Some ranchers at odds with state over antelope roundup

Some area ranchers are at odds with the recent herding and exporting of prong horned antelope from Quay County by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. Starting on Feb. 26 the DGF set up traps in Quay County to capture and move 161 antelope to the Santa Ana Pueblo near Albuquerque and to three areas of Mexico, said Dan J. Williams, media relations DGF. “I am against any antelope being taken out of this area,” said Van Robertson, a Quay County rancher. “In fact, there are very few people in this area that wanted this done.” Robertson said that he has tried to maintain and manage the antelope population on his property through hunts. “I am in the business of hunting,” Robertson said. “Hunting has become a business for area ranchers and they are taking that away.” One rancher disagreed with the method of herding the antelope, and in particular by helicopter. “I did not allow them on my land,” Michael Perez said. “They don’t realize that those antelope will go through fences because of helicopters and I have repaired enough fence in the past because of the antelope.” Perez said that the increase in numbers is due to the DGF taking away their hunts several years ago. “Now, we are overrun by antelope,” Perez said...Quay County Sun