Me and my dad were drawn for NM 2A. hunt was from nov 4th-8th.
Had never hunted in New Mexico before so was really looking forward to it. Knew it wasnt the most "high deman" zone, but knew it had potential.
By the way thanks to those fellas who gave me some pointers earlier in the year to prepare. The advice worked out real well (thats where we saw most the deer!)
Anyways. We saw deer every day. On average about 15 I would say. mostly does, some spikes, and some forkies.
1st day scouting (friday) we say a small 3pt right off the road.
2nd day (1st day of season) we saw a nice thick forkie, that might have had more, but didnt get a good look at him. but we didnt chase him, because we were holding out for something bigger anyways.
nothing else but forkies till 2nd to last day.
I was about 50 yards from a buck feeding at 12noon! I had no idea he was there until i glassed back at my dad and he's pointing with a certain look on his face. so i know something is close.
now that I think back, i should have gone higher up to look down on him. but i went about half way up the bowl to try and get a glance.
he of course spooked, and I was only able to catch a glimpse of him through the brush.
looked pretty nice, tall, and all i could catch was a fork at the end of his rack, so im 99% sure there was more below that I didnt see. kept replaying that one in my head all the way home...
so yeah nothing in the cooler, but had good times with me, my dad, and my grandfather. whos turning 80 in january. ended up being perfect country to bring him along.
we walked a lot, but out there its pretty flat so not so bad on the legs.
We talked to quite a few other hunters, and we seemed to be seeing more than them. So i guess we did ok.
We definitely put in work! we went all over that zone, and put in lots of hours walking and hiking.
Also saw a group of Elk up on Pump Mesa, as well as a spike up towards the CO border.
Here some photos.
some nice tracks.
a fox i found in someones trap. scared the crap outta me! those things sure do make a nasty hissing sound when they are pissed.
what i thought was a lion track. now people are telling me either LARGE coyote or possible wolf.
coyote i was able to whack. had a real nice coat. well at least compared to the ones i've shot in Cali!
decent size. (i'm about 6' 3")
there are some crazy rock formations out there.
some more country side. beautiful!
grandpa, dad, me
might go back at some point. but might hold out for that 2B late hunt
not saying im an expert on the area now, but if anyone pulls this up in a search later on, feel free to PM me for some info. by the end of the hunt we had narrowed down to a few areas that seemed to be holding the most deer.
thanks again to those who sent me info on the place before the hunt.
we stayed the super 8 in bloomfield and it worked out great.
breakfast at 5am at roadside cafe. dinner at triangle cafe. that chinese place in bloomfield is really good too, i was suprised.
gotta love waitresses (triangle) that just wear a big ol stained white t-shirt that says "I BRING NOTHING TO THE TABLE"
good people, and pretty good food. was nice change of pace from california.
Had never hunted in New Mexico before so was really looking forward to it. Knew it wasnt the most "high deman" zone, but knew it had potential.
By the way thanks to those fellas who gave me some pointers earlier in the year to prepare. The advice worked out real well (thats where we saw most the deer!)
Anyways. We saw deer every day. On average about 15 I would say. mostly does, some spikes, and some forkies.
1st day scouting (friday) we say a small 3pt right off the road.
2nd day (1st day of season) we saw a nice thick forkie, that might have had more, but didnt get a good look at him. but we didnt chase him, because we were holding out for something bigger anyways.
nothing else but forkies till 2nd to last day.
I was about 50 yards from a buck feeding at 12noon! I had no idea he was there until i glassed back at my dad and he's pointing with a certain look on his face. so i know something is close.
now that I think back, i should have gone higher up to look down on him. but i went about half way up the bowl to try and get a glance.
he of course spooked, and I was only able to catch a glimpse of him through the brush.
looked pretty nice, tall, and all i could catch was a fork at the end of his rack, so im 99% sure there was more below that I didnt see. kept replaying that one in my head all the way home...
so yeah nothing in the cooler, but had good times with me, my dad, and my grandfather. whos turning 80 in january. ended up being perfect country to bring him along.
we walked a lot, but out there its pretty flat so not so bad on the legs.
We talked to quite a few other hunters, and we seemed to be seeing more than them. So i guess we did ok.
We definitely put in work! we went all over that zone, and put in lots of hours walking and hiking.
Also saw a group of Elk up on Pump Mesa, as well as a spike up towards the CO border.
Here some photos.
some nice tracks.
a fox i found in someones trap. scared the crap outta me! those things sure do make a nasty hissing sound when they are pissed.
what i thought was a lion track. now people are telling me either LARGE coyote or possible wolf.
coyote i was able to whack. had a real nice coat. well at least compared to the ones i've shot in Cali!
decent size. (i'm about 6' 3")
there are some crazy rock formations out there.
some more country side. beautiful!
grandpa, dad, me
might go back at some point. but might hold out for that 2B late hunt
not saying im an expert on the area now, but if anyone pulls this up in a search later on, feel free to PM me for some info. by the end of the hunt we had narrowed down to a few areas that seemed to be holding the most deer.
thanks again to those who sent me info on the place before the hunt.
we stayed the super 8 in bloomfield and it worked out great.
breakfast at 5am at roadside cafe. dinner at triangle cafe. that chinese place in bloomfield is really good too, i was suprised.
gotta love waitresses (triangle) that just wear a big ol stained white t-shirt that says "I BRING NOTHING TO THE TABLE"
good people, and pretty good food. was nice change of pace from california.
