NM Unit 34 first archery

Norman13

Member
Messages
74
Come this January I'll be doing some bow hunting in unit 34. I've been reading up on the unit here on the forums and I feel like I've made a mistake. I should have put in for elk in 34 instead of deer.

I haven't been scouting yet. I'll get to do that next month on. I'm aiming for somewhere south west of Weed or north of Timberon. 2-4 miles off the roads would be ideal. From what I've read it's not easy to get that far in without coming upon an ATV trail or a hiking trail with people on em.

Any tips on this unit for first archery deer would be greatly appreciated. Will the unit be recovered from the recent fires by January? I have zero NM hunting experience.
 
Bucks are sparse, and the ones you will find will generally be forkies and dink 3x3 and 4x4 with shallow forks and weak frames. Good bucks do exist in the unit but finding them can be hard even for folks familiar with the unit. Snow could be deep, roads are everywhere, and don't over think the hunt. I have seen bucks above 8,500' with 2 feet of snow and down low where its dry. The unit is hammered with tags and has the CWD concern so make sure you are familiar with that additional info. Pick a spot and go hunt. Its beautiful up there. After a few days of hunting a pizza from the Cloudcroft brewery is a nice treat.
 
Come this January I'll be doing some bow hunting in unit 34. I've been reading up on the unit here on the forums and I feel like I've made a mistake. I should have put in for elk in 34 instead of deer.

I haven't been scouting yet. I'll get to do that next month on. I'm aiming for somewhere south west of Weed or north of Timberon. 2-4 miles off the roads would be ideal. From what I've read it's not easy to get that far in without coming upon an ATV trail or a hiking trail with people on em.

Any tips on this unit for first archery deer would be greatly appreciated. Will the unit be recovered from the recent fires by January? I have zero NM hunting experience.
Deer=Mule Canyon.
 
Bucks are sparse, and the ones you will find will generally be forkies and dink 3x3 and 4x4 with shallow forks and weak frames. Good bucks do exist in the unit but finding them can be hard even for folks familiar with the unit. Snow could be deep, roads are everywhere, and don't over think the hunt. I have seen bucks above 8,500' with 2 feet of snow and down low where its dry. The unit is hammered with tags and has the CWD concern so make sure you are familiar with that additional info. Pick a spot and go hunt. Its beautiful up there. After a few days of hunting a pizza from the Cloudcroft brewery is a nice treat.
I appreciate your insight. I'll for sure have to check out Cloudcroft. My very tentative plan is to start low and if nothing doing I'll make my way up higher.
Deer=Mule Canyon.
Thanks Bigfoot. I'll check it out.
 
I appreciate your insight. I'll for sure have to check out Cloudcroft. My very tentative plan is to start low and if nothing doing I'll make my way up higher.

Thanks Bigfoot. I'll check it out.
The buck in the avatar was killed I’m Mule Canyon. Sixteen Springs Canyon is another area you might want to look into. Good luck.
 
You’re definitely hunting with the right weapon. Hunting pressure should be light. The rifle hunt is another story, everybody’s brothers primo from Texas is stepping all over each other during that time frame. I would start early in Mule canyon. You will have a blast.
 
This in in reply to the unit 34 post.

I used to live very close by and hunted up there a little bit. while the time i was there was only a couple months, I often ran into deer in the drier and lower areas between the months of march to may. Even saw deer many times near that shooting range thats on the right if you take the road from alamogordo to cloudcroft (always during late evening or morning).

Also saw deer alot higher up near cloudcroft at the same time. Only ever saw 2 bucks, one forky and one giant but I am keeping that spot to myself. Saw maybe 40 to 50 does for those 2 bucks. I personally would take any legal mule deer up there, its definetly elk country. If you find yourself wanting some good bbq, mad jacks in cloudcroft is the best texas bbq I have had outside of texas and is better than many places even in texas.
 
This in in reply to the unit 34 post.

I used to live very close by and hunted up there a little bit. while the time i was there was only a couple months, I often ran into deer in the drier and lower areas between the months of march to may. Even saw deer many times near that shooting range thats on the right if you take the road from alamogordo to cloudcroft (always during late evening or morning).

Also saw deer alot higher up near cloudcroft at the same time. Only ever saw 2 bucks, one forky and one giant but I am keeping that spot to myself. Saw maybe 40 to 50 does for those 2 bucks. I personally would take any legal mule deer up there, its definetly elk country. If you find yourself wanting some good bbq, mad jacks in cloudcroft is the best texas bbq I have had outside of texas and is better than many places even in texas.
Thanks for the info. Someone recently told me about bbq in cloudcroft as well. Sounds like something I'll have to check out.
 
This in in reply to the unit 34 post.

I used to live very close by and hunted up there a little bit. while the time i was there was only a couple months, I often ran into deer in the drier and lower areas between the months of march to may. Even saw deer many times near that shooting range thats on the right if you take the road from alamogordo to cloudcroft (always during late evening or morning).

Also saw deer alot higher up near cloudcroft at the same time. Only ever saw 2 bucks, one forky and one giant but I am keeping that spot to myself. Saw maybe 40 to 50 does for those 2 bucks. I personally would take any legal mule deer up there, its definetly elk country. If you find yourself wanting some good bbq, mad jacks in cloudcroft is the best texas bbq I have had outside of texas and is better than many places even in texas.
There’s the La Luz Shooting Range, I don’t recall any range on Hwy 82. Where are you talking about sir?
 
I used to hunt that unit and saw lots of does, sometimes 50 or more a day. I hardly saw any bucks. These were rifle hunts.

We mostly hunted around Dunken on BLM and State land.
 
I haven't hunted there since 2010 so I don't know if it's changed much. I think the bucks might move more during the day in January.
 
Hwy 82 has the dry creek shooting range. Don’t recommend going on the weekend it’s full of yahoos with no sense of safety and ricochets galore
Yes sir, you are correct. I forgot all about that place. I had access to the La Luz gun range anytime I wanted. Thank you sir.
 
Come this January I'll be doing some bow hunting in unit 34. I've been reading up on the unit here on the forums and I feel like I've made a mistake. I should have put in for elk in 34 instead of deer.

I haven't been scouting yet. I'll get to do that next month on. I'm aiming for somewhere south west of Weed or north of Timberon. 2-4 miles off the roads would be ideal. From what I've read it's not easy to get that far in without coming upon an ATV trail or a hiking trail with people on em.

Any tips on this unit for first archery deer would be greatly appreciated. Will the unit be recovered from the recent fires by January? I have zero NM hunting experience.
get anything?
 
I wouldn’t hike to far. There are roads everywhere. Drive roads and glass hillsides. Very glassable country around Mayhill and Weed. I’ve seen many 160+ bucks and a few better in that unit. I’ve picked up some good sheds too.
 

Click-a-Pic ... Details & Bigger Photos
Back
Top Bottom