Hello,
Just wanted to follow up and post about my hunts - I always see alot of questions but never any follow ups. Not going to be name dropping any specific spots - i am not looking to burn these units just provide help to those luckily enough to draw
Antelope Unit 33 (2nd rifle?)
Tons of antelope, pretty much all over the unit. Moderate sized bucks generally were intermixed with does. Large Bucks near pressured areas (within 30 minutes of roswell) generally were not doed up due to hunting pressure. good luck sneaking up on them, best advice is to practice and practice some more with your rifle to as far as you can take it in windy conditions. get away from the roads and you will see bigger bucks with does. A bipod or a tripod even was great help on this hunt. I did tag out, not on the biggest buck I saw but a decent first antelope that was an easy kill after busting several larger bucks farther from the road. There is a reason this unit is highly demanded. its only 3 days and this would be a great hunt to bring a first timer along with as its action packed but short with high success rate.
Unit 33 Archery Mule deer september
This is my first real mule deer hunt and first real archery hunt. Did not tag out but only spent about ~6 days hunting. It was very hot, and the deer are only active for about 1 hour after sunrise and then about 1 hour before sunrise maybe. the mornings I saw more movement. Find a spot with more cover, some water nearby if possible, and "hilly" terrain. If you are seeing a ton of antelope, its probably not a good deer spot in my opinion. Glass Glass Glass. I had a mid grade quality spotting scope and 12x40 binos. Get a good setup that allows you to glass comfortably and gets a good view of the terrain. The deer are alot more skittish of human interaction (oil Workers) than the antelope. It was a bit of a wetter year, so plenty of green shrubs for them to hide in, and there was no point in sitting over water. Strategy would be to try and find a buck moving in the morning and follow him to his bed, attempt a stalk if he is in bad placement or wait for him to get up and already be in a position to intercept. Small and moderate bucks were grouped up, the one monster I saw on 3 occasions was never with another deer (dont bother asking where hes at - in my mind I am drawing this tag next year). During the times I would see deer in the evening, they would cover a large amount of ground quickly despite not being spooked - pretty much impossible to intercept if not already in position. I was not able to spot deer bedded during the day except for one doe that was fairly close - honestly best advice would be to pracive with your bow during the day and take some naps at the hotel (way too hot to camp). Having a buddy to help glass would have been useful on this hunt. Low pressure hunt in my opinion - saw one other hunter in the field the entire time.
Didnt see any rattlers but they are out there. It was sort of a wetter year and alot of the roads actually were decently mudded up. 4wd with AT's handled it all- but be careful driving at night, many roads are pitted out to the point of basically impassable due to water erosion causing shelfs of dirt to build up and potentially expose huge oil pipes that will ruin you and your vehicle. Carry a ton of water on you and in your vehicle, its insanely hot out there and even the antelopes were bedding down during the heat of the day.
If aynone has any other questions about the unit just reply, cant really address the later season hunts. If anyone from cannon AFB sees this, DM me and lets plan a hunt together
