NM unit 31

Jambofa · Mar 17, 2017

Hey everyone, long time reader on MM first time poster. Was thinking about putting in for unit 31 rifle Nov 18-22. Just wondering what to expect and how the deer numbers or any decent bucks? Not looking for anyone's secret spot just an idea of the hunt in general.

Thanks

Deez

iccyman001 · Mar 17, 2017

My friend shot a beautiful buck out there last year.
Plan and simple, get out and find the deer because they are there.

You'll see road hunters and people scattered all around.
Just walk further and hunt harder than them, you'll get into them!

Good luck!

tomvern85 · Mar 17, 2017

Good advice Iccy

Ltsheets · Mar 17, 2017

Quality deer can be found in all the Sandhills units. Just depends if you're willing to hunt hard enough to find them.

sn_outdoors · Mar 18, 2017

>My friend shot a beautiful buck
>out there last year.
>Plan and simple, get out and
>find the deer because they
>are there.
>
>You'll see road hunters and people
>scattered all around.
>Just walk further and hunt harder
>than them, you'll get into
>them!
>
>
>Good luck!

Don't listen to Dan. There are no big deer in 31... At least not after last year ;-)

It's a great tag, and you'll find bucks of all sizes. Most hunters settle for smaller bucks, so spend some time scouting and you'll find some really good deer. The unit is huge and there's tons of public land. Since I'm not putting in for it this year, I wish you good look and hope you draw.

"The man on top of the mountain didn't fall there." -Vince Lombardi

JSTWIG22 · Apr 2, 2017

Can you kind of give me a general area to hunt the sandhills in Unit 31?

Ltsheets · Apr 2, 2017

If able, get out and spend some time in the unit covering ground and glassing and you're likely to find deer. How far do u live from the unit?

>Can you kind of give me
>a general area to hunt
>the sandhills in Unit 31?
>

JSTWIG22 · Apr 3, 2017

Can you recommend some maps that show the public land? I live 600 miles from the unit, so hard to go scout but I plan on checking it out sometime before the hunt...if I draw a tag...thanks for any info

sn_outdoors · Apr 3, 2017

>Can you recommend some maps that
>show the public land? I
>live 600 miles from the
>unit, so hard to go
>scout but I plan on
>checking it out sometime before
>the hunt...if I draw a
>tag...thanks for any info

This is a good start.

http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/wp-...management-unit-map-boundaries-highres-31.pdf

In my experience, you will find deer on just about every chunk of land. It could take a lot of walking to find a core area, but once you do, you'll be surprised at the number of deer out there. There isn't a giant behind every dune, but plenty of respectable bucks out there.

"The man on top of the mountain didn't fall there." -Vince Lombardi

mpaulson44 · May 5, 2017

Lol people saying "walk further than everyone else" you cant walk 500 yards without hitting a oil road, 31 is covered in roads. Its virtually all oil field. My suggestion would be to glass and glass and glass. Find a high dune, pull your truck up on it (if by a two track) jump on top of your truck and glass.

Ltsheets · May 5, 2017

I agree with the glassing advice but not with the road part. It is possible to find areas in this unit that are more than a mile from a road or 2 track. I've been there.

>Lol people saying "walk further than
>everyone else" you cant walk
>500 yards without hitting a
>oil road, 31 is covered
>in roads. Its virtually all
>oil field. My suggestion would
>be to glass and glass
>and glass. Find a high
>dune, pull your truck up
>on it (if by a
>two track) jump on top
>of your truck and glass.
>

mpaulson44 · May 12, 2017

LAST EDITED ON May-12-17 AT 08:53AM (MST)[p]>I agree with the glassing advice
>but not with the road
>part. It is possible to
>find areas in this unit
>that are more than a
>mile from a road or
>2 track. I've been there.
>
>
>>Lol people saying "walk further than
>>everyone else" you cant walk
>>500 yards without hitting a
>>oil road, 31 is covered
>>in roads. Its virtually all
>>oil field. My suggestion would
>>be to glass and glass
>>and glass. Find a high
>>dune, pull your truck up
>>on it (if by a
>>two track) jump on top
>>of your truck and glass.
>>

Yeah I know those areas are usually where you will find me with that being said, I Guided 2 decent bucks in the unit this last year and had a client miss a couple great opportunities. Ive probably spent something like 50 days out of the year in that sand country and it always makes me laugh the amount of people that just bail out of the truck and take off walking or just drive and never stop and glass. Countless times Ive watched people drive or walk right by mature bucks. Obviously just like anything its nice to get away from people and roads but its the oil field and those deer are used to it so dont just assume there isnt any deer just because your too close to an oil location.

