What the happened to unit 15

[kykiller]

I've been hunting unit 15 first muzzy on and off for about the last 8 years,and in those years i saw a unit that was full of elk(bulls,cows and calfs)to a unit that resembles an over the counter unit in colorado.To me the herd is at least half the size or less than it was eight years ago and the quality and quanity of bulls have been cut in half or more.Yeah it did rain most of the hunt,but i got there a week early to scout and it was like a wasteland compared to what it use to be-What's the deal,wolves,too many land owner tags?Meanwhile the F&G keep putting that first season back a week every other year (i know to reduce hunter success)but the keep that money flowing in while the herd has been destroyed-any thoughts or comments on other unit 15 hunters,because too me it's not worth the time and money to hunt that unit anymore and will start looking at other options for next year.Thank you F&G for destroying a once great elk hunt but the still get there money!!!!!

 

[AAA173]

From what ive heard wolves i know a rancher down there the off spring have been next to nothing hes said.

 

[NMBugleJunky]

Blame the Department? That's funny. Blame the wolf lovers and there precious wolves!

 

[hank4elk]

Don't know if it's just wolves,poachers or the weather.
There were more elk than ever in 15,12,13,16's 3 mo ago. Now they are hard to find.
I have them at my place at night only now.

I only saw 1 bull,4 cows and a calf in 7 days, 5 hunting, in the Gila.
I played dodge elk driving down to my camp.
I heard them every day but could not find any,even with what little glassing I could do in 6 days of heavy T-storms.
Talked to 5 hunters who saw a total of 1 cow.

 

[cosmic_cowboy]

Its PAST Time to take the Wolf problem in our own hands !!! SSS
Or its gona be to late, if its not already.
Jack

 

[kykiller]

I talked to two ranchers while i was up there for two weeks.The cattle rancher told me that the wolves had killed 75% of his calf crop and another rancher that had mostly horses and goats, lost five of his ten goats to wolves.It is really sad what has become of that unit,something has to be donewith the wolves because it's not worth time and money to hunt a wasteland!!!!!

 

[lovehunting]

I can tell you that my son and I hunted that unit six times with youth elk tags. We saw wolves 5 out of the 6 times there. We did manage to kill a cow elk 5 out of the six times. Here is how I see it. Wolves are like a dog, they go into heat more than once a year, a conservative litter of 6 pups let's say 3 make it, and the ##### goes into heat twice a year? Lot more wolves there then they are saying..

 

[JustMuleys]

Where do those northern (Fox Mountain) Bulls usually winter?

 

[Elkextreme]

Good morning, just got back from my Unit 15, 2nd smoke pole hunt, it was a tough hunt. This is the 1st time hunting it people always talked about how good this unit was for great size Bulls. We hunted hard for 4.5 days saw about 60-70 cows with 15 calfs and only 1 good size bull at a distance very little bugles. No big bulls saw 4 spikes and & 2 satellite Bulls, but we heard lots wolves howling.
I hunted with a friend who's an outfitter and he also said that during the archery it was good, but he couldn't believe how bad the 2nd smoke pole hunt (sucked).
Unit 16 A was great saw several 380 class Bulls pulled out, a buddy of mine pulled a nice 300 on the last day his son jumped a few Bulls himself.
So what's the deal here? Are the wolves having an inpact the changing of the hunting dates or are the Bulls moving to other units.
15 is a great unit for cow, Bulls? Looks like I'll be applying for northern units for Bulls again. What are your opinions?

 

[BUGLEnmIN]

Of course the wolves are having negative impacts on the elk herds in the gila. Some places just more than others.The unit i hunt seems to be doing fine (FOR NOW) I did stroll through the northern tip of 15 the first week of October and the bulls were bugling fine and did see a few 300 class bulls , but no bruisers , although i didn't look very hard. Every year for the past 6 the rut activity and elk behavior has been different. The big bulls go into a reclusive state state before and after the rut, and will only move when pressured, are hungry or thirsty, and this year food and water are only steps away. The first hunters with smoke pole and rifle did well in the 16s maybe the timing of the rut combined with excessive rain fall and more wolves had a negative impact this year on the hunts in 15??? just my opinion

 

[SHmuleyking333]

Had a buddy that flew that unit and said he saw more elk in 15 then any other unit.

 

[muliefanatic]

BUGLEnmIN

Well said. My dad cousin and I had the 2nd hunt in 15. We had no bugling and saw very few bulls. my dad was able to get a small 6x4 and were are very happy we got that. We scouted the 1st through the 3rd of oct. Bulls were bugling every where we saw 5 bulls over 300 the biggest being mid 320s, no real monsters but lots of action. For our hunt the bulls were no longer with the cows and there was water every where. we had found a couple of water holes that were at least 1 mile from any roads on our scouting trip that were full of tracks for our hunt they did not have a single fresh track. there was water everywhere. We did not see any big bulls but we still had a great time. I will post a pic of the bull later.

Onofre