16E DIY Bull Elk

[TFAvalanche]

Hi y’all! I finally got lucky and drew a Muzzy Bull Elk tag for 16E NM. Absolutely stoked to have the opportunity this year on a hunt I’ve waited a long time for. Thought I’d share my good fortune for my first post here and ask if anyone has any words of wisdom to offer up.

 

[KHNC]

Yep, good luck and dont post your unit # on a public forum. The Gila is awesome!

 

[Scoot]

You'll have a fun hunt! The Gila is a wonderful place and I can't wait to get back there this year myself! Not sure about you, but I'm going to shoot a biggun this year!

 

[TFAvalanche]

You'll have a fun hunt! The Gila is a wonderful place and I can't wait to get back there this year myself! Not sure about you, but I'm going to shoot a biggun this year!

With the amount of rain we’ve been seeing and the runoff from up north antler growth should be pretty solid so I’m planning on the same thing myself sir! I don’t know if you could really qualify 16E as the Gila though as you’re pretty much north of the last true “Gila” peaks. The two ranges that are there remind me of more typical high desert with trees. Makes for a LOT of walking and avoiding others on ATVs


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[805Bowhunter]

That is awesome. I have been applying for that tag for a very long time (archery) and never got lucky enough to draw it. Have a tremendous hunt and please post how it goes when you are done.

 

[TFAvalanche]

That is awesome. I have been applying for that tag for a very long time (archery) and never got lucky enough to draw it. Have a tremendous hunt and please post how it goes when you are done.

Thanks for the well wishes Bow, I plan on having the GoPro strapped on to share some pics and film my inevitable mistakes.


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[Scoot]

I don’t know if you could really qualify 16E as the Gila though as you’re pretty much north of the last true “Gila” peaks. The two ranges that are there remind me of more typical high desert with trees.

True! Lots of antelope country in 16E too, but there are elk in that sage country (but don't tell anyone that- it's a huge secret! Haha). Regardless of whether it's true Gila or not, it's a good draw for you and you'll have fun! So will I and my excitement is growing by the day! Shooting my bow daily, working out 5x/week, starting to organize my gear, etc. I leave Sep. 3rd and I'm excited! Good luck when you get out there!

 

[TFAvalanche]

True! Lots of antelope country in 16E too, but there are elk in that sage country (but don't tell anyone that- it's a huge secret! Haha). Regardless of whether it's true Gila or not, it's a good draw for you and you'll have fun! So will I and my excitement is growing by the day! Shooting my bow daily, working out 5x/week, starting to organize my gear, etc. I leave Sep. 3rd and I'm excited! Good luck when you get out there!

A whole lotta speed goats you’re right about that. I’m really happy with the draw and looking forward to a great hunt. You’re spot on about fitness too, that country isn’t for the weak. Good luck to you too sir!


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[Bdub85]

That’s great. Good luck.

 

[TFAvalanche]

Took a drive up to the unit to poke around the access points I had scouted using OnX and old school google maps. Quite a lot of trails that looked great ended up being a dead end leaving a 6-8 mile hike into areas I had wanted to see. Everything I read about 16E access was spot on, it doesn’t really exist. Contacted NMGF and spoke with the officer for the area and he was a great help with some lingering questions. I was able to get into some outlying country on the far western edge to stretch my legs after the drive and spotted some great looking bulls. Hopefully the archery guys had a great season this year.


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[chops24]

Quite a lot of trails that looked great ended up being a dead end leaving a 6-8 mile hike into areas I had wanted to see. Everything I read about 16E access was spot on, it doesn’t really exist.

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Thats the key to that unit, that and not letting the lava rocks break your ankles or your will. ive taken a couple of bulls out of E and there are some excellent bulls in there. Good luck and keep in mind once you get out of the truck/atv, you will be in the minority and will have an edge.

 

[banded_drake]

Good luck on the hunt

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[TFAvalanche]

Id like to thank everyone that gave me advice and insight into this years hunt. Range boxes are all packed, weapon zeroed, and headed out tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be back in a week with some monster pics!

 

[cmbbulldog]

Good luck, post pics!

 

[lowpressure]

Id like to thank everyone that gave me advice and insight into this years hunt. Range boxes are all packed, weapon zeroed, and headed out tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be back in a week with some monster pics!

So howd it go?

 

[TFAvalanche]

Well, the pain from the hunt just about wore off. So I guess I'm ready to talk about how it went out there. I had done some in person scouting of the camp area I wanted to be in for opening morning. My job did not get the memo however and I ended up not leaving for camp until well past 5pm. I finally arrived in the Magdalena area around 9pm and turned off the main road just after ten. I had saved all the GPS locations I had planned to use via ONX maps on my cell. For whatever reason when I lost service I was unable to use my off-line saved content. Thankfully I had been looking at my points via laptop all day and I had not closed it on the way up, the WI-FI in my truck had kept the map updated while I was driving and I had a high resolution map of the whole area. Using land nav techniques (Go Army!) with my brights and having scouted once before I was able to find camp where my buddy from Albuquerque was waiting. We had met up a few weeks prior when I was in town and I gave him a handheld and told him to turn it on starting at 1900 and do 30 min radio checks until I was within transmitting distance.

