Drew Unit 37 Mule Deer- First Try and Tag

4Weight

4Weight

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I know I don't have a ton of posts and at 56 years old I drew my first NM MD tag on my first try. I got lucky I feel for sure. Main questions are on roads that go through private ranches, are those accessible being state roads. Some have gates and some don't. Looks like you would have to do some serious roundabout driving to get to Forest, State and BLM land with private on the way in. Please advise and any other general thoughts on this unit would be appreciated. Drew Nov 6-10 rifle.
Thanks in advance.
4W
 
Its a great unit. I love getting this tag. I tend to hunt more in the wilderness area. On this hunt the roads are crowded with other hunters. typically if the road crosses private it will be gated. there are exceptions. so this will put more hunters on fewer roads. be aware that the roads are very rough and depending on where you are at in the unit it will be very difficult to actually see deer. If you want to reach out ill be able to give you more info on where i typically hunt.
 
That unit was my first hunt in NM too, and for muleys too! We camped a mile north of HWY 380 off of C002/FS-57 between Lincoln and Capitan. Nothing secret about that spot but it's pretty nice and handy for the that side of the mountains. We also tried to hunt a lonely section of state land out by Arabela and we hiked in only seeing one other truck at the trailhead. There must have been 8 guys in that truck and another one hidden somewhere though, because there were a bunch of guys out on that one section. I did see deer out there, about half a mile away on the wrong side of the fence.
 
I’m staying at the Smoky Bear. I know it will be a crowded hunt, I have an ATV so hopefully that can get me away from the crowds a bit. Heard some of the roads are dicey if you like your truck so the Polaris may come in handy. Thanks for chiming in.
 
Like everywhere else in NM, to get away from the crowds, you will need to be on foot. Every drivable road will have traffic on it. ATV or truck.
I pretty much e-scout a unit by finding the places people wont go and more often then not, when i get there for some ground scouting they usually hold animals
Lace em up tight and go have fun!
 
Man it was a tough hunt for me solo. The wilderness was just too big and vast for me to be comfortable in and the places I found to hunt had a ton of people. Saw only does and that was the same with most of the folks I met up there. I had a blast and learned a lot and ate some great food there in Capitan. It was nice and cold in the mornings but 75 and breezy in the afternoons. Glad I did it but the hunting was not the best.
 
37 used to hold tons of deer. I’ve been hunting this area for 45 years way before they had everything posted and fenced off. The coyotes and mountain lions have taken a toll on a once healthy deer population.
 
I hunt just about everything NM has to offer, mostly in Unit 37, Deer, Unit 52 Elk, Unit 34 Elk and off range oryx hunts. If you have any questions about any of these units I would be happy to assist.
 
Bigfoot 1 said:
I hunt just about everything NM has to offer, mostly in Unit 37, Deer, Unit 52 Elk, Unit 34 Elk and off range oryx hunts. If you have any questions about any of these units I would be happy to assist.
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Yeah I love 37,38,18 hunting, I need to get back up there sooner then later
 
37 was home away from home. Deer, Turkey, bear and coyotes plus lots of elk now which we haven’t hunted. Many moons ago we used to access our hunting area by driving through Arabella, now they have all that fenced off. That road used to come out through the Baca Campgrounds between Lincoln and Capitan. There used to be tons of deer and no hunters, no elk. How times have changed.
 
37 was where i grew up deer hunting even though i didnt live there...killed my first deer there and another one 2 years later...i was 11 and 13 at the time...the deer are no longer there...blame it on whatever...i kept going there the last 20 yrs out of memories with my dad...i would see a 28 inch buck every 2 or 3 years, but the shot wasnt right...ive given up on 37...im 67 now...my life long dream was to kill a decent capitan deer ...but it aint gonna happen...im talking about the south side...elk is the big deal there now
 
plough said:
37 was where i grew up deer hunting even though i didnt live there...killed my first deer there and another one 2 years later...i was 11 and 13 at the time...the deer are no longer there...blame it on whatever...i kept going there the last 20 yrs out of memories with my dad...i would see a 28 inch buck every 2 or 3 years, but the shot wasnt right...ive given up on 37...im 67 now...my life long dream was to kill a decent capitan deer ...but it aint gonna happen...im talking about the south side...elk is the big deal there now
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You are correct, not many deer left, lots of elk moved in about 20 years ago and the Turkey population is on the rise. I hunt the area of Raton Canyon all the way back to Chavez Canyon where that retired newscaster Sam Donaldson has his ranch.
 
