I actually had hopes for this mule deer hunt as I had seen some deer & even a few decent bucks this summer when I did dual scout & firewood collecting trips. I know where they are,but just can't hike in there like the old Hank,or get a deer out.
So go where others don't,with access inside a couple miles.
I also opted to stay in a local motel for 1st 2 nights instead of setting camp as usual. It's an hour drive down there & it can take a year off your life just dodging the elk in the dim hours. I'll drive or do overnights if needed.
Opening I climbed up a saddle mtn I never see anyone around. Rock,in the dark. Dense oak,mtn mahogony,PJ's & ponderosa above a canyon.Total textbook muley country,but a bit thick.Can only see 100 yrds at most.Sign every where.
I find ...elk. I walk right into 2 bulls in their beds 1/4 mi from my truck.Easy shots on both 6x6's.They bolt.
Not much farther I find a Coues shed. Putting it into my pack, I go maybe 100 yrds and there 50' away is the Coues buck the shed is from. Closest I've ever been to one and in a white flicker he is gone.
I hunt from one peak to the other on this saddle. I must have run into 40 cow elk w/calves. I found every loose rock there was & branch to catch & make noise,but not 1 mule deer. Coues does & elk. That night I find more elk in a different spot.
2nd morn I'm on a burn knob everyone drives by on the hwy above a canyon across from the saddle mtn. I always see deer here. I only see the coues buck across the cyn again.
That night I do a loop above a different streambed. Nothing.I come down to a dry tank not 300 yrds from my truck & stop for the last hr to see what pops out. Horses graze long the valley next to the hwy. I always see deer here in the evenings...lol
I'm in a 2 track that goes from the tank to my truck and next to a pine. I hear noise behind me turn on my knees &there 40 yrds away is a cow elk,then her calf,then another....8 cows & 6 calves stop & look right at me one at a time then drop into the tank.
They come out & go right around me,down wind and each one again stops in clear sight.This time in the road 100 yrds below me with my truck right there off the hwy...lol.
My view of sunrise 3rd morning.San Fransisco river area 
and it had been hammered.I saw tire tracks every where. Oh and 4 cows walked by on my way out. Not one deer,but I can find elk.
Plan B,go to a recently burnt peak area not many go to...lol. Place on the one side had been hammered with camps along this road. I go past & stop on the Divide for lunch. Hardly any tire tracks in the road.
Across the Plains of San Augustine to Pelona/Luera area...plan Q.
An old logger guy I see in Reserve at times comes driving up out of the backside in an old Toyota with little ancient quad & a nice 3x3 buck still strapped on top. Said where he had gone & was lucky to get it on the quad to get back to camp. I share lunch & coffee enjoying the view. He said try below. Never seen it so tough for mule deer here.
I remember they had done control burns off this road so down I drive. Now the road turns real bad...lol I creep along & see deer sign mixed with elk & now turkeys in big flocks cross the road. It has started to regrow now a bit where the burn starts on west side.I check maps & onx-gps. Elk moving thru the trees as a Razor goes flying by with 2 hunters waving.
Down to where it is prime muley country and for next 3 days I find elk....& turkeys,2 bears and a fox. Food,cover,water terrain.
Wed. I hiked 5.4 mi up a canyon & down a ridge & did not see one deer track & nary a raisin...not even old stuff. Lots of elk.Bulls & tons of cows w/calves.A few spikes & raghorns.But lots of elk.
I talk to local rancher yesterday when I went down with the Ford & saws to get some oak. He does not have much better idea of where the deer have gone than I. He was an outfitter & still hunts the cat's. We agree poaching is the untold story.Wolves are the BS they are. He goes to check on some of his stock I spotted earlier after telling me a place to check for a last night near by. Seen some bucks in there as they have been gathering. I never saw a footprint hiking/hunting & barely a tire track in most of the roads I was on. Some places are a zoo with traffic.
I go spend the last 3 hrs of daylight parked sitting in my truck near the stock tanks,sip coffee with 360 view.
Elk,I see elk & some turkeys. Not even one doe.
4 mule deer does spotted in 5 days. Not even a dink buck. Hundreds of elk.Way more counting the sightings & close encounters on the drive. More turkeys than I have ever seen in NM. 2 very nice bears,one near my truck as I walked up. And a fox.
