I am going on my first elk hunt this fall Oct 19-23. Does anyone have advice on what elevation I should be focusing my hunt on? Unit ranges from 5,800 to 13,100ft. I've been doing some e-scouting, and I found what looks to be some great spots at around 11,400ft, but I'm concerned this may be too high for the time of year. Should I look lower? I've looked at some historical imagery of the area, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of snow there in October/November. Could this elevation hold elk this time of year? Any advise would be greatly appreciated! This is all very new to me.
New Mexico Unit 45
- Thread starter Mark.N
- Start date
cohunter14
Administrator
- Jul 10, 2017
- 5,284
To answer your question, yes, it could hold elk that time of the year. But depending on conditions, the elk could also be higher or lower. It's best to have spots across different elevations so if you aren't finding them at one elevation, you can try another.
I think you are totally right. I assume I won't reliably know what they are feeding on until I get boots on the ground in October. My understanding is the snow/temperature/moisture will dictate the feed. The only caveat I will add is that this unit had a HUGE burn in 2022. Almost half the unit was affected. I talked to one local who said there has been really good regeneration so far. What effect do you think this will have on the feed situation?
