Unit 13

[93trojan]

My outfitter put in for 13 elk as a third choice....got it. Just happy to get any tag and go hunting! Any big boys cruising this unti? I heard New Mexico has been in a drought the last couple of years....still the case? Either way, I'm going to give it my best shot and have a good time!

 

[elkhunternm_13]

there are some monster bulls in this unit.....we hunt the northern end of the unit most of the time but this year we will be archery hunting unit 12....i see a 360''+ bull takin a dirt nap in the near future

 

[STOMPER]

yeah unit 12 is under prescribed in my opinion. I set in 12 during archery season last year and called in herd bull after herd bull. I had one 360 bull that was beggin to be shot. However the unit is too large and their aren't enough hunters. I never saw another hunter and all the bulls just had a stress free rut. that's why unit 12 use to be my fav unit. Im a rifle hunter however and the landowners in unit 12 are poaching fools. Im done hunting that unit with a rifle. I even turned in a guy I watched poach a bull in unit 12 day before the hunt. He took his truck and headed to the McKinley ranch over my quemado. game warden got the bull and everything. I talked to him a year later and asked what had happened. He said he didn't take my number down and didn't know where I was at. He said I would have had to show up and testify to get a conviction so the guy got to walk. Sounds like horse crap to me. The rancher stoped in the road. His hunter hung his gun out the back window and fired twice and dropped the bull in the barditch. this was on public land. supposedly the landowners at the time could hunt the day before the hunt and he claimed he wounded this bull on his land and finished it off over there. Only problem with that is that I was shadowing the bull from 15. I stopped once he crossed highway 60 and just watched him till that ahole poached him on the side of the road. What a prick. Oh well that's the nmdgf for ya. They don't care about our wildlife. or maybe the mckinleys bought someone off.

 

[93trojan]

I actually pulled the 12 rifle tag last year. It was first choice again this year. Anyway, guess I was unlucky. The biggest bull I saw all week was the one I shot in the last 30 minutes of the hunt....went 310. I hope by saying I was unlucky doesn't come across as not appreciating the bull I got. I do. It's just that the biggest bull I saw all week was a medium 5x5 up to that point. I was expecting better things and that set me up for disappointment. This year, I'll head into the hunt, 2nd season muzzleloader 13, with no expectations. Just be happy that I pulled a tag and am hunting! I've got a gunwerks muzzleloader being built, so hopefully I can break it's cherry on a nice bull

 

[hank4elk]

Some great bulls in 13 and good elk numbers. I know the west and north side mostly,and the FS lands. 93Trojan you took another of my tags this year...I'll PM you.

Stomper you are right about low draw tag #'s in 12. And some of the ranchers and outfitters do what they want.Hunt on leased lands with RO tags which is poaching.
It's my home unit and someday I'll draw it,but I'll be using one of my LO tags ,legally here this year. I did draw it for deer which will be real hard to fill,very few bucks.