New Mexico Bound

bigharge

Member
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66
Well we are finally pulling out of the driveway headed to NE New Mexico. My 12 yr old and I are excited to have a chance to chase some goats this weekend. Some house AC issues kept us home longer than we wanted so we will only have a day to scout a new area we have never hunted. Regardless of the outcome I’m just excited to be headed towards cooler weather. Best of luck to everyone out there and hope to report back with some success pics.

PS: This is actually all a lie, if someone asks we have both been quarantined in New Mexico for exactly 14 days tomorrow so we are legal to hunt...?
 
We will be in 47, the western side of the Kiowa Grassland area. Seems pretty non populated so we should be able to social distance with the best of them, lol
 
Thanks, I’ve got all my offline maps downloaded on onX, so hopefully we are good on that. Hopefully the pronghorns gps service gets disrupted and wanders over onto some public for us.
 
You will see animals in the grasslands but they are wary. I was out in 59 last week for the archery hunt and they were running once the truck stopped. We have hunted 47 back when it was the entire NE area on my daughters youth hunt and my archery hunts. Concentrate from Abbott to Mills is my opinion. Good luck.
 
We finally rolled in about 2 this morning, slept a few hours and have been fortunate to spot a few different bucks so far. Nothing big, but not really trophy hunting, just enjoying the trip.

Appreciate the input, hopefully they will stick around. It’s always easy to find them when you can’t shoot.

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Still keeping our 6ft distancing from these skittish goats. Logged just at 13 miles today, but came out empty handed. We had some opportunities but didn’t execute one and got busted out by other hunters on 3 others.

Found a really nice buck right at first light with some does. We had hiked in and setup about 40 minutes before you could see. By the time we got into position a couple other hunters pushed beyond us and had the group on high alert. He had a couple seconds to take the shot but said he was just too nervous and couldn’t rush it. I told him that was a good decision, I’d rather go home empty than wound one.

We were able to get back on him at around 450 yards. Was making a plan of attack when some trucks came rolling in beyond them. They were on the opposite side we were on and I’d guess at least 5-600 yards away if not more. About 6 people hopped out with 2 shooters and the buck started trotting. They started slinging the lead, they each got 3 shots off but that bucks never broke stride straight into private. It was a blast though

He actually had an easy shot at 2 different smaller bucks but they were real young and he told me didn’t want to go home just yet, lol

This evening we walked in on a buck that we spotted from the road. Knowing he was fairly visable we knew we had to work quick. We circled back to get a little elevation between us to put a stall on him. We got just about to where we could see the tips of his horns when sure enough someone spotted him from the road and pulled over to get out and glass him I guess. Once they stopped and got out he alerted and took. We were able to watch him for about a mile and started to setup the next stalk. About halfway towards him we saw a truck coming down the road behind him so we knew we had to hurry. We closed to about 600 yards but they were able to get to him first. Shot rang out and down he went. And I swear some kid let out the biggest celebratory shout I’ve heard. We couldn’t help but be extremely happy for them and were excited they got it done. Even my son looked at me and said, I’m really glad they got him.

Had one more shot at a buck that was moving towards us but we were a little exposed as he caught us off guard and had the son behind him. He had the gun up and ready and I was spotting behind him with the binos. And I saw the sun hit my eyes through the glass and that little reflection was enough to make him weary enough to turn back and trot off back to the private area he came from.

All in all it was an amazing day chasing these critters. Might need to stay in the truck more tomorrow as that seems to have worked for quite a few. Anyways sorry for such a long post, a short monsoon rain snuck up on us this afternoon ang wiped out the tipi and drenched our beds so we are sleeping in the truck and I can’t sleep, lol

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Well the pronghorn wouldn’t cooperate today and we are headed back home with time still left on the clock. We knew we only had 2 days to get it done as Monday is the wife’s bday, and I promised we would be home.

We were back at it before sunrise and were able to spot small herd feeding up over a ridge. Decent sized buck with them so we made a move. Thought we knew where they would end up so we snuck backwards and circled around once they went out of sight. Had about a mile and a half walk to get into position and we could see them heading our way. About that time here comes a truck flying up the backside dirt road. Hopped out and gave them the standard 3 shot salute from about 600 yards off. They were already running before the first shot ever left the gun, they were trying to honk their horn to stop them, lol, but they were gone into private.

That would be the last buck we could find on public land. We spotted an above avg buck bedding down with some does about 300 yards into private. We were able to get into position hoping when he got up from his bed he might move towards us to a windmill. It took about 1.5 hrs but they finally started to move. The 5 doe stood up and came probably 150 yards in front of us, he stood up and turned and went the exact opposite direction deeper into the private land. He didn’t get that big by being stupid I guess.

We hunted hard today covering a lot of miles on foot but couldn’t make it happen. Met a real nice local rancher who said the pronghorn have really been poor since the drought and haven’t been able to recover in his opinion. Even so we had our chances put ourselves in positions to succeed even though we never connected.

Also got to meet 2 different game wardens. Both were extremely professional and very friendly. Neither of them asked to see my mask or quarantine papers, lol

All in all it was an amazing weekend together. We saw elk, deer, turkey, coyotes, pronghorn, and even a rattlesnake. The scenery was phenomenal, our Creator never disappoints when it comes to that. We had some really good conversations and became better hunters and friends, our cooler might be empty, but my heart is full.

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Great picture and writeup! Good man making it home for wife's birthday, hopefully she'll let you catch a nap before the party. :) Thanks for posting
 
Thanks for sharing some of the hunt ! Well done , man its way tough on public land for sure and most guys wont get out and walk much let alone the distance ya'll did...Best to you ..
 
Yeah, I have really been trying to work on having a better perspective on these hunting trips. I use to get so focused on harvesting that I forget to slow down and just enjoy the journey. I would put so much pressure on my self to make sure "he kills something" that I would miss out on the best part of the hunt. It was actually refreshing to pull in last night about 3 am and not have to mess with processing an animal, lol
 
Amen! Enjoying the ride, sights and sounds is the fun part! Of course the taste at the dinner table with a venison meat load is hard to beat! Glad y'all had an enjoyable hunt. Thanks for the pics and the stories for those of us living vicariously through y'all. :)
 
Yeah, I have really been trying to work on having a better perspective on these hunting trips. I use to get so focused on harvesting that I forget to slow down and just enjoy the journey. I would put so much pressure on my self to make sure "he kills something" that I would miss out on the best part of the hunt. It was actually refreshing to pull in last night about 3 am and not have to mess with processing an animal, lol
Glad you see the big picture great memories that will last a life time. You and your son will harvest animals but these are the hunts my son and I re,ember the most.
 

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