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eagle_eye
Guest
If you had you choice of the 3 tags listed in the title of this thread, which would you choose and why?
Looking forward to your comments.
EE
Looking forward to your comments.
EE
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eagle_eye
Guest
Has anyone ever held a 2nd season rifle tag before? I'm curious as to how skittish the elk and whether they head to their "happy place" down in the bottom of some hell hole.
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30inchbuck
Guest
None of the above
nmelktrout
Very Active Member
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- 1,152
I'd put in for 16F. But, in all seriousness, in some of the Northern Gila units, my experience has been that due to pressure elk will seek shelter on private or on the nastiest of public hell holes after the first rifle or muzzleloader season hunts. In fact, I've seen a herd move miles in a day, crossing from the 16s and into an adjacent unit, just to cross onto a ranch and bed within sight of a road... But, IF you draw a tag and IF you get off the four wheeler trails and hike you will get away from most of our hunters and into animals regardless of season most anywhere in NM.
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eagle_eye
Guest
I would think that the 16A and 16C 2nd rifle season tags would be decent considering the numbers applying for these tags:
1342 residents applying for 98 16A 2nd season rifle tags, and
790 residents applying for 76 tags.
14:1 and 10:1 odds tell me that the tags are, at a minimum, good.
Just was hoping for some stories from people who have hunted in the past. I already know what my 1st choice is going to be, but am undecided on my 2nd and 3rd choice.
1342 residents applying for 98 16A 2nd season rifle tags, and
790 residents applying for 76 tags.
14:1 and 10:1 odds tell me that the tags are, at a minimum, good.
Just was hoping for some stories from people who have hunted in the past. I already know what my 1st choice is going to be, but am undecided on my 2nd and 3rd choice.
nmelktrout
Very Active Member
- Messages
- 1,152
Eagle_eye,
You can also go to the elk harvest reports for the past couple of years which will tell you specifically the number of bull elk that were killed on these hunts. These are much more helpful for me in putting in for tags once I have looked at the draw odds. For 2006: For the 16A first hunt you will see that out of 100 tags, 42 bulls were killed. For the second rifle hunt there were 150 tags and only 28 bulls killed. For 16C first rifle there were 50 tags and 18 bulls killed. Second hunt 100 tags and 20 harvested. Still damned good odds for me considering that I grew up hunting in Colorado, but you can also see that the success ratio drops significantly between the first and second hunts. If you are willing to work hard these can be great hunts but the 16s are like units 2 and 201 in Colorado or unit 9 in Arizona, everybody and their brother puts in for them as they are simply "the" regions in their respective states that have the genetic potential for big bull elk and good success ratios. Undeniably quality hunts but by no means a sure thing for a monster bull. Barring old fashioned luck, I believe that scouting and getting away from four wheelers, roads, and established trails is the key to sucess in these units.
You can also go to the elk harvest reports for the past couple of years which will tell you specifically the number of bull elk that were killed on these hunts. These are much more helpful for me in putting in for tags once I have looked at the draw odds. For 2006: For the 16A first hunt you will see that out of 100 tags, 42 bulls were killed. For the second rifle hunt there were 150 tags and only 28 bulls killed. For 16C first rifle there were 50 tags and 18 bulls killed. Second hunt 100 tags and 20 harvested. Still damned good odds for me considering that I grew up hunting in Colorado, but you can also see that the success ratio drops significantly between the first and second hunts. If you are willing to work hard these can be great hunts but the 16s are like units 2 and 201 in Colorado or unit 9 in Arizona, everybody and their brother puts in for them as they are simply "the" regions in their respective states that have the genetic potential for big bull elk and good success ratios. Undeniably quality hunts but by no means a sure thing for a monster bull. Barring old fashioned luck, I believe that scouting and getting away from four wheelers, roads, and established trails is the key to sucess in these units.
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