New Mexico Archery Elk: Unit 6B - Beauty & Passion

Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Messages
1,186
Location
British Columbia
NM Archery Elk 6B: Valles Caldera NP - Beauty & Passion

Well, starting this thread today. I've got to start somewhere.

I drew the only New Mexico NR Early Archery Unit 6B tag from Sept 1st to Sept 14th. I'm still in disbelief as I type this but I'm headed down to what looks like some absolutely beautiful elk country that are our public lands!!

The story for me started back on January 7th, I had an unfortunate femur fracture from skiing. I broke it in two spots right above my hip and lost 50% of my blood. After two blood transfusions, a titanium rod, three screws, and 11 weeks later I started taking my first steps. I've been hitting physical therapy hard and seeing my trainer daily but now everything has been kicked up a notch, I'm headed to hunt elk in a state I've never stepped foot in.

I want to catalog this one as I doubt I'll ever be this lucky again on a random tag nor will I be going into an amazing hunt off of a femur fracture. I'll be posting updates weekly on my progress with my leg and my preperation for the two weeks I'm allowed to hunt along with the hunt itself. My hunting buddy is beyond psyched to come with me and is also an excellent photographer so I hope to document this one as it happens during the hunt.

If any of you guys have hunted there before, don't be shy to PM but I'm not expecting anything from anyone as I want this to be as DIY or die as possible. E-scouting, boots on the ground, practice calling, practice shooting under all circumstances, practice distance judging, working out, giving everyday during the hunt 110%, full backcountry no-hunting-from-the-truck let's get it done.
 
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chops24

WKR
Joined
Jul 24, 2014
Messages
310
That's a GREAT unit. Ill be in 16D at that time. I will also be watching this thread. congrats!
 
Joined
Oct 17, 2017
Messages
578
Location
Missouri
Congrats on an amazing tag. PM me if you want some basic info. My parents used to own a cabin on the western boundary of the Caldera and I hunted 6a a lot when I was a resident. Walked that fence many of times. I have also hunted in the Caldera 3 times but never the tag holder. My parents frequently draw cow tags in there and in 2015 my dad drew the second rifle bull tag. We got him a small bull after he missed a real nice one were very thrilled considering he was 81 at the time. The place is amazing. My first piece of advice is to get a good mountain bike and ride. They closed all but a couple of roads to vehicles but most of them are maintained and a good way to get around can be the bike. The rut will start very slow most likely but should be good by the 10th. There is a lot of nice bulls in there. I applied for the second archery hunt as first choice every year. You give me hope.


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ORHunter

WKR
Joined
Jun 28, 2015
Messages
360
Location
Oregon
Congrats on the awesome tag and good luck with the recovery!

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Whip

WKR
Joined
Nov 28, 2015
Messages
566
Congrats on the fantastic tag! I've known that adrenaline rush a couple of times and know what you're feeling. It will consume your thoughts before, during and after the hunt. Savor every second! The anticipation, planning and preparation are almost as much fun as the hunt. Enjoy!
 

Scoot

WKR
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
Messages
1,523
Good for you! Amazing tag-- I'll trade ya??? :) Good luck getting ready in all regards. Enjoy the prep and progress and go have a great time in early Sep!
 
Joined
Dec 11, 2013
Messages
13
Location
new mexico
Congrats on the tag! Was up there recently and saw 1000+ head in the valle. Guaranteed a great time that will stick with you.
 
OP
StopMakingSense
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Messages
1,186
Location
British Columbia
Wednesday Update Week 1

Wow I can’t believe it’s only been a week but I’ve learned a ton about this unique unit and have only begun to crack the history of this area. Unless I’m mistaken this is what I’ve found on the history of the draw. Would love to hear anyone else’s take on the history of elk on this unit…

Elk Hunting on the Caldera
• What did they do to the elk prior to the purchase at the Baca Ranch? Guessing they sold landowner tags and the price was probably pretty nuts.
• 2000 – Purchased by the federal government but it was managed at the state level to try and stay profitable, this became an experiment named the Valles Caldera Trust
• 2002 – First lottery conducted, you could buy as many tags as possible, there was no cap on non-residents either, $25 per tag
• 2005 – Moved to the state standard cap of 84% residents, 10% outfitters NR, and 6% NR
• 2014 – Hunters could no longer buy multiple tags, just a single tag per hunt type ($25 Bull, $10 Anterless)
• 2014 – On December 19, 2014 it was handed over to the federal government and the NMDFG began giving out tags in 2016 for unit 6B (Valles Caldera National Preserve or VCNP)
• 2015 – Lottery tags still being sold ($35 Bull, $20 Anterless)
• 2016 – First year Valles Caldera NP (Unit 6B) offered through NM DG&F through the standard draw

