent, more than likely, March would be fairly limited due to snowpack.
 
there is no night hunting in new mexico. the cougar season runs from oct 1 07 thu march 31 08. the units you mentioned are zone J & k and you can take 2 cougars on your tag. the most successfull way to harvest a cougar is with dogs. not likely to call one in. they can be called in but your odds are very slim. another way is to cut a track and follow them until you find the animal and you may have to track a long ways. there are lots of cougars here but they are hardly ever seen. i have hunted all over these hills for 30 yrs and i have yet to see one in the wild. good luck.
 
I know the odds of calling one are slim to none, at best, but my thought is a little bit of a combination of cutting tracks, finding a kill, and calling. I know my work is cut out for me, but I figure if I have 6 days in the sticks (2 days scouting) my odds will greatly increase. Besides, I will have a full week of detaching from society and technology and getting back to a primal state of mind.
I'm also wanting to go late enough in the season so that I do not have to worry about other hunters hunting other game, and hopefully the environment has calmed down enough from the pressure put on from all the other seasons.
I appreciate your input and could certainly use any and all recomendations. I will likely contact everybody that responds as time creaps a little closer. Keep it coming, please.
 
I have yet to hunt cougar, but have seen several over the last few years. They are all over the state, but like gunut said they are not easy to find. I know of some good BLM land that holds a few and one unit that I hunt yearly has excellent terrain. When I get a chance I'll get better info on locations for you.
 
Lots of good lion country around Carrizozo NM. If you've been calling long enough in lion country, you've probably called one in and never knew it.
Lions don't always hang out in the mountains like the name implys. Basically anywhere deer are, there could be a lion.

Lions are not as hard to call as people think nowadays. In recent years the use of lion sounds have been used very successfully.
The hardest part to the whole adventure is finding areas the lion well hear your calling. You got to find lion sign or your probably spinning your wheels.

You can actually hunt at night in NM on pvt land if you have wrtten permission from the land owner and you are his agent?
Like pochers really care about written permission? Many western states have adopted night hunting because they realise what an asset it is to the game animals. Stupid law for a state that wants all the coyotes dead. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
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