January ibex questions

Elkangle

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Jun 16, 2016
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891
Not sure if ibex goes in the sheep or goat so if it needs to be moved that's fine

January ibex...going to be 30 hours of driving one way...can bring trailer,quads, wall tents and the works if needed...

Or just fly and rent...are the roads good enough for a rental ?? Can you rent a side by side ??

Atm we will be planning on sleeping on the mtn for as long as we can weather/water pending...so the idea of hauling a bunch of non needed things 60 hours is starting to set in.

I guess I'm just sick of driving so much :cautious:

Thanks
 

Danomite

Lil-Rokslider
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Dec 8, 2016
Messages
188
Location
New Mexico
You could fly into El Paso or Las Cruces and rent a truck. A car would't have the clearance you'd need on the roads near the mountain. There's a chance of ruining a tire on rocks and you'll probably pick up some pinstriping. I've only done the nanny hunt and killed on the first day, but I think staying on the mountain would be the way to go for the archery hunt. The hike up to where the animals live is a butt kicker. The limitation will be how much water you can carry because there isn't any on top. I'm happy to discuss specifics of where I camped and hunted by pm if you'd like.

Thanks,
Daniel
 

TX_Diver

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Joined
May 27, 2019
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Most of the roads could be okay for a rental depending on the weather. You will need an SUV (preferably with 4x4) and to go SLOW though. There are a few places you wouldn't get to but then again I'm not sure you'd want to take your personal truck through em either. I probably wouldn't take my truck through some of those washes again!

Feel free to stay on the mountain if you want to suffer. Of course climbing up each day also sucks, so probably just prepare to suffer regardless. I ended up camping at rockhound which was great for me. Having a shower everynight and running water was was nice and I mostly hunted from the West side which was pretty easy to get to from there as there are lots of fingers off the paved road to the base of the mountain. The road around the East side of the mountain sucked way more IMO.

I hunted in October and never even got close to drawing my bow. That said they are up there and a few are taken with the bow every year. Where you driving from?

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Payback

FNG
Joined
Apr 26, 2020
Messages
29
I’m going to be out there in October with a bow and would like to see this thread keep going.

There’s a lot of opinions on sleeping on the mountain. TX_Diver would you do it differently if you were going again?

Danomite, any lessons learned? I heard they’re easy to find, hard to get to. Do you agree with that?

Elkangle, how’s it go for you?
 

TX_Diver

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May 27, 2019
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2,203
I'd definitely rent a camper and use it again. Sleeping on the mountain sounded miserable. My buddy who did it didn't get an ibex either. He suffered a lot more than I did.

Main thing I'd do different is focus on one area a bit more and get to know it better. I spent a lot of time checking different areas that could've been spent getting familiar with a smaller area and maybe hunting it more effectively.

I'd also bring a buddy if I could, mainly as I wasn't comfortable hiking down the mountain on my own in the dark. I'd definitely go again without a buddy anyways, but that'd be a nice bonus.
 

Zzyzx

FNG
Joined
Sep 10, 2020
Messages
26
I've had the ML Billy tag twice. Archery Ibex is nearly impossible except for the locals who know where to place the hunter at a "pinch point" and then send a second man to drive the ibex to the shooter.

The guides have left a few of these pinch points marked with fluorescent tape (in Mahoney park) and elsewhere.

I would not camp on top of the main Florida mountains. Glass from bottoms and identify your Billy before hiking up. Note that kowa outfitter has now locked the gate on the good radio tower road to top of the Little Florida mountains. Don't forget to hunt the baby florida's also as pressure pushes them north to that little Rock (from the littles).

Can no longer take even a jeep to the old mining cabin at top at mahoney Park. Huge washout between 2015 and 2016.

Also need high clearance 4wd to get in to mahoney Park (at bottom).

PM me if you want more info.
 

easttex

Lil-Rokslider
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Feb 1, 2013
Messages
172
OP referenced "we". That is good because the Floridas are one place I personally would be hesitant to hunt alone.
 

FLAK

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Jan 22, 2014
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Gulf Coast
I been to the Floridas in Jan. and If I ever go again I'll be in the
same Hotel to get out of that cold and wind for the night.
Not to mention a hot shower and a good meal really helped
my attitude.
 
OP
E

Elkangle

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Jun 16, 2016
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OP referenced "we". That is good because the Floridas are one place I personally would be hesitant to hunt alone.

Ya it was me an my brother, we spent two solid weeks on the mtn...definitely learned alot..this is far from an impossible hunt..the mtn is not nearly as bad as we had in our minds and there was a few missed shots and opptunities that resulted in an unfilled tag

For those with the tag feel free to pm questions as I appreciate the feed back I got so its the least I can do in return....

Biggest issue we had was archery....just get it in your mind that you will be shooting 100 yards at very steep angles at a very small animal...you need to be dialed...perfect...take archery lessons regardless of how experienced you are..take a harness...learn to use it...have a team of 2 spotters down low and one person with shooter to help in the seetp sections and over all be safe and make good decisions

Find a place to shoot 100 yards up and down a cliff...idc how far of a drive or if its off a bridge...get that form down...

Friggin Ibex opened a can worms with me...pretty much work at it every day now
 

chops24

WKR
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Jul 24, 2014
Messages
310
Great to see a post hunt wrap up with solid advice! Sucks you didn’t fill your tag but that hunt is a SOB!
 

FlyGuy

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If you rent a truck, specifically a 4x4 you will probably be ok. Roads were not terrible, its mostly very flat in the area surrounding the mountains themselves, but there are several washes to drive through, especially on the south side, that will require high clearance. Also, lots of mesquite pin-striping to be expected. If you stick to driving on the Northern half you should be fine in a rental I would expect, and plenty of goats up there to keep you busy. No way you will hunt the entire range in one trip anyway (at least, not effectively). An ATV would be ideal for getting around tho. A camper would have been nice as well. So much dirt and so much wind. I had a floorless Tut at the bottom as my basecamp and everything inside it was covered in red dirt when I got back to it a few days later.

For camping on the mountain, I used my Supertarp, but if I were doing it again I would take a bivy sack and a sheep tarp. This would allow me to bed down into some really tight holes nearer to the ridgeline and saved me 400' of steep vertical climb each morning in the dark, and decent each evening in the dark. The super was just too big for any of those spots and the wind was ripping over the top of the ridgeline at ~ 50mph all day everyday. It was one of the toughest hunts I've ever done, but hope to draw the tag again one day!

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OP
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Elkangle

WKR
Joined
Jun 16, 2016
Messages
891
Great to see a post hunt wrap up with solid advice! Sucks you didn’t fill your tag but that hunt is a SOB!

It was my brothers tag...I was just the spotter

It sucks but it really lit a fire...sometimes ya need alil failure to do that...I might even start saving some pennies to just buy a tag... prolly going to Asia now in the next few years 🤣 but the NM Ibex is going down...one way or another
 
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