Intro and looking for some feedback on New Mexico

[BrenttH]

Hows it going everyone, I?ve read the forums for a while but never registered. Well that ended last night lol. I?m looking for some feedback from anyone who?s been around or hunted in Unit 9 in New Mexico. Myself and my buddy were lucky enough to draw a tag for NM elk 1st season. We drew unit 9 which was our 3rd choice, ive done research via gohunt for this unit when we were putting in hoping that it we would draw our 1st or 2nd choice but here we sit LOL. Anyways gohunt definitely doesn't have much nice to say about the unit lol as well as some other sites thats ive been researching today. If anyone on here has hunted this unit and would like to give any feedback on their experience in the unit id appreciate it.
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[/size]Thank you ladies and gents!

 

[DTP]

Welcome to the site and congrats on the tag!

Unfortunately I dont have any information for you, but I am just familair with how difficult the hunt will be.

My only recommendation is to just keep a positive attitude. This could be one of those hunts where you go through 95% of it and not see an elk, then in the last couple hours of the hunt get a shot!

 

[BrenttH]

Welcome to the site and congrats on the tag!

Unfortunately I dont have any information for you, but I am just familair with how difficult the hunt will be.

My only recommendation is to just keep a positive attitude. This could be one of those hunts where you go through 95% of it and not see an elk, then in the last couple hours of the hunt get a shot!

That is a fact! We won?t just sit in one area and wait for imaginary elk to show up, we plan on using as much of the unit as possible for the 8-10 days we?ll be there!


Thank you for the welcome!

 

[82ndreddevil]

I got a few friends that hunted there last year. Though few and far between, there were opportunities to kill an elk. Don?t get discouraged about what you see on other websites, being tenacious and staying after it is the best way to create luck. I?m out of town for today but I?ll reach out and see if I can find you a starting point for your scouting. Also, not sure what your budget is but my buddies saw a few bears too, they will be in season too

 

[sjl2012]

With the early season and a reduced number of tags you should have a better chance than recent years.

 

[BrenttH]

I got a few friends that hunted there last year. Though few and far between, there were opportunities to kill an elk. Don?t get discouraged about what you see on other websites, being tenacious and staying after it is the best way to create luck. I?m out of town for today but I?ll reach out and see if I can find you a starting point for your scouting. Also, not sure what your budget is but my buddies saw a few bears too, they will be in season too

Great to hear! We plan on getting a turkey tag and bear tag as well, we?re there for elk but it would be foolish to pass up on opportunities like that. Thank you for the feedback, we?re driving from California so we plan on putting as much effort in as possible on the 8-10 days we?ll be there. We were averaging 30+ miles a weekend during deer season so hopefully that same mindset will push us through to success!

 

[Gila]

I have only lived here in NM for two years. Have not hunted there but been there a few times. I know it burns alot up there. Can you get on Water canyon? I think only residents can hunt WMAs but not sure about non-residents being able to elk hunt hunt water canyon. I believe most of the elk are on private land up there. OnX hunt does a good job of mapping access in NM. I'm thinking that water canyon will probably have 100 hunters there on opening day. One strategy I would think about is where will those pressured elk go. Just some food for thought. I am a newbie elk hunter that just came on here to figure things out. I was drawn for a limited entry tag- any legal, one hunt 5 days in early october and the elk in that area have never been hunted before. 10 tags, one time one hunt only.  Public land, no private or outfitters. I am really stoked!

 

[DTP]

I have only lived here in NM for two years. Have not hunted there but been there a few times. I know it burns alot up there. Can you get on Water canyon? I think only residents can hunt WMAs but not sure about non-residents being able to elk hunt hunt water canyon. I believe most of the elk are on private land up there. OnX hunt does a good job of mapping access in NM. I'm thinking that water canyon will probably have 100 hunters there on opening day. One strategy I would think about is where will those pressured elk go. Just some food for thought. I am a newbie elk hunter that just came on here to figure things out. I was drawn for a limited entry tag- any legal, one hunt 5 days in early october and the elk in that area have never been hunted before. 10 tags, one time one hunt only.  Public land, no private or outfitters. I am really stoked!

Good luck on your hunt!
New Mexico is where I cut my teeth in elk hunting too and that?s when the addiction started

 

[Gila]

I took a closer look at the map and Water Canyon WMA is surounded by tribal land....not good! Sounds like you guys have the tenacity and capability to go the distance and git `er done. Good luck to ya.