Deer Unit 30

NMWapiti33 · Nov 4, 2015

Looking for any help regarding deer in Unit 30. I have been there once before but had a real hard time finding any mature bucks. I know there are big bucks down there, I just cant seem to find them. My hunt starts next weekend, any help is greatly appreciated!!

muley505 · Nov 4, 2015

The biggest thing I found from hunting Unit 30 was to get off the roads. There are scores, and I mean scores, of road hunters in that unit. I've seen people riding around with lawn chairs in the back of their truck expecting to shoot something (and they call themselves "hunters" I suppose as well). Get off the road, get up as high as you can, and you'll find deer eventually. I also preferred the areas that weren't in the National Forest as that area just got pounded with other hunters. I shot a small six-point in 2012 about an hour into opening morning (I wasn't being very picky as it was my first try in the unit), but I've hunted javelina (unsuccessfully) in there twice before and saw quite a few decent bucks. I've glassed up 6-8 decent bucks in a solid morning of glassing before, so they are there; they're just used to lots of traffic on the roads, so you need to do a little walking and a lot of glassing, in my opinion, in order to be successful. The deer like to bed on the tops of the mesas, feed down the sides in the morning, and then move back up to bed late morning. I checked several areas when I was hunting in there, and everywhere I got up high and glassed from, I was able to spot bucks after putting some time in. Optics are your most important tool for mule deer in my opinion, especially if you are trying to find big deer. Don't know if this helps you or not, but it works for me, and this is what I'd do if it were my tag.

Good luck. Post a picture if you get one.

DWV015 · Nov 5, 2015

I have hunted the archery season in unit 30 off and on for the past 10 years or so and like he said above, the forest is over run with hunters. We try to stay out east of the forest in the foot hills and canyons. I know for a fact there there are a ton of deer in the forest, but they are very difficult to see in the thick cover and plus you are dealing with too many other hunters. I am not sure about how thick the hunters will be in the foothills and flats out east of the forest, but I would assume it is far less crowded than the forest. Find Texas Hill and Burro Hill on your map and several mile radius around those areas have treated us very well in the January season most years. Rifle season could be much different, however. Will be back there in 2 months. Hit me back up of you have any specific questions about the unit and I will help if I can.
Here is a deer one guy in our group took this past January in unit 30.