Next up I asked, this isn’t an OTC unit, I’m probably never going to draw this again, ok then, what am I going to feel good putting on the ground? GoHunt said it has an average of 340-370 with a 370+ trophy potential however a lot of posts in this unit profile was calling BS. After chatting with a ton of folks, reading posts on the internet it turned to being “Don’t pass on a 320 bull” and to be honest, it left me a bit disappointed. The genes on the unit just don’t produce giants regularly which is fair.

My fact digging started as I hate just reading what someone thinks. I called some outfitters to see what expectations are for a hunt with them and what they’ve actually put down in prior years which fell in line with GoHunt but I’ll be seeing a ton of bulls and we will need to keep pushing until we find the one. Another interesting tidbit I got was that they use to measure every bull out of the unit when it was the trust. It took some scouring the internet but I finally found the statistics. Out of the top three bulls taken each year from 2004-2012 only 5 of the bulls pushed 370+ in size.

My goal, 360+ with a lot of time spent looking for the bull and passing on a lot of opportunities.

With that said, I can’t imagine a more gorgeous piece of land to have an elk hunt and look forward to setting foot there and giving it the full 14 days of the hunt from the 1st to the 14th.

My PT finally had me ditch my crutches at 15 weeks and we’ve started light squatting at 20lbs. Quite a ways to go but I’m confident I’ll be ready come September.

Next week I should be done with Google Earth mapping, starting my gear list, and hopefully understanding all of the rules and regulations that come with the preserve.

This video is absolutely beautiful and got me pumped up.

[video=youtube;IjwX4vusFPY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjwX4vusFPY[/video]
 
Last edited:

Jbark60

FNG
Joined
Oct 2, 2014
Messages
39
A little Info

I was lucky enough to hunt the Caldera as a 12 year old when it was still the Baca Ranch, for cow. A hunt I won by completing hunter safety with perfect scores. I can tell you a young girl killed a 400+ bull in there last year so there are giants in there. I look forward to seeing how you do.
 

mproberts

WKR
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Messages
393
Hopefully they get the rain forecasted this weekend, because that area is still listed under an extreme drought.

"On April 22 in New Mexico, topsoil moisture was 90% very short to short, while subsoil moisture was 92% very short to short. New Mexico’s winter wheat was rated 71% very poor to poor, while rangeland and pastures were 58% very poor to poor... In the hardest-hit drought areas, Southwestern snowpack remained abysmal-or had already melted-leaving little hope for spring and summer runoff. Meanwhile, statewide reservoir storage on April 1 stood at 70% of average for the date in in New Mexico."
 

aggie

FNG
Joined
Dec 25, 2016
Messages
74
Location
Northern California
Will be following along. Should be an awesome one for you!

I did see on GoHunt that hunters would be assigned to a single unit within 6B. What sort of information have you obtained on this? Do you forsee it being any trouble?

Havent seen this before so was curious on how it would work out.
 
Joined
Oct 17, 2017
Messages
578
Location
Missouri
Will be following along. Should be an awesome one for you!

I did see on GoHunt that hunters would be assigned to a single unit within 6B. What sort of information have you obtained on this? Do you forsee it being any trouble?

Havent seen this before so was curious on how it would work out.

Back when it was the trust they assigned individual areas, stating it promoted the quality of the hunt. They would move you if needed and at your request. However, when they went to the preserve you could go where you wanted. My dad drew a bull tag 3 years ago and mom a cow tag last year and you could go where you wanted, with the exception of the areas closed to hunting,
The caldera valley, south if the highway and some of the burn areas.