With it almost midnight at this point, I decided to just sleep in the truck and be up in a few hours to head out to the spot I had picked out. Unfortunately sleep did not find me, and all I could think about was all the other trucks I had passed on the way to my campsite.

We got up around 4am and James had the coffee on, so we started going over the laptop map of the days plan. We decided to head down a nearby finger and walk to a spot that would give us the advantage of what we hoped was a path for the Elk to travel from water and food to their beds. As we walked I heard a faint call and turned around and within 300 yards was an dark red 5x5, and a spike crossing behind us. We grabbed cover and watched for a bit. I decided to put a stalk on the 5x5 but could not cross the hundred yards of open field as the spike was off to my right and already jumpy. The rest of the morning was spent cactching glimpses of multiple bulls as they moved but I believe they were being pushed by other hunters from the other side of the mesa, as they were not at a fast trot through the area.

Here's the first guy we put a stalk on, the spike is out of frame just to the right of the bush at the edge. He was about 260 from me at this point, and I was set on taking one at a hundred or less.

The next two days saw no activity except for some mule deer. We probably put almost 10 to 12 miles on a day throughout the unit. Unfortunately the third day we stalked out what looked like a great spot to glass and when we packed up we stumbled on an Elk carcass that had been quartered the night before. Public hunting can be rough.

Day 4 I woke up feeling half getting desperate and half excited. I was solo as James had to return to work, so I headed for a spot that I had scouted previously on foot . I set myself up on a rock outcropping, between a line of natural drift and a water source. As the sun came up I saw two bulls wandering on the canyon floor below me and when they split one headed opposite my way and the other straight towards. I ranged him initially at 500 plus, so I laid there and said every prayer I could think of while he closed the gap. He was a Gila monster, 6x7 from what I could count when he crossed the 300 mark through the binos. I ran through all my checks, primer set, hammer back, reviewed my range tables in my mind. I had planned on letting him get between 50 and a hundred and taking him whenever he profiled. As I watched him in my scope,he stopped at 220, ears turned up, and he was gone. I watched him run through the meadow and couldn't help but notice he was beautiful. I double checked everything... no wind change, nothing moved, no glint off the scope. His ears told me that he may have been spooked so I thought I would watch and see if a cat or bear came wandering out. 5 mins later, I heard the distinct jingle of horse tack and people laughing INCREDIBLY LOUD. I had somehow chosen my spot in the middle of some dude ranch's horseback tour of a real gen-u-wine box canyon like the Louie L'amour books talk about. I about shot the first horse. I walked past them and gave the lead horse rider the coldest stare I could and he mumbled somethin about public hunts and sorry mister... I got to camp and packed out a day early.

This was the a portion of the rock outcropping I was laid up against. Sure is beautiful out there.

So... thats my 16E muzzy story.

Some things I learned about the unit, since I see a lot of questions but not a lot of answers.

1) There is NO phone access no matter your carrier, bring sat link if you want to communicate
2) There is a LOT of private land, knowing where you're at is invaluable due to some not-so-friendly landowners
3) RMEF is credited with opening up road access to Luera Peak, this is not a road, this a lava rock filled two track with a gate to access, your Chevy won't fit
4) Expect a decent stalking spot to be blown out by either a dude ranch tour or your neighbor and his kids on a side by side flying by on his way to his private spot
5) Magdalena is not that far during the day and they have gas and diesel, even a restaurant and bar. At night, its REALLY far away
6) I ran into a Game and Fish checkpoint on my way out, friendly guys and seemed geniunuely bummed I did not tag out. They do not mess around though and had a seized truck and trailer with a dead head being wrapped up. New Mexico law enforcement is tough on offenders, and helpful to law-abiding hunters.
7) All the tanks that I had researched were dry except for one and the area experienced greater than average rainfall in the summer and early fall.
8) A 16E tag is not the Gila Forest, at all. It is a large open prarie with two small mountain ranges in between
like this. Badass Antelope though...
9) At the end of the day, you're still Elk hunting, so try and enjoy!

 

[stonewall]

Thanks for sharing. Sorry you didn't get the tag filled

 

[gburk]

thanks for the writeup. Sorry it didn't work out, sounds like a fair bit of frustration. probably a good thing you didn't shoot the horse

 

[Paul B]

Great info. I drew the 2nd archery hunt in there for September. This has been helpful

 

[Brooks]

16E = BIG country !!