Not wanting to hijack the thread on the south TX Rio hunt, I figured I would start a new topic on something PalmettoRon brought up under that thread:
Quote from: PalmettoRon on January 12, 2025, 08:22:02 AMAt the great risk of lowering the very poor odds I already have, I would certainly recommend at $20/ticket with no limits, the NM NWTF raffle for the chance to kill a Goulds turkey with another NM regular tag for Merriams or Rios.
All the money goes to the NM NWTF. You have to arrange your own camping, hunting, food ,etc, but I know Don Fell with the NM NWTF has been a huge aid to those successfully drawing this tag.I believe they're running 100% success on mature Goulds gobblers.
I can't find the link for some reason, but I'm sure this has either been posted already or someone else can provide the link.
To clarify, the funds raised through this raffle...and also the auction tag that is sold at the NWTF national convention...goes to the NM Dept. of Game and Fish into an account that is earmarked totally to projects specifically to enhance the Goulds turkey population in New Mexico. Although the NWTF (and the state chapter) are the entities that run the raffle/auction, the money does not go to either.
As PalmettoRon points out, due to the very restricted hunting of Gould's here, the success rate of these hunts is very high, even for those folks who go DIY. If anyone needs more info on the hunt, just ask.
Below is the link to the site where tickets can be purchased.
https://checkout.square.site/merchant/ML24V1VRWMWWA/checkout/NQIGXUNEPUUQVEQ2KQFINDG2?utm_source=sqmktg_email
Got the email a few days ago and already bought my ticket. Gotta be in it to win it, right?
Thanks for the heads up. I'll get me a few of those chances.
Thanks for the clarification GobbleNut. That's even better yet that the money goes to NM Game and Fish and directly for the Goulds.
Do I understand correctly that the Gould's Tag can be used any year between April 1 to May 31 and not necessarily for the Spring of 2025?
"The tag holder can hunt a Gould's any 30 day period from April 1 to May 31, and the OTC tag to be used from April 15 to May 15 2025."
The wording is not clear, but I'm virtually certain this is for Spring 2025 only and can't be carried over to 2026 or later.
There is also an auction for an additional NM Goulds tag usually at the National NWTF Convention, but that tag goes for thousands of dollars.
Quote from: RoadRunner on January 13, 2025, 11:31:32 AMDo I understand correctly that the Gould's Tag can be used any year between April 1 to May 31 and not necessarily for the Spring of 2025?
"The tag holder can hunt a Gould's any 30 day period from April 1 to May 31, and the OTC tag to be used from April 15 to May 15 2025."
The hunt is for the 2025 season only. The wording as shown is to indicate that the tag holder can hunt in the Gould's hunt area from April 1st thru May 31st and harvest one Gould's turkey with the tag. The general season OTC tag that comes as part of the raffle is only good from April 15th thru May 15th.
To further clarify, the winning hunter can kill one Gould's gobbler in the Gould's hunt area and one Merriam's or Rio Grande gobbler in the general season with the OTC tag. What is not clear in the hunt description is whether or not the hunter could kill a second gobbler in the general season if he
did not kill a Gould's gobbler (for some inexplicable reason). Regardless, it is my understanding that the tag holder cannot kill more than two gobblers in total. (NM has a two-bird spring limit)
The OTC tag would usually allow the hunter to kill two gobblers in the regular season, but I believe that holding the Gould's tag would thereby restrict the hunter to only killing a single OTC/general hunt gobbler. This is, of course, assuming that the winner of the Gould's tag would naturally focus on killing a Gould's gobbler as his highest priority.
The raffle winner should probably seek clarification on this prior to his hunt. :icon_thumright:
It would be awesome if someone on this board wins that raffle! I'm pulling for that to happen. fingers crossed everyone!
Purchased
Hunted southern NM for Aoudad last year and it is such a cool place to hunt, I loved it. I'm in.