New elk hunter going to NM unit 15 looking for advice

scottdjohnson

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Aug 27, 2015
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My buddy and I drew unit 15 for elk. This will be my first elk hunt and I am looking for any pointers to help with hunting this unit. I have seen post about road hunting and troublesome guides causing grief. I here bigger bulls towards the south but fewer animals.

Thank you for your help.
 
I was down near there two weeks ago. That place has one of the highest densities of elk I've ever seen. Get out way before daylight, drive to the end of the roads and listen in the dark. When you hear bugles, and you will hear them, go after them in the dark and be ready when the sun comes up. That will give you a head start on the troublesome guys near the roads.

You drew a great tag. Be aggressive and move in on them when you hear them. Do not go back to camp during the day, rather sit over water and take your nap within shooting distance. You will be surprised how many bulls come in and water by themselves in the middle of a hot day.
 
You are in for a great hunt. Hunt all day nap close to where you heard last morning bugles. They will fire up midday when most guys are in camp.

I camped just off the hwy that bisects unit and i hunted most all parts of unit. That was 10 or so years ago. Biggest elk I have seen was in that unit. Botched a great set up on him.
 
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Well, I have no information on the unit to share, but looks like you've received some good advice. Anyway, welcome to the forum. Good luck on the hunt and looking forward to seeing a dead bull photo or two.
 
I look right at the unit.....BF's advice is golden. Sit in camp after you've filled the tag....
 
Thank you for the help and hopefully pictures will be posted by November. Best of luck to all of you.
 
Oh you are in for some fun
If these pictures do not get you excited nothing will
in the photo thats more clear pic 2 there are 6 elk if you can find them. Pic 1 was 307 yards pic 2 was 197 yards on a crappy camera.
If i can give you one tip stay no closer than 1 mile to a road. Pick the biggest hill you can climb to glass from and look really close to detail these guys hide in the open very well by sucking into bushes and shadows on the downwind side of hills. Hunt from daylight to dark with snacks to hold you out all day. Stay in the southeast corner of the unit to stay away from people or find big hills to climb in the north and west parts of the unit. We glassed these guys up form just over 1.5 miles away then snuck into to them. After the clear picture was taken we snuck up to 75 yards before the wind swirled. As luck would have it we had only cow tags on this hunt but we made some memories for sure. My boys had never smelled elk before this day. My younger son kept saying "those things are huge do you think this little gun would be able to kill one"? He had a .50 muzzleloader on his shoulder. Priceless to this day even though it was last year.
 

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thanks for the pictures, we are planning a scouting trip pretty quick to get a lay of the land so we don't waste time the first day.
 
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