NM unit 30 late youth season

midwesthunter · Apr 27, 2020

Well my 13 year old son drew this tag, I am starting to do more in depth research, was wondering if anyone has any first hand experience with this unit or as a bonus the late Nov youth rifle season? Will they be rutting during this season? I have never hunter NM before, just one deer hunt under my belt in WY Reg G.

Thanks in advance.

BrianID · Apr 29, 2020

No, they won’t be rutting in late November. Southern NM Muleys rut around the end of December. Expect most bucks to be in bachelor groups or alone. 30 doesn’t have near as good of genes for growing big antlers as Region G Wyoming. 30 doesn’t have high alpines to hunt like G. I would describe the unit as a “badlands” type of hunt. The nice thing about the youth hunts is that there won’t be as the other hunters. The downside is that the bucks have already been picked over from all the previous hunts. You will have a great time if you are just looking for an opportunity to hunt that isn’t overcrowded with an opportunity to explore a new area. You will likely be disappointed if you are looking only for a 160”+ buck. If you are from the upper Midwest, you may be surprised how warm it is. I’m often hiking in a T shirt in Southern NM most days in November. Also the NM governor is a crazed liberal so don’t be surprised if the state gets locked down if we get a second wave of this virus this fall.
Enjoy the hunt.

NMJJ · Nov 3, 2021

midwesthunter said:
Well my 13 year old son drew this tag, I am starting to do more in depth research, was wondering if anyone has any first hand experience with this unit or as a bonus the late Nov youth rifle season? Will they be rutting during this season? I have never hunter NM before, just one deer hunt under my belt in WY Reg G.

Thanks in advance.

can you tell me a little about how the hunt went last year. were you guys successful? we have the youth hunt this year for Unit 30. we plan to do our last scouting trip this weekend.

midwesthunter · Nov 3, 2021

NMJJ said:
can you tell me a little about how the hunt went last year. were you guys successful? we have the youth hunt this year for Unit 30. we plan to do our last scouting trip this weekend.

We didn't find a legal buck until the 5th day, a little forky. Found doe every day just no bucks. We hunted up high to down load, most of the hunters we seen were cruising around of UTV's or 4 wheelers, as there are lost of roads. If we draw again I would probably spend more time glassing, but plenty of room to get out and stretch our legs.

NMJJ · Nov 3, 2021

midwesthunter said:
We didn't find a legal buck until the 5th day, a little forky. Found doe every day just no bucks. We hunted up high to down load, most of the hunters we seen were cruising around of UTV's or 4 wheelers, as there are lost of roads. If we draw again I would probably spend more time glassing, but plenty of room to get out and stretch our wellhope we can be successful as well. First mule deer hunt for the little one. So trying to gather any last bits of info.

midwesthunter said:
We didn't find a legal buck until the 5th day, a little forky. Found doe every day just no bucks. We hunted up high to down load, most of the hunters we seen were cruising around of UTV's or 4 wheelers, as there are lost of roads. If we draw again I would probably spend more time glassing, but plenty of room to get out and stretch our legs.

Well glad you got it done, hoping for the same result. First mule deer hunt for the little so trying to gather any last min bits of info. Thanks for the response.

midwesthunter · Nov 3, 2021

NMJJ said:
Well glad you got it done, hoping for the same result. First mule deer hunt for the little so trying to gather any last min bits of info. Thanks for the response.

Good luck on your hunt

wallhanger · Nov 9, 2021

There are deer throughout the unit. Like mentioned above, it's not a high country unit, so there are no migrations or weather that will move the deer down to a concentrated area the way it does in some other areas/states. It's desert mountains, and the deer can be anywhere- from the cactus flats (and I mean flat) to the steep, cliffy stuff on the Rim. We've typically hunted them northwest of Carlsbad in the foothill/rolling draw country and have always seen deer- no monsters, but good, representative desert deer.
We have also hunted the highest portion near THE RIM, which also holds deer. it's one big plateau, so it's hard to get a good vantage point in some places up there. Whatever you do, take extra gas and a spare tire. It's a very remote, rugged unit.

Enjoy the time with your kiddo too.