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Joined
Oct 17, 2017
Messages
578
Location
Missouri
Wednesday Update Week 1

Wow I can’t believe it’s only been a week but I’ve learned a ton about this unique unit and have only begun to crack the history of this area. Unless I’m mistaken this is what I’ve found on the history of the draw. Would love to hear anyone else’s take on the history of elk on this unit…

Elk Hunting on the Caldera
• What did they do to the elk prior to the purchase at the Baca Ranch? Guessing they sold landowner tags and the price was probably pretty nuts.
• 2000 – Purchased by the federal government but it was managed at the state level to try and stay profitable, this became an experiment named the Valles Caldera Trust
• 2002 – First lottery conducted, you could buy as many tags as possible, there was no cap on non-residents either, $25 per tag
• 2005 – Moved to the state standard cap of 84% residents, 10% outfitters NR, and 6% NR
• 2014 – Hunters could no longer buy multiple tags, just a single tag per hunt type ($25 Bull, $10 Anterless)
• 2014 – On December 19, 2014 it was handed over to the federal government and the NMDFG began giving out tags in 2016 for unit 6B (Valles Caldera National Preserve or VCNP)
• 2015 – Lottery tags still being sold ($35 Bull, $20 Anterless)
• 2016 – First year Valles Caldera NP (Unit 6B) offered through NM DG&F through the standard draw

Next up I asked, this isn’t an OTC unit, I’m probably never going to draw this again, ok then, what am I going to feel good putting on the ground? GoHunt said it has an average of 340-370 with a 370+ trophy potential however a lot of posts in this unit profile was calling BS. After chatting with a ton of folks, reading posts on the internet it turned to being “Don’t pass on a 320 bull” and to be honest, it left me a bit disappointed. The genes on the unit just don’t produce giants regularly which is fair.

My fact digging started as I hate just reading what someone thinks. I called some outfitters to see what expectations are for a hunt with them and what they’ve actually put down in prior years which fell in line with GoHunt but I’ll be seeing a ton of bulls and we will need to keep pushing until we find the one. Another interesting tidbit I got was that they use to measure every bull out of the unit when it was the trust. It took some scouring the internet but I finally found the statistics. Out of the top three bulls taken each year from 2004-2012 only 5 of the bulls pushed 370+ in size.

My goal, 360+ with a lot of time spent looking for the bull and passing on a lot of opportunities.

With that said, I can’t imagine a more gorgeous piece of land to have an elk hunt and look forward to setting foot there and giving it the full 14 days of the hunt from the 1st to the 14th.

My PT finally had me ditch my crutches at 15 weeks and we’ve started light squatting at 20lbs. Quite a ways to go but I’m confident I’ll be ready come September.

Next week I should be done with Google Earth mapping, starting my gear list, and hopefully understanding all of the rules and regulations that come with the preserve.

This video is absolutely beautiful and got me pumped up.

[video=youtube;IjwX4vusFPY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjwX4vusFPY[/video]

I think 360 is reasonable to start. This region doesn’t have the genetics of SW NM but definitely some great bulls in there. I have spent a lot of time in and glassing the caldera. When I lived there I would spend hours behind the spotter watching elk. An amazing place, especially in Sept. There will be some big bulls out in the main valley with their herd of cows that you can’t hunt but don’t get distracted, a lot of good areas you can hunt. You will see a lot of 300-340 bulls and they always seemed to be very aggressive because of the high bull to cow ratio and number of mature bulls. I hope you have the best hunt possible and share the experience with us.



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tsloniger

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Mar 29, 2018
Messages
131
Location
Western PA
Congratulations on your fortunate draw”Stopmakingsense”!! Sorry about your misfortune concerning the skiing accident!

My buddy from Idaho drew an early season NR tag for 6A. I’m sure he will be heading there in July or August for a scouting trip. Depending on where you are located it might be a possibility to hook up and share a ride or camp for scouting.

I know he is hunting from Sept 1-16 I NM 6A and then meeting me in Idaho to hunt the later part of Sept.

I’m not able to Send an initial PM on this site just yet but if you wanna pm me maybe I can forward contact info if the 2 of you would like to chat.

I’m still trying to figure out how to break it to my wife that I want to tag along with him for a week before heading to Idaho.

Tom
 
OP
StopMakingSense
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Messages
1,186
Location
British Columbia
Wednesday Update Week 2

Thank you to everyone who has responded thus far, I’ll be getting back to all of you guys.

Google Maps is all done and mapped, I’ve got well over 200 points. I’m sure this will keep increasing but I really just need boots on the ground at this point as I can only get a handle on the terrain so much by looking at a computer. Certainly hasn’t stopped me from pouring over maps, ha. Right now I have:

- Fire layer to show burns
- A layer for the two restricted areas
- All mountain names and rivers that I keep memorizing
- Terrain ridges, canyons, etc... made up informal names for any of the ones I could not find a name for
- Mapped all legal roads and mountain bike trails (Bringing my Yeti SB5 for scouting!!)
- All points of interest to park outside the preserve and walk in from N, W, E
- Rough plans for A, B, C, D etc for scouting areas end of July/August
- Glassing points
- Water and meadows from the satellite
- Lots of other points as well that are random/misc such as parking, historical markers etc...

