New Mexico unit 51 setting my goal too high?

[atshumaker]

I just got back from scouting the northern and central areas of 51A this past weekend. I have a December muzzleloader tag for this year and wanted to see the country I've been e-scouting. I drove from Hopewell south to Mogote Peak and then east and south out of the unit to El Rito. It was about 50 miles on some rough and rocky roads and it took me two full days of driving. I have a 2017 Tacoma which did fine but the roads were dry. I decided I won't be going all the way back to the central part of the unit in December as I am imagining/hoping for snow and if the elk have migrated down I will have wasted lots of time driving.

I think rifle or archery would be amazing. I only spent two nights but ran into many bugling bulls in the north and got within bow range of a solid 5x5 maybe 5x6 and a raghorn. I was 3/4 mile from my camp and there were three others bugling keeping my wife up in the morning haha. I was excited, but don't worry i didn't push. Granted this past weekend was in between seasons but I am used to Colorado crowds so it was nice to see only a few people and lots of elk.

lmk what questions you have and I'd be happy to share what I learned. Might ask for a return favor after your hunt!

Hey there! I drew 51 archery, 2nd season. Would love to chat about your 2023 hunt.

 

[tom_89]

Hey everyone, I have a New Mexico unit 51 rifle elk tag for the third rifle season (Oct. 21-25). I'm hoping to get a little more information about this unit. I have never done an out of state hunt, only hunted locally in southwest Montana. I am able to fill my elk tag every year so I have a decent understanding of what it takes to kill an elk in general units here in Montana. I won't be able to drive down to do any scouting or looking around before my season dates. I do plan to arrive 3-4 days before the season to do some scouting. From what I understand its a big unit and there are lots of roads. When hunting in my home state I prefer to hunt as far from roads as possible but it looks like in a lot of unit 51 the furthest you can get from a motorized road is about 2 miles. I've also heard that many locals take trucks and atv's down non-motorized roads. One of my concerns is the motorized traffic and how it will affect the elk behavior? Another is, with it being the 3rd rifle season, what affect the first two rifle seasons will have on elk behavior? My goal for this hunt is to harvest a mature bull, ideally a 6 point bull. I will be hunting with my brother so it won't be a solo hunt. We are willing to pack a bull out of any canyon or hole in the unit. We're going into this hunt with the mindset of no bull too far, too deep, too steep etc. What can I expect for mature bull behavior during the time of my hunt? Do they all go to private? Do they go nocturnal? I would imagine there are only small windows of time in the AM and PM to catch them on there feet. I would also guess by that time of year the mature bulls are off by themselves recovering from the rut. Are there certain areas or terrain features I should focus on to find an older bull? I'm not looking for waypoints, just basically wondering if we hunt very hard the whole time we're down there, will turning up a mature bull be more a matter of luck than hunting skill or effort?

By third season, the mature bulls are often on private or in the deepest public they can find. They will not be out in the open. Hunt the transition zones between bedding and feeding. Glass early and late. Then go after them. It is not just luck. But there is some luck involved.

 

[CowboyLeroy]

51 is a big unit with a lot of tags, the last two days before the season are probably going to be worth more than the last two days of the season. If at all possible id try to get there early and know where he was at first light of the first day.