Bigfoot 1 said:
You are correct, not many deer left, lots of elk moved in about 20 years ago and the Turkey population is on the rise. I hunt the area of Raton Canyon all the way back to Chavez Canyon where that retired newscaster Sam Donaldson has his ranch.
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Nice! Now I’m sure you’ll have some company there! ??
 
plough said:
37 was where i grew up deer hunting even though i didnt live there...killed my first deer there and another one 2 years later...i was 11 and 13 at the time...the deer are no longer there...blame it on whatever...i kept going there the last 20 yrs out of memories with my dad...i would see a 28 inch buck every 2 or 3 years, but the shot wasnt right...ive given up on 37...im 67 now...my life long dream was to kill a decent capitan deer ...but it aint gonna happen...im talking about the south side...elk is the big deal there now
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I was shooting the crap with a rancher up there a couple weekends ago n he showed me some pics of a few nice bucks. One solid 180-190” buck. Hadn’t seen one like him there since highschool days.
 
BUGLEnmIN said:
The more beans you spill on open forum the more hunters you’re gonna see in the areas you hunt ????
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I’m ok with that. We take Forest Road 57 then drop off on 496 where we camp just shy of the gate. You can’t drive through that gate but you can walk. It’s 3 miles to the top where we start hunting. On a 5 day deer hunt you may see one or two hunters back there on the first day, you won’t see anybody back there the next 4. We get deer out on a deer cart, it’s a chore. It’s actually harder to hunt these Mulies when nobody is pushing them around. A little pressure is good for us. Not sure how many years I have left of hiking in there, I know it’s not many.
 
Bigfoot 1 said:
I’m ok with that. We take Forest Road 57 then drop off on 496 where we camp just shy of the gate. You can’t drive through that gate but you can walk. It’s 3 miles to the top where we start hunting. On a 5 day deer hunt you may see one or two hunters back there on the first day, you won’t see anybody back there the next 4. We get deer out on a deer cart, it’s a chore. It’s actually harder to hunt these Mulies when nobody is pushing them around. A little pressure is good for us. Not sure how many years I have left of hiking in there, I know it’s not many.
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Hard work pays off every time! Wanna be successful? You gotta do it the way your doing it! See you in November! ?? jkjk
 
BUGLEnmIN said:
The more beans you spill on open forum the more hunters you’re gonna see in the areas you hunt ????
Click to expand...
spilling the beans on 37 my ass ...ive hunted 37 south side of the gap east and west for deer probably 20 times...ive killed 3 deer in that entire time....ive seen some great bucks that i let go cuz of bad shot opportunities...nothing heavy but wide...i saw only one heavy antlered deer come out of there...my dream was to kill a capitan big buck but i gave up...my dad took me there when i was 11....killed a doe ...at13 i killed a 4x4 and i was imprinted....been to the yukon to mexico....love that country but there are very few big deer
 
plough said:
spilling the beans on 37 my ass ...ive hunted 37 south side of the gap east and west for deer probably 20 times...ive killed 3 deer in that entire time....ive seen some great bucks that i let go cuz of bad shot opportunities...nothing heavy but wide...i saw only one heavy antlered deer come out of there...my dream was to kill a capitan big buck but i gave up...my dad took me there when i was 11....killed a doe ...at13 i killed a 4x4 and i was imprinted....been to the yukon to mexico....love that country but there are very few big deer
Click to expand...
I guess I don’t understand your initial reply.
 
BUGLEnmIN said:
I guess I don’t understand your initial reply.
Click to expand...
what im saying is that there are no beans to spill on 37 south side...im talking about BIG bucks...yes there are a few in there but the average guy that goes there looking cuz of beans spilled on this website will have to start at at zero...ive hunted 37 to death on the south side...im done...had access to private, know where the " honey holes" are and were from old timers that lived there...i have a better chance of a big buck by my house in eastern nm
 
Bigfoot 1 said:
:ROFLMAO: You seem like the kind of fellow who would fit right in with our camp. Come on over
Bigfoot 1 said:
I’m ok with that. We take Forest Road 57 then drop off on 496 where we camp just shy of the gate. You can’t drive through that gate but you can walk. It’s 3 miles to the top where we start hunting. On a 5 day deer hunt you may see one or two hunters back there on the first day, you won’t see anybody back there the next 4. We get deer out on a deer cart, it’s a chore. It’s actually harder to hunt these Mulies when nobody is pushing them around. A little pressure is good for us. Not sure how many years I have left of hiking in there, I know it’s not many.
Click to expand...
John117 said:
Got an archery hunt that's about to start preety soon here. Pretty excited!
Click to expand...
How it goin, I drew this unit this year. Did u get anything out there last year?
Click to expand...
 

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