Unit 15 muzzleloader 15

[DonVathome]

Thuderflight and myself drew the 1st muzzleloader season for unit 15 elk. If anyone has hunted unit 15 for elk in the last 5-6 years and would not mind giving us some starting points it would be greatly appreciated.

I am not looking for honeyholes but I am looking for places to start and general info about the area.

I would like some areas to backpack into and good locations to glass from. I strongly prefer to backpack hunt and get away from the crowds but this is also onl a 5 day hunt and the mobiility a vehicle provides could make a big difference (but I HATE road hunting).

Please PM me if you are willing to share some info. I can help out with 52 elk (been a few years since I hunted there though).

Thanks

DonV OH

 

[DonVathome]

second 15 in title should have said elk, my bad.

 

[parecido]

Hey Don - my cousin hunted 15 muzzy last year and scored on a nice bull. I'll talk to him tonight and see what info i can get for you

 

[NMHUNTER]

you shouldnt have any problems finding elk. 15 is one of if not the best unit for elk in the state. good luck on your hunt and post up some pics

 

[kykiller]

Ive hunted 15 muzzy last three years in a row,there are elk all over that unit,you won't have a problem getting into them,it's just trying to find one over 330'.I hunt the NW corner of that unit,my best advice would be get out there as early as possible(before the season starts)and scout as much as possible.Then after opening day go to the steepest,roughestterrain you can find and do alot of glassing in that steep tough terrain.I hope the horn growth is better this year than it was last year.

 

[DonVathome]

Thanks guys and I am very aware I drew one heck of a great tag. I have had terrible luck in NM for elk tags for 12 years so it was nice! I have a big AK DIY hunt before this so I only put in for the best of the best and got lucky.

My dad also drew 16d 1st bow!

Thanks for all PM's. I have been busy and I have started to dive deeper and deeper into my maps and learning the unit etc.

 

[smacias]

my buddy drew 15 1st archery soif i head out there with him i will share some info with you we mostly will be sitting water holes but i would be happy to help out when he comes back

if i dnt head out its because i drew 16a 3rd hunt and dont have much time to take off for both i could set something up so you guys an talk bout it also.

 

[baerman]

we drew 15 last year and it was a great hunt but antler growth was very dissapointing. We scouted 5 days prior to the season and hunted all 5 days. We called in numerous elk every day but on the fourth day of the hunt it was like a light switch went off. the bulls quit talking and responding over night.

There are elk everywhere, my advice would be to look at the areas everyone points out on a map, pay attention to the dynamics of those areas and find other areas with similar dynamics. We scouted and ended up mostly hunting a spot that a few people led us on to. They were good spots but there were also a few other hunters. I think these particular areas might have been over hunted so the quality of bull we were looking for would be more rare in those spots than if we had found a spot that was not spoken about.

On the fourth day of the hunt we moved to try to find larger bulls and found a canyon off the road that we had not seen anyone parked in since we had been there. we hiked in there and found a water hole with more sign around it than we had seen all week and thats considering we had seen more sign that week than we see in a typical year.

Long story short, scout your own areas and hunt the well known areas only if you can't find anything.

 

[DonVathome]

Thanks guys we will only have 1 day to scout before the hunt.

If anyone does not mind me calling them shoot me a pm, any info helps. I have talked with quit a few guys already and have tons of places to look so far but every little bit helps.

 

[Don_K]

Don,

Have fun on your hunt. I hunted with Thunderflight in Quebec for Caribou and if I was you I would sleep in a bivy tent or with one eye open. He was wearing a wig and running around camp so there's no telling what he will try!!!



Don