If you have ever dreamed of hunting gemsbok oryx on the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in New Mexico, this may be your chance. Between 1969 and 1977, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish intentionally released 93 Gemsbok into the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, and that population is now estimated between 3,000 and 6,000 animals. The New Mexico Dept. of Game & Fish now offer public hunts for gemsbok oryx on the WSMR through a application/drawing system.
The deadline to apply for a 2011/2012 oryx tag is Feb. 2, 2011. There are multiple hunt categories, including Once-in-a-lifetime or “Premeir”, Badge-Hunts, Broken-Horn (BHO), Youth-Only, and Returning-Veteran Hunts. Draw winners will be allowed to take (1) oryx of either sex on the WSMR. Tag drawing results will be available on the New Mexico Fish & Game website, March 9, 2011.
**No over-the-counter tags are available except for “Private Land Only” hunts.
For more information on the rules and regulations for oryx hunts in New Mexico, please see pages 49-51 of the “New Mexico Big Game and Trapper Rules & Information”, found on the website above.
The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) is offering your chance to win some amazing Texas dream hunts. From whitetail to waterfowl, these packages are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to hunt some of the most sought after areas Texas has to offer. The ‘Texas Grand Slam’ even lets one lucky hunter pursue whitetail, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, and mule deer! You might have guessed, but here’s our favorite:
The most important exotic-related video you’re likely to see this year…
Brought to you by our friends Keith Warren and The High Road TV.
Whether you are an avid exotic game hunter or just a firm believer in hunter & landowner rights, this pending legislation, threatening these 3 exotic species, is critical to their future preservation and propagation. Support the cause, donate, or simply share this information with as many people as you can!
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Note: this is an article from the Field & Stream Magazine vault, first published July 31, 2004.
In a recent study, a high percentage of the African oryx in New Mexico–which were first introduced to the White Sands Missile Range in the late 1960s–tested positive for exposure to a new form of malignant catarrhal fever (MCF). What does this mean for the oryx now? Not much. They haven’t exhibited any symptoms, and the disease could be a normal part of their biology. What could this mean for native deer populations in the future? A lot. It’s not yet known whether the new form of MCF affects deer, but if a deer falls ill to other forms it usually dies within days. Oryx are already tough competition for mule deer, and the study has biologists concerned.
“There are damn few mule deer left in the White Sands Missile Range,” says Louis Bender, a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey/New Mexico Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. “You have to look long and hard to find one.”
The state hopes to reduce its population of 3,000 to 5,000 oryx and issues up to 2,000 tags in a year.
“About the only thing oryx die from is a bullet,” says Pat Mathis, the southwest area game manager for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.
If you have ever dreamed of hunting gemsbok oryx on the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in New Mexico, this may be your chance. Between 1969 and 1977, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish intentionally released 93 Gemsbok into the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, and that population is now estimated between 3,000 and 6,000 animals. The New Mexico Dept. of Game & Fish now offer public hunts for gemsbok oryx on the WSMR through a application/drawing system.
