School me on 16E

[Ivar88]

I was fortunate enough to draw a 16E tag after a couple years of hunting other Gila units. I don't know very much about 16E and was wondering if anyone has hunted it? I'm not looking for anyone's spots, I am just curious what the are is like and if yall have run into a fair amount of bulls! What kind of hunting stories can you share about he unit? Thanks for your help!

 

[throwfar]

See thread below, it sums up 16E. If you drew rifle or muzzleloader you have a good shot at a decent bull, but archery is another story. Good luck
http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/DCForumID34/6342.html

 

[Ivar88]

>See thread below, it sums up
>16E. If you drew rifle
>or muzzleloader you have a
>good shot at a decent
>bull, but archery is another
>story. Good luck
>http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/DCForumID34/6342.html

There was some good info in there, thank you. I am a little confused as to how people think there isn't much cover. The maps I'm reading and the imagery I'm pulling show tons of cover!

 

[throwfar]

Go look

 

[BUGLEnmIN]

>Go look


Google earth I'd the biggest deceiver next to Satan himself. Go look is right

 

[hank4elk]

Hah!
So true.A topo doesn't even do it justice really.

 

[mozey]

I'm just guessing, but probably about half the cover you see on Google Earth is on private land.

 

[mozey]

Oh, and I saw wolves in 16E for the first time last year. I've noticed a real drop off in the numbers of elk and deer in just the last couple years.

If you're interested, I'd recommend you buy an OTC bear and cougar--good chance you get an opportunity at one of the those, especially the bear. Also, if you don't have one already, it would be worthwhile to get a BLM chip for your GPS to make certain you know where the private land starts--it's not always clearly marked, and the elk tend to cross thru it quite a bit.

 

[Ivar88]

>Oh, and I saw wolves in
>16E for the first time
>last year. I've noticed
>a real drop off in
>the numbers of elk and
>deer in just the last
>couple years.
>
>If you're interested, I'd recommend you
>buy an OTC bear and
>cougar--good chance you get an
>opportunity at one of the
>those, especially the bear. Also,
>if you don't have one
>already, it would be worthwhile
>to get a BLM chip
>for your GPS to make
>certain you know where the
>private land starts--it's not always
>clearly marked, and the elk
>tend to cross thru it
>quite a bit.

Thank you very much for the information. I do have the chip and will indeed purchase a bear tag. As for access into the unit, it looks like there are several roads, but a lot of them run through private. I understand that going out and looking is ideal, but I figured it was worth a shot asking around. It doesn't really look like there is running water in there either. Might make for a heavy pack!

 

[mozey]

Yes, depending on how far you want to get away from the roads, water can and will be an issue. Two out of the last three years I've taken first-timers in there and they ended up drinking all of theirs and then my water before we made it back out. We were packing out an elk in one case and a buck the other, which made the last several miles pretty miserable. You can solve it by setting up some water caches during your scouting trips. Just make sure you retrieve them before your hunt is over--I hate putting the effort in to get back into that prime country and then see careless litter...

 

[Ivar88]

>Yes, depending on how far you
>want to get away from
>the roads, water can and
>will be an issue.
>Two out of the last
>three years I've taken first-timers
>in there and they ended
>up drinking all of theirs
>and then my water before
>we made it back out.
> We were packing out
>an elk in one case
>and a buck the other,
>which made the last several
>miles pretty miserable. You can
>solve it by setting up
>some water caches during your
>scouting trips. Just make sure
>you retrieve them before your
>hunt is over--I hate putting
>the effort in to get
>back into that prime country
>and then see careless litter...
>

I couldn't agree more. That last few hunts I have been on seemed to be more of garbage duty. I often laugh when I find beer bottles 3 miles from the nearest roads. As a first timer in this unit, I am curious how often folks run into each other. I know it depends on how far off the beaten path you get, but in my limited experience, most hunters stick close to the roads. And I've also read that the roads throughout the unit are terrible.

