Elk roam these parts and it will cost you about $12,000 to go on a guided elk hunt on private land in New Mexico. The Rocky Mountain elk have gone from about zero in the state in 1930 to more than 90,000 and it costs about $90 for a license to hunt elk.
The early settlers and soldiers killed off the native elk and that breed which was original to New Mexico has been extinct for many years (hence the implantation of the Rocky Mountain elk). New Mexico elk herds are managed by the game department. My husband will be going on his first elk hunt, which he landed by submitting his name to a lottery on the Valle Caldera. (update - by getting his name pulled in the lottery, he only has to pay for the cost of his $90 hunting license. Taxidermy? I've no clue on that cost but eating elk would cut the grocery budget).
My cousin's husband was trying to hunt a bear on his property, with a license to kill, in Colorado, back when I visited in September.
Elk meat is very healthy. We may be eating it for a long, long time. Cougars are next up for stricter management.
I don't hunt. I guess I might have an elk head hanging on one of my walls sometime in the future.
That will make for some interesting decor. We had a fish mounted this summer.... the prices for the taxidermist were quite high. You might want to find the name of a good taxidermist before he goes on the hunt -- it might prove difficult to keep the head "fresh" while trying to track one down!
Posted by: susiej | October 08, 2008 at 08:13 PM