From here it’s as easy as exporting all of the data and uploading to my GaiaGPS account online. Boom, on my phone and ready to go and edit on the fly when I’m down there.

If anyone is willing to look my map over with me who has experience on the Caldera I would be more then happy to send you my GPS data, I’m in well over 20hours just marking the map.

I’ve also been looking over CalTopo USFS maps. I’m blown away on how many old logging roads are there!

Other then that Brenda at the field office who handles all of the special use permits has been amazing at answering all of the questions pertaining to this unit and the rules that need to be followed. There are quite a few and I want to ensure I respect all of them to the highest degree. She also confirmed there was a 400+ bull on the muzzy from a 16 year old girl, giants do exist...

My leg has been a big focus in the last week and I’ve got x-rays scheduled Monday. I finally hit 50 miles on the road bike with 3k in climbing done in Moab this past week, feeling good but the real question that is an unknown, will I be able to physically do this? Both my physical therapist and personal trainer have their doubts but said it’s within reason. I intend on proving any doubts wrong and come out heavy.
 
Last edited:
OP
StopMakingSense
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Messages
1,186
Location
British Columbia
Hopefully they get the rain forecasted this weekend, because that area is still listed under an extreme drought.

"On April 22 in New Mexico, topsoil moisture was 90% very short to short, while subsoil moisture was 92% very short to short. New Mexico’s winter wheat was rated 71% very poor to poor, while rangeland and pastures were 58% very poor to poor... In the hardest-hit drought areas, Southwestern snowpack remained abysmal-or had already melted-leaving little hope for spring and summer runoff. Meanwhile, statewide reservoir storage on April 1 stood at 70% of average for the date in in New Mexico."

This is something I’ve been watching, thank you for bringing it up. I know some ski areas in North Carolina that got more snow then Taos, blows my mind. Fires and antler growth are my two big concerns here.


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OP
StopMakingSense
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Messages
1,186
Location
British Columbia
Congratulations on your fortunate draw”Stopmakingsense”!! Sorry about your misfortune concerning the skiing accident!

My buddy from Idaho drew an early season NR tag for 6A. I’m sure he will be heading there in July or August for a scouting trip. Depending on where you are located it might be a possibility to hook up and share a ride or camp for scouting.

I know he is hunting from Sept 1-16 I NM 6A and then meeting me in Idaho to hunt the later part of Sept.

I’m not able to Send an initial PM on this site just yet but if you wanna pm me maybe I can forward contact info if the 2 of you would like to chat.

I’m still trying to figure out how to break it to my wife that I want to tag along with him for a week before heading to Idaho.

Tom

PM’ed, would love to hook with your buddy to go down scouting to split gas and talk over our thoughts for the hunt. Thanks man!


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Joined
Dec 11, 2013
Messages
13
Location
new mexico
I think your biggest problem will be drought. The Jemez is a tinder box right now. However, several seeps and stream to keep the elk there. I shot mine the September after the last huge fire. Had zero problems finding elk. They did make me sign a waiver due to all the widow makers in the area I wanted to hunt. Yes, large bulls do exist there if you can stand not shooting the gobs of 300-330 bulls. Relax and enjoy!
 
OP
StopMakingSense
Joined
Oct 17, 2015
Messages
1,186
Location
British Columbia
I think your biggest problem will be drought. The Jemez is a tinder box right now. However, several seeps and stream to keep the elk there. I shot mine the September after the last huge fire. Had zero problems finding elk. They did make me sign a waiver due to all the widow makers in the area I wanted to hunt. Yes, large bulls do exist there if you can stand not shooting the gobs of 300-330 bulls. Relax and enjoy!

Yeah the more and more I looked into the draught the more insane I'm realizing how it is right now. Talked to a few folks who were up on the turkey hunt, prey for rain was the conclusion.
 

mtntop

FNG
Joined
Apr 20, 2018
Messages
28
Location
NM
I’ll be on the 2nd hunt. 😉. Don’t shoot my bull! I’m not sure one place is as good as another. Elk should be dispersed throughout.
 
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