 

[mozey]

There is a lot of open country in this unit, so you'll see other hunters at a distance and they'll see you. But in my experience, once you get three or four miles away from the road, it's actually pretty rare where you'll meet up with other hunters that you can actually have a conversation with. It's happened, but it's normally not an issue where you'd both be stalking the same animal.

 

[bowelk]

That country is deceiving especially on google earth. To easily sum it up the Luerras have one "road" in and out and its a b**ch. I use the word road sparingly. The Pelonas do have a road that skirts it but it wont get you into any real good country. That country is really deceiving it looks like nice rolling grass but is really rolling volcano/moss rock covered with grass. Also there is a road that goes through a little bit of private land in Shaw Canyon which the last time I was in their was locked and my understanding is the land owner is not very welcoming. I very rarely see anyone in there once I go in a least a couple of miles but I have only hunted the archery hunts in there. That early be careful there are rattlers.

 

[mozey]

Yup--pretty common to see rattlers...

 

[Ivar88]

Rattlers....great. Thanks again for all of the info! I live in the east side of the state so it has got to be a planned trip to check it out. I plan to head out there two or three times this summer. I was planning on setting up some cameras, but there's always that fear of folks stealing them on public land. Curious how many people spend time in the unit prior to the hunts starting.

 

[Ltsheets]

Regarding cameras, I set out 5-6 last year in 16D and none got stolen but I could've gotten lucky. I'm putting them out again this year and hoping to get lucky again. I have heard of people having them get stolen. I choose to put out used cams that didn't cost me a ton so if they're stolen, I'm not too mad. For me the risk of getting stolen is worth the reward and knowledge I gain from seeing what animals are frequenting where and what quality of bulls are in the area.

 

[mozey]

I've had cameras off and on in there for a couple years and someone did mess with one of them, turning it off and facing it against the tree, but otherwise it was still there when I returned. Whoever it was was careful enough that the camera didn't get a photo of them. Granted, all of these cameras were at least three miles from the nearest road, but that has been my only issue.

 

[Ivar88]

Ok, so cameras are a go then. Not sure how much standing water is in the area but I see a few "tanks" labeled around the unit. We will see, I guess. Mozey, are you in 16E this year?

 

[mozey]

No--based on the trends I've seen the last couple years I decided to not include it as one of my choices this year. Because I didn't draw an elk tag at all I'm second guessing myself on that decision. I'd rather be hunting elk in Unit 16E (with its tougher conditions) then sitting home not hunting the easier units that I failed to draw... ;-)

 

[Ivar88]

I understand that for sure! I drew Gila units the last two years and was unsuccessful on both hunts. I kind of have the mentality that nothing is getting in my way this year. Hence the thread!

 

[bowelk]

What hunt are you on? Archery, Muzzy or Rifle and which one?

 

[Ivar88]

First season archery. Hot and dry!

 

[tomvern85]

I have put up cameras in 12,13 and 9. All on public. But the lock box and lag bolt it to the tree. Put the python cable through it around the tree and put a padlock. Have never had any issues. Could still be stolen but they are gonna have to work for it

 

[Ivar88]

Good idea. No freebees. I've never put cameras on public land, so it will be interesting. Are tanks typically the go to spots for cameras?

 

[Ltsheets]

I did some on tanks, and some on well used trails leading to the tanks so they were a little harder to find. It depended how accessible the tanks were to whether I tried more to hide the cam or not. Got pics on all of my cams. IMO tanks are the best way to take inventory of what types of bulls are in a certain area but that could also depend on rainfall.

 

[mozey]

LAST EDITED ON May-05-16 AT 12:55PM (MST)[p]Don't count on the hot and dry. The last few years it has rained a lot during the first hunt. I think it was three hunts ago that I had to cut my hunt short the last couple days for fear of getting my vehicle stranded because the "road" in was close to being washed out, which it eventually was...

