Did you know that it is “legal” to hunt deer with arrows on federal land, just a short distance behind people's homes which are in a residential area?  Yes, residents of Glenwood Hills and the Sandia foothills in Albuquerque New Mexico are subjected to having the beautiful, tame-like deer who frequent our yards and streets, be stalked, killed or maimed, sometimes running injured with an arrow protruding or being gutted in our midst!

Therefore, we respectfully and urgently request that a wider buffer zone or easement be set in place between residential dwellings and federal hunting grounds. This is to protect the safety of people, pets and animals in our neighborhood, and quell residents' fear and distress from lurking hunters or stray arrows close to homes.

We need your help!  Please sign the petition below to let our government leaders know that we urgently need a wider buffer zone from hunting grounds, for the safety and well-being of our community.

Every year from January 1-15th in the quiet residential area of Glenwood Hills and the surrounding Sandia foothills, hunters come and sit in their loud trucks blowing exhaust in early mornings and all hours of the day waiting for the deer to cross over onto federal forest land to ensure the kill. Barely satisfying the150 yard requirement to hunt from any residential home. There have been instances where the deer have been shot by arrow, not killed, and seen running through the neighborhood from yard to yard while having an arrow lodged in its body. This is a horrific site for anyone to see!  There have been reports and sightings of these hunters bringing their kill onto the trails and disemboweling on the trails for kids and families to see. According to New Mexico Game and Fish hunting Rules “Anyone who takes a Barbary sheep, bighorn sheep, deer, elk, ibex, oryx, pronghorn or turkey must transport the EDIBLE portions for human consumption from the field.” (The edible portions of game animals include all four quarters, backstraps, tenderloins and the neck meat. Hunters are not required to remove the rib cage or organs of game mammals from the field.)  There also have even been reports of poacher activity during the off season.

These deer have made their home in the foothill residential areas and can be considered domesticated as they do not fear humans. People who live in the area of the Sandia foothills as well as many others who come to visit enjoy the deer and the beauty nature has to offer. The foothills are full of trails where families, children and pets run and play on a daily basis. The public should not have to be in fear of the hidden hunters that are perched up on the trails with their equipment during hunting season.

New Mexico offers vast land for hunting. We are just asking that it no longer be allowed by our homes. There are approximately nine million acres of national forest and 13 million acres of BLM lands in New Mexico. “The Sandias are about 30,000 acres,” said Tristanna Bickford with the New Mexico Dept. of Game and Fish. Legislation should be introduced to prohibit any activity involving hunting taking place so close to residential neighborhoods in the Albuquerque area. 

Please add your name to this petition so we can move forward to ensure the safety of the public and the animals from hunting in the residential foothills!