I did get a couple years supply of wood on this hunt and with a freezer full of elk I'm content. I do miss my deer meat. Maybe I will put in for Coues next year. I know where I have seen them...LOL.
So go where others don't,with access inside a couple miles.
I also opted to stay in a local motel for 1st 2 nights instead of setting camp as usual. It's an hour drive down there & it can take a year off your life just dodging the elk in the dim hours. I'll drive or do overnights if needed.
Opening I climbed up a saddle mtn I never see anyone around. Rock,in the dark. Dense oak,mtn mahogony,PJ's & ponderosa above a canyon.Total textbook muley country,but a bit thick.Can only see 100 yrds at most.Sign every where.
I find ...elk. I walk right into 2 bulls in their beds 1/4 mi from my truck.Easy shots on both 6x6's.They bolt.
Not much farther I find a Coues shed. Putting it into my pack, I go maybe 100 yrds and there 50' away is the Coues buck the shed is from. Closest I've ever been to one and in a white flicker he is gone.
I hunt from one peak to the other on this saddle. I must have run into 40 cow elk w/calves. I found every loose rock there was & branch to catch & make noise,but not 1 mule deer. Coues does & elk. That night I find more elk in a different spot.
2nd morn I'm on a burn knob everyone drives by on the hwy above a canyon across from the saddle mtn. I always see deer here. I only see the coues buck across the cyn again.
That night I do a loop above a different streambed. Nothing.I come down to a dry tank not 300 yrds from my truck & stop for the last hr to see what pops out. Horses graze long the valley next to the hwy. I always see deer here in the evenings...lol
I'm in a 2 track that goes from the tank to my truck and next to a pine. I hear noise behind me turn on my knees &there 40 yrds away is a cow elk,then her calf,then another....8 cows & 6 calves stop & look right at me one at a time then drop into the tank.
They come out & go right around me,down wind and each one again stops in clear sight.This time in the road 100 yrds below me with my truck right there off the hwy...lol.
My view of sunrise 3rd morning.San Fransisco river area and it had been hammered.I saw tire tracks every where. Oh and 4 cows walked by on my way out. Not one deer,but I can find elk.Plan B,go to a recently burnt peak area not many go to...lol. Place on the one side had been hammered with camps along this road. I go past & stop on the Divide for lunch. Hardly any tire tracks in the road.
Across the Plains of San Augustine to Pelona/Luera area...plan Q.An old logger guy I see in Reserve at times comes driving up out of the backside in an old Toyota with little ancient quad & a nice 3x3 buck still strapped on top. Said where he had gone & was lucky to get it on the quad to get back to camp. I share lunch & coffee enjoying the view. He said try below. Never seen it so tough for mule deer here.
I remember they had done control burns off this road so down I drive. Now the road turns real bad...lol I creep along & see deer sign mixed with elk & now turkeys in big flocks cross the road. It has started to regrow now a bit where the burn starts on west side.I check maps & onx-gps. Elk moving thru the trees as a Razor goes flying by with 2 hunters waving.
Down to where it is prime muley country and for next 3 days I find elk....& turkeys,2 bears and a fox. Food,cover,water terrain.
Wed. I hiked 5.4 mi up a canyon & down a ridge & did not see one deer track & nary a raisin...not even old stuff. Lots of elk.Bulls & tons of cows w/calves.A few spikes & raghorns.But lots of elk.
I talk to local rancher yesterday when I went down with the Ford & saws to get some oak. He does not have much better idea of where the deer have gone than I. He was an outfitter & still hunts the cat's. We agree poaching is the untold story.Wolves are the BS they are. He goes to check on some of his stock I spotted earlier after telling me a place to check for a last night near by. Seen some bucks in there as they have been gathering. I never saw a footprint hiking/hunting & barely a tire track in most of the roads I was on. Some places are a zoo with traffic.
I go spend the last 3 hrs of daylight parked sitting in my truck near the stock tanks,sip coffee with 360 view.
Elk,I see elk & some turkeys. Not even one doe.
4 mule deer does spotted in 5 days. Not even a dink buck. Hundreds of elk.Way more counting the sightings & close encounters on the drive. More turkeys than I have ever seen in NM. 2 very nice bears,one near my truck as I walked up. And a fox.
I did get a couple years supply of wood on this hunt and with a freezer full of elk I'm content. I do miss my deer meat. Maybe I will put in for Coues next year. I know where I have seen them...LOL.
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