I'd recommend something like this be included in your pack:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/clothing/men-s-hunting-clothing/men-s-hunting-camo-rainwear/men-s-hunting-rainwear-sets|/pc/104797080/c/104748480/sc/104244480/i/103947480/cabela-s-men-s-space-rain-trade-pants-with-4most-dry-plus-174-/1618375.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fmens-hunting-rainwear-sets%2F_%2FN-1100955%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_103947480

Either the Zonz Western or the Outfitter patterns.

 

[tomvern85]

I have had the best luck putting them up on trails.

 

[Ivar88]

I am also curious about the numbers in the area? I tried to get the biologists number, but I was provided a dead end.

 

[throwfar]

You couldn't be more wrong about hot and dry, every year I have hunted there on the early hunt it rained pretty much every day. As mentioned above the rain has tendency to wash out the roads, and I have personally seen a vehicle stuck out in the flats for a couple of months. If I were you I would prepare for a tough nasty hunt, seeing few animals, lots of rattlers, rain and people. If that turns out not to be the case then congrats you got lucky. I stopped putting in for E last year and have never looked back.

 

[Ivar88]

>You couldn't be more wrong about
>hot and dry, every year
>I have hunted there on
>the early hunt it rained
>pretty much every day. As
>mentioned above the rain has
>tendency to wash out the
>roads, and I have personally
>seen a vehicle stuck out
>in the flats for a
>couple of months. If I
>were you I would prepare
>for a tough nasty hunt,
>seeing few animals, lots of
>rattlers, rain and people. If
>that turns out not to
>be the case then congrats
>you got lucky. I stopped
>putting in for E last
>year and have never looked
>back.

Wow, ok well I guess I better be optimistic!

 

[mozey]

LOL--Just know that knowing everything I do about 16E, I'd still rather be in your situation than mine... ;-)

 

[tallpine13]

i agree with everything mozey has said I've hunted there with my personal tag once and helped some friends out 3 different times. still got into elk but not like we have in the past and we were in a spot money talked about. even 4-5 miles in one morning and 3 hunters walked up on the tank we had just set up at. im pretty sure it was a guide his hunters.a pretty big outfitting camp back in there. having that access at that gate sure would be nice.

 

[Ivar88]

I just picked up a pair of those pants Mozey. That's a smoking deal. Im expecting to run into outfitters for sure. Two years ago, at sundown, I had an outfitter bring his horses in to the tank I was sitting. Him and his clients were loud and obnoxious. He knew we were in there and when I spoke up he lost his mind! He started yelling and saying some vulgar stuff. I was shocked. Hopefully nothing like that this year.

 

[mozey]

The outfitter that I bump into occasionally is a good dude. I haven't ever used him, but he's told me that as long as his clients don't have a more immediate need, he's willing to help pack me out if I'm ever to get myself in a bind way back in there (for a reasonable fee of course). His clients tend to stay on one side of the mountain and I like the other. From what I've witnessed, his clients do pretty well.

 

[Ivar88]

Ok, very good. There is nothing worse than sharing a mountain with someone who has a bad attitude. Do you know the name of his outfit? I might give him a call regarding pack-out prices.

 

[mozey]

I actually don't remember his name. I tried googling for it and I see some possibilities (the country looks right), but I'm just not sure enough that I'm willing to risk telling you the wrong guy. Someone else on here my know.

 

[Thomas11]

I hunted C in 2013 which borders E. It rained everyday of our hunt sep 11-18. We almost didn't make it out. I heard from others that they had vehicles stranded, etc. The roads can be bad when it gets wet

 

[Redbowman]

Beaverhead had a camp set up on Pelona for years don't know if they still do. Lot of walking and glassing, Mostly open county, except in the draws, on top and some Northeast faces. I believe the Adobe ranch private is on the West side with various water tanks that were a big draw. I loved the hunt got a shot both times and brought home a nice 6 x 6.

Lots of Bears.

 

[Ivar88]

Man, it seems there are more bears and snakes in this unit than there are elk!