The bucks dont score but first was aged around 6 and second was 7-8. Just quality mature bucks.

Ltsheets · May 12, 2017

mpaulson44,

Those are some awesome deer! I wasn't saying you can't glass them from trucks by any means. I'm only speaking from my experience where I bump into "road hunters" and they haven't seen anything supposedly other than young bucks and does while my friend and I who had been walking and glassing from high dunes had bucks to choose from. This is definitely not me saying I'm a primo hunter at all as we were both rookies at the time. Just saying I think you see more in an area away from roads if you can find them. Just my .02.

muleybeast · May 12, 2017

That's a great area. Let sheets has the best advice for hunting an area like that. Those deer are in nice little pockets but they are not afraid to get up and leave the area either. Maybe drag a road at night. Come back in early and look for big tracks. This works.

Jambofa · May 31, 2017

>Can you recommend some maps that
>show the public land? I
>live 600 miles from the
>unit, so hard to go
>scout but I plan on
>checking it out sometime before
>the hunt...if I draw a
>tag...thanks for any info

Thanks for hijacking my
thread.

That being said, what's the early Outlook on deer down in the land of enchantment?

plough · Dec 14, 2017

im 62 yrs old and have lived in the northern part of 31 my whole life...draw a tag and come in here with just a map and no guide or local info youre just pisn in the wind...there are some giant bucks here...they are totally nocturnal til the rut..jan bow is the best..you gotta have private land access to have a decent chance at a grande..575-799-5342

Prime_Beef · Dec 15, 2017

Unbelievable. That's a really encouraging post there, sport. I guess everyone should just forget about hunting public land in New Mexico. After all, you'll never see anything 'cause the bucks are all nocturnal and you're wasting your time unless you shell out a lot of cash to hunt on someone's damned ranch. What a load of horse dung.

TLowell02 · Dec 15, 2017

No kidding. Sounds like someone is either bitter about their hunt or they know something. There are plenty of deer in 31, the difficult part is drawing a tag - especially for a non-res. I wouldn't be surprised to see it become a "high demand" unit soon.

Servehim · Dec 15, 2017

>im 62 yrs old and have
>lived in the northern part
>of 31 my whole life...draw
>a tag and come in
>here with just a map
>and no guide or local
>info youre just pisn in
>the wind...there are some giant
>bucks here...they are totally nocturnal
>til the rut..jan bow is
>the best..you gotta have private
>land access to have a
>decent chance at a grande..575-799-5342
>

Humm....disagree with most of this except the Jan bow hunt being prime time

plough · Dec 20, 2017

>Unbelievable. That's a really encouraging
>post there, sport. I
>guess everyone should just forget
>about hunting public land in
>New Mexico. After all,
>you'll never see anything 'cause
>the bucks are all nocturnal
>and you're wasting your time
>unless you shell out a
>lot of cash to hunt
>on someone's damned ranch. What
>a load of horse dung.
>

plough · Dec 20, 2017

>Unbelievable. That's a really encouraging
>post there, sport. I
>guess everyone should just forget
>about hunting public land in
>New Mexico. After all,
>you'll never see anything 'cause
>the bucks are all nocturnal
>and you're wasting your time
>unless you shell out a
>lot of cash to hunt
>on someone's damned ranch. What
>a load of horse dung.
>

plough · Dec 20, 2017

>>Unbelievable. That's a really encouraging
>>post there, sport. I
>>guess everyone should just forget
>>about hunting public land in
>>New Mexico. After all,
>>you'll never see anything 'cause
>>the bucks are all nocturnal
>>and you're wasting your time
>>unless you shell out a
>>lot of cash to hunt
>>on someone's damned ranch. What
>>a load of horse dung.
>>

plough · Dec 20, 2017

LAST EDITED ON Dec-20-17 AT 10:15PM (MST)[p]wow u guys are tuff..i said i lived in the north end of 31... i should have said that i know about the north part of 31...from clovis to the arch hiway...im not bitter bout any thing...if u come in the northern part of 31 with just a map from 600 miles away and dont have connections ur pisn in the wind!!!! too much private land and the locals have got all the public land figured out...ive got some private land leased and i resent the attitude about overpriced ranch hunts...thats why i had the cojones the leave my fone number..im a hunter too!!