unit 36 ft stanton deer

[patea]

my son is 12 and drew a unit 36 deer tag which includes ft stanton area. he can only hunt thanksgiving week because of school since we are from out of state. we have never been to unit 36, and i was wondering if anyone could tell me what to expect to see so he doesn't get his hopes too high. also can a cow elk tag be purchased for this unit and time period to give us a little more opportunity( I have a 14 year old daughter thats unhappy she didn't draw but would like to go) thanks preston

 

[jodog]

This is no joke but most of the deer in 36 now days are in town (Ruidoso,Alto) You can drive around town and count 100 deer on any given day/night in neighborhoods but you can't hunt them, to close to houses. I don't scout FT. Stockton but I have seen some deer close to the fort. I really can't help much there. You need to buy a landowner cow tag in order for her to hunt one. I don't ever see many deer in the wilderness any more and most the people that live here complain about the lack of deer in the forest now days. I will keep my eyes open for you and your kids and if I see something promising I will PM you some info.

 

[goforbroke]

hunted 36 for elk with my bow. I did see a decent buck up in the hills, but only for 30 seconds and only saw 2 bucks in 4 days of hunting. November will be better, but look at harvest rates. Not real high.

 

[jodog]

The rut won't really start until mid December into January.

 

[muleybeast]

Used to be a lot of deer in there. Last time we hunted it we got back off the roads on the ridges around the fort and found a few deer. Prob gonna see mostly forkies.

 

[NMPaul]

Some very good bucks on that hunt. Plan on doing lots of glassing.

 

[Rocket25]

"Little Bear " fire in 2012 has created excellent opportunity to glass alot of country where in years past was heavily covered. Spent some time up in unit 36 last November, week before Thanksgiving.

I was unsuccessful this year for that Unit 36 tag, also a NR out of AZ , unit 36 / 37 were my stompn' grounds a few years back. Here's a few landmarks that can steer you in the right direction and give you some starting points.

1) Mt. Juneau to the lookout tower ( LB fire cleared out timber for long range glassing) big country out that way be prepared to pack-out .

2) Water Canyon ( also got hit by the LB fire, PM me for access to public land, also be prepared to pack-out )

3) Bonito Lake area ( wiped out by fire, however created excellent mule deer habitat )

A few starting points PM if you need more info. there are a ton of deer roaming the streets of Ruidoso, don't get discouraged ..there some quality animals out in the wilderness.

 

[jodog]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-17-17 AT 03:22PM (MST)[p]Don't know about all of that Rocket25..... Water canyon is on the north side of the wilderness behind Nogal Peak and never had one tree burn (just in Water Saturday) the fire started over by White Horse and burnt south east. Bonita lake was burnt on one side, the south/east side. Littleton canyon and Krout canyon across the road on the north were never touched. I just spent 4 full days in the wilderness and we are going back up in the morning. Heck this winter we would go lion hunting and never see any deer some days. 36 deer herd is hunting IMO.. 36 is my home unit and any one saying 36 in the wilderness or National Forest has good bucks is BS'ing someone. You can find some nice bucks on private ranches and private river bottom. I didn't even put in for deer this year here, not interested..... I can kill as good a buck on my own land as I could ever find in the forest.

The road to "Mt Juneau".....(it's... Monjeau... not Mt Juneau) the land on the way up to the look out tower there is private and public.

I don't know where everyone is seeing all these good deer in 36 but I spend a ton of time in the high country and I'm sure not seeing them !! Like I said before I don't spend any time around Ft Stanton.