Gila Processor

[yfarm]

Had an interesting conversation with the instructor today. Has been packing in the Gila for over 25 years and says the elk population is a fraction of what it was due to the reintroduction of Mexican wolves 20 yrs ago by USFWS with the consent of NMFG. Reading comments on this thread from locals about current consitions makes me wonder how good it was 20 yrs ago.

 

[Keener22]

And just to let you know, our own resident odds for most of the better hunts in the Gila is 1%.

Off topic, but I think you may want to look at the draw odds again.

 

[Gila]

Had an interesting conversation with the instructor today. Has been packing in the Gila for over 25 years and says the elk population is a fraction of what it was due to the reintroduction of Mexican wolves 20 yrs ago by USFWS with the consent of NMFG. Reading comments on this thread from locals about current consitions makes me wonder how good it was 20 yrs ago.

I wasn’t around 20 years ago but the historical data shows that much of that is not true. First off the wolves. There are not very many wolves left in the Gila. Some years ago now, they were trapped and released at the NWR over 150 miles away. You will probably not even encounter any wolves there. I have heard them once in a while at night. I do know that during the archery season they move in and clean up the wounded elk. I have seen that. But after archery season, they move out again.

The calf recruitment is quite high. The bull to cow ratio is quite high for some of the 16 units, 16A being one of them. The elk population in the 16s has been stable or slightly increasing. The hunting in 16A,D is as good as it gets. You can go there with the goal being to shoot a 330-350 point bull and do it! It is common to see over a hundred elk, a dozen bulls with 3 or 4 of them potential wall hangers for just a 5 day rifle hunt. That’s the Gila and that is why tags are so hard to get around here. And yes, they don’t give out very many tags because we want to keep it a trophy unit with quality hunts. And yes, it is difficult for residents to draw a public lands tag there as well.

 

[Wheels]

I started hunting the Gila in the early’90’s and the elk hunting was top notch, lots of cows and bulls, including really big bulls. I’ve only been averaging a tag every 8 years since the mid 2000’s and have seen a big reduction in the number of elk. Have heard they are shooting too many cows, but don’t know that first hand.

 

[Psebowhuner]

loopmtz if you see this (or anybody else tell him lol)can u call me about your PSE you have for sale I can't post on classified ads due to be a new guy. 7zero4-5zero7-2228 I'm in the Charlotte NC​

I hope I'm not breaking no rules here. But it's hard to find left handed bows.