Early Archery Unit 16C!

letemgrow · May 15, 2015

My cousin and I drew the first archery hunt in unit 16C and we are pumped!

Never hunted the Gila; but have done the muzzy hunt in Unit 36, as well as archery in OR, CO, and Wy several times.

Have heard that waterholes can be good, but have also read that outfitters can hit them hard.

Anyone have any general advice?

Thanks,

letemgrow

ixsolracxi · May 16, 2015

congrats on the tag...my buddy at work has the same hunt...try running a search through the current posts and archives, there are a lot of threads on 16C...you can get a lot of information from them...people will reply here too...I always saw elk in the indian pks area in the north-central part of the unit...good luck

coryb · May 16, 2015

I have over 50 days and nights on the ground in 16C and can let you know what I've learned. Give me a call at 505.304.2363.

Cory

tooele · May 16, 2015

I used to reply to posts on 16 C, I've spent a lot of time in there. I'll give you my honest post and I won't say anything different if you PM me.

1. Tough hunt, especially the early hunt. Not in the same class as a hunt in 16 D, A or 15. Probably similar to a 16 E hunt.

2. According to the harvest odds, you probably won't Kill a bull. I can verify shots are few and far between on mature bulls in that season.

3. There are a few giant bulls in there, but remember you are competing for 2 or 3 of these bulls with an outfitter that lives in the center of the unit and scouts the entire year.

4. There are elk in all areas of the unit, so pick an area and focus on that area, as it is easy to drive around the unit, you can get caught up in trying to cover too much area.

5. There are elk in the indian cienega area, but it is also one of the most hunted areas.

6. Water can be good if its dry, but it usually is not dry as the hunt is just after the monsoons and there are a ton of tanks in the unit. There are a few unmarked trick tanks around the unit, but again, plenty of water so no real advantages.

Good luck to you.

letemgrow · May 24, 2015

i have read that the elk in 16c tend to ignore calls, vs 16a,b and d. Does this unit just have a higher quota, and more overall pressure?

Thomas11 · May 25, 2015

It has less of a quota than A or B. But my experience there with calling wasn't really great. They didn't pay a lot of attention to it And the elk didn't bugle a great deal either