Subject: azmex sonora hunts
Date: December 14, 2008 10:20:13 AM MST
Note: Also good ideat to check in with U.S. Customs with firearms before going into Mexico
if you want to come back in with them with minimal hassle. Have also hunted down there, mostly
along Sonora - Chihuahua line. Good hunting, Don't have to hunt with guide on private ranches,
but it a better idea especially if don't know the area or languages.
thx
Sonora nurtures efforts to attract US hunters
By Gabriela Rico
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 12.14.2008
LA COLORADA, Sonora — U.S. hunters looking for prized game are giving beef and dairy cattle ranchers in northern Mexico an economic boost.
And more and more ranchers are cashing in on the growing industry of "hunting tourism" by making their lands — inhabited by mature deer, bighorn sheep, Gould turkeys and buffalo — available to well-aiming foreigners.
Three years ago, Enrique Savedra opened his 6,400-acre La Jagüey Ranch to U.S. hunters. He receives $3,000 per hunter whether or not they make a kill.
The Savedra family was resistant to participate "because we like the animals," but he recognized the money could help them get through lean times when beef cattle prices fall.
As he milked cows at sunrise one recent morning, Enrique's brother, Abdon, said the arrangement is good and that the sound of gunshots in the distance doesn't frighten the cattle. He makes cheese and sells it in Hermosillo to supplement the family's income.
In three years, seven hunters have visited the Savedra family ranch in this former mining town about 40 miles southeast of Hermosillo.
Sonora gets about $30 million annually from hunting tourism, according to state tourism officials. Of the 7,248 permits issued in the 2007 season, more than 5,000 were awarded to U.S. hunters.
Outfitters help to organize
Hunters are brought to the ranches by coordinators on both sides of the border who make the arrangements for accommodations, meals, travel, permits and — most importantly — the import of weapons into Mexico.
One coordinator, Brad Fulk, owner of Rio Sonora Outfitters, LLC based in Hereford, became intrigued about hunting tourism during a trip in 1998.
"I learned about hunting Mexico during a 'cowboy hunt' where you hook up with a Mexican cowboy, jump on a horse and go hunting," he said.
As a wildlife biologist, Fulk said he wanted to introduce wildlife management into the growing industry.
He establishes the age of bucks and asks hunters to only take out older, larger bucks, preferably between the ages of 6 and 10 and explains to ranch owners that they shouldn't over-harvest game on their property in order to give the deer time to mature, breed and pass on good genes.
"I explain to them, if they do it wrong … they'll be out of business in two years," Fulk said.
His operation specializes in hunting Coues whitetail deer, which are only found in the four-corner regions of Arizona, New Mexico, Chihuahua and Sonora. Fulk works with two ranchers in Chihuahua and six in Sonora. Hunts start at $4,000.
The ranchers must provide room and board for the hunters at their ranch homes, including running water, hot showers and electricity. The ranch cowboys are used as guides, and their wives do the cooking.
The rancher incurs no other responsibility, other than getting the ranch registered for hunting with the Mexican government.
"All the work that they have is to have the house ready, with accommodations," Fulk said. "Other than that, their work is putting money in the bank."
Fulk secures the permits for hunters to import weapons into Mexico and export paperwork with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture to transport the trophy back into the U.S. The head must be boiled clean and the hide frozen for at least 24 hours before it can enter the U.S. to avoid quarantine.
While Fulk doesn't promise hunters will get their trophy, he says typically they will come across 100-inch bucks daily, referring to the inches of antlers on the cervid. On a recent trip, two hunters both got a 120-inch whitetail buck.
"It's a good opportunity for both sides," Fulk said. "It's a great business opportunity for the local ranch owners with good deer populations, and hunters have a very good opportunity to take exceptional deer … while avoiding permit draw limitations, and hunter-density issues in the field."
Most seek trophy
Fulk said most hunters are interested in the trophy, not the deer meat, which is left to the ranchers.
Avid hunter Kevin Kearney said that's one of the things he likes about the trips to Mexico.
"They have so little and they're so nice," he said of the ranchers and cowboys. "We tip them by giving the cowboys the meat from the deer we kill. It's a neat experience."
A structural engineer in Las Vegas, Kearney, 32, has hunted in Mexico twice a year since 2003 with Fulk.
"There's more opportunity for trophy deer in Sonora," he said. Competition for U.S. hunting permits means hunters have only a 10 percent chance of getting drawn.
"In Mexico, if you've got the money, you've got the tags," he said. The five-day Coues whitetail deer hunts cost him about $4,000.
Accommodations have ranged from adobe huts with dirt floors to nice houses with running water, Kearney said.
Hereford resident Paul O'Brien, 74, has joined six hunts since 1999 and estimates he's spent around $18,000.
A native of Bisbee and retired from Phelps Dodge mines, O'Brien said he grew up hunting in the Chiricahuas but that the game in Sonora is much better.
"In Mexico, there's just more bucks," he said. "It's a fantastic hunt."
O'Brien said he enjoys deer meat and brings some home, but leaves a lot with the cowboys and ranchers.
"They work really hard," he said. "And we eat like kings … although it's mostly Mexican food."
Not interested in hunting
Enrique Savedra said no one in his family is interested in hunting, and he's amazed by the money people are willing to spend on the sport.
Trips to his property, where mule deer and bighorn sheep can be found, are typically two weeks long. The season, which began last month, lasts through Feb. 4.
The majority of hunters show up after Jan. 1, Savedra said.
"They all leave happy because they get a kill," he said.
Some ranchers have started using tactics such as spraying bushes with doe urine in order to attract more bucks onto their property.
Savedra said he's not interested in making his ranch too busy because his parents still live on the property and enjoy the simplicity of their life with roosters, chickens, horses, dogs and cattle.
The family appreciates the extra income but doesn't want to get rich by letting more hunters onto their land.
The government has made several changes to firearms permits in order to facilitate hunters traveling by land or through an airport, said Epifanio Salido Pavlovich, director of tourism for the state of Sonora.
He called the increasing popularity of hunting tourism a "very positive thing" for the state's cattle ranchers.
"People can no longer depend on cattle as their sole source of income," Salido said. "They need to be diversified."
Aside from deer and sheep, Sonora allows the hunt of doves, pheasants, javelina and mountain lions.
There are dozens of hunt coordinators both in Sonora and Arizona who facilitate the trips. For more information, visit the Sonora tourism Web site at gotosonora.com and click on "Outdoors Adventure."
● Contact reporter Gabriela Rico at 573-4232 or grico@azstarnet.com.
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