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Benado
Guest
Has anyone hunted elk in this region in New Mexico? Any info would be great!
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NMHUNTNUTT1
Guest
Benado , my buddy drew the muzzle loader bull hunt in 05 , he shot a beautiful 6x6 , wasn't all broke up as most of the bulls he and his dad where finding were missing points . The bull scores right in the 315 range , but is just a good lookin bull , real symetrical and even . They saw bulls right away and sounded like they had a blast . He said it was just like the videos we watch , but he was living it with screaming bulls all around . Convinced me , Jan 12 the Trust is opening up and selling lottery chances , I'm buying a few and plan to put my daughter in for the youth hunt as well. Its less than an hour away from my house and love it up there , my wife and daughters freaked out last fall on all the elk and bulls just absolutely screaming right out where we could see em , its a great experiance for sure.....$25 for es/bull chances and $15 for cow lottery chances...www.vallescaldera.gov
talk at ya later ...NMHUNTNUTT
talk at ya later ...NMHUNTNUTT
Keep in mind if you are a nonresident that even though this is a lottery they still stick to the 20% nonres cap. even if the majority of the applicants would be nonresident, they shut out nonresidents once they win 20% of the hunts. Something you dont see them advertising too much, because of loss of revenue.
I hunted there this past year with a Muzzleloader. The best hunt anybody could ask for. I saw probably around 5 good 6X6's a day. Good is defined as 300 +/- 20. There are some bigger ones in there.....they are not as plentiful as I had imagined. I shot a 280 (or so) bull in there the second to last night. After the hunt, I had reflected a lot on it, and figured that if I were lucky enough to draw this unit again, I would definitely hunt it different. The problem is the entire area is so littered with animals - it is extremely difficult to pick just one spot. There are tons of areas within the subunits.
Good luck.
JBone
Good luck.
JBone
O
opportunist
Guest
NM non-resident tags. These are not CAPS, they are set asides for NR's. Big difference, in that these are tags that will for sure go to NR's.
12% non-guided
10% Guided
That's 22%. I am not a NM resident, but that is more than fair, IMO.
12% non-guided
10% Guided
That's 22%. I am not a NM resident, but that is more than fair, IMO.
DanBucks
Member
- Messages
- 92
I was just reading about it/contemplating about buying lottery tickets for this hunt. It's 12% set-aside for guided, 10% for unguided nonresidents. The other 78% of available tags go to residents. There are only 32 mature bull tags that are for any legal firearm, excluding muzzy and archery. So 3.2 tags available for unguided nonres. Any idea how many tickets they sell or how many applications?
Super unit. This is a premium preserve which was in private hands for the last few hundred years until bought by the Government a couple years ago. it was called the Baca Ranch and has been legendary for great elk numbers. Very scenic. It's a tough draw that they run separately from the regular NM draw. It's a kinda long shot for the draw, but what the heck, if you draw it you're in for a great hunt. Also application in this unit doesn't keep you from also applying in other more easily drawn NM units. The picture is my cousin Matt and a bull he killed in there last year. He drew the hunt his first time to apply and only bought one ticket. Nice archery kill by the cuz. Good Luck John
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magnus
Guest
>12% non-guided
>10% Guided
>
>That's 22%. I am not a
>NM resident, but that is
>more than fair, IMO.
Even FIFTY PERCENT would be less than fair because this area was purchased and is maintained with FEDERAL money ... not state of NM money. Why should the federal tax dollars from 49 other states pay for this Preserve, yet applicants from those 49 others states get to divide only 22% of the tags??? It's ridiculously unfair to the nonresidents.
>10% Guided
>
>That's 22%. I am not a
>NM resident, but that is
>more than fair, IMO.
Even FIFTY PERCENT would be less than fair because this area was purchased and is maintained with FEDERAL money ... not state of NM money. Why should the federal tax dollars from 49 other states pay for this Preserve, yet applicants from those 49 others states get to divide only 22% of the tags??? It's ridiculously unfair to the nonresidents.
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archeryelkaholic
Guest
The application deadline is the same as for all the other NM elk hunts, April 8, 2006. The actual drawing is conducted separately and prior to the general drawing; that way if you are drawn for a Valles Caldera hunt, your name is automatically removed from consideration if you've applied for any another hunt unit for elk. The same lottery broker handles both drawings. There is an outfitter pool in the same proportion as there is for all other NM elk hunts. Outfitters have to be specially certified for operations in the Calderas. When you apply, you'll be prompted: "Is this a guided hunt?" at that point you'll need to have the outfitter's NM registration number. Be sure your outfitter is certified for the preserve and that you have a signed contract with your outfitter specifically for your Calderas hunt. The Calderas trust is working on, and will soon post to their website, an updated list of outfitters who are authorized to operate on the preserve. This application is well worth the gamble. At worst you've contributed $25 to preservation of some spectacular elk habitat; at best you've drawn a hunt you'll never forget. Good Luck Fairchase and hope to see you in the Calderas in the fall. I plan to apply for myself for one of the bowhunts. NMWilds
