Unit 45 2nd rifle season elk questions and thoughts...

npaden · Aug 14, 2013

Drew unit 45 2nd rifle Elk tag this year and am pretty excited about it after not getting to hunt New Mexico at all last year.

Been through all the archive threads on the unit here on MonsterMuleys and am wondering if it is really as bad as it sounds on getting your vehicle broken into if you leave it parked at a trailhead? Is it so bad that I need to stay out of the Tererro area completely and hike in from the Sante Fe side or from the North? I have a fairly new pickup and the only thing I was planning on leaving it it was some large coolers for meat transport if I am successful. I'm planning on packing in solo and camping so my truck will be unattended for several days more than likely.

Anyone know anything about cell coverage in the unit? In Unit 36 and 52 I've gotten sporadic cell coverage here and there enough to send out a text message, etc. My wife is a bit concerned as I will be solo on this hunt and I'm trying to decide if I need to mess with borrowing a SPOT or something.

Been looking on Google Earth and have a couple spots I've talked to people about, but they were hunting earlier and I think it sounds like by 2nd rifle the elk are going to be as far from roads and people as they can possibly get. I've found a couple places that will do a pack out, but they are fairly pricey, anyone know or recommend anyone in the area?

I'm thinking by mid to late October there is going to be snow above about 10,000' so I'm not planning on wasting much time up that high. Does that sound about right?

Thanks in advance for any input.

Nathan

salsola · Aug 14, 2013

Sent you a PM.

nmbighorn · Aug 14, 2013

npaden, you have a PM

12gauge · Aug 14, 2013

PM sent

WillPower · Aug 14, 2013

Nathan

Never had my vehicle broke into in the Tererro country. No cell coverage in the wilderness and I mean nada. We take a satellite phone with us. Yes, be prepared for snow on your hunt. The good elk are deep here, so be in good shape for your hunt. Unit 45 is not nearly as easy to hunt as the units you mentioned above. Shoot me a pm and I will answer any other questions that you may have. Good luck on your hunt.

WP

"My only regret in life is setting my goals too low"

npaden · Aug 15, 2013

Thanks for the PM's and reply.

Basically I'm getting the feeling that the horror stories of vehicles being broken into and vandalized are probably overblown and from a long time ago. I'll find out because I think I'm just going to leave my pickup parked at the trailhead.

Sounds like I shouldn't expect any cell phone coverage from any provider except for satellite. I'm going to look into borrowing a SPOT unit from a buddy in Wyoming for the week.

I've been working at getting in shape over the last few years. Ran a marathon this May in 3 hours and 48 minutes which isn't going to win any awards, but that's an average pace of 8:43 for 26.2 miles so my cardio system is in as good of shape as it has ever been. It will need to be for the 9K and 10K elevation though. Got in some good hiking in Montana a couple weeks ago, one day I got in 16 miles and 5,000' of elevation gain, but my pack wasn't loaded down super heavy and the mountains are lower there, topped out at 8,600' elevation so not as hard on the breathing. Lubbock is just over 3,000' so it will take me a little bit to get acclimatized to the altitude. If I can settle on a go to spot, I will plan on getting there before opener and being camped out and ready opening morning instead of waiting to hike in the first morning.

I'll have rope and some pulleys to help with the solo quartering job if I get one down. I've quartered up 7 elk in the last 5 years, but always had someone there to help me by holding a leg, etc. so I'm planning on using rope to be my helper since I won't have one.

With camp already on my back, I think 4 trips out is going to be the plan if I'm taking the elk out on my back. If I'm back much farther than 2 miles I am going to really try to have a packer lined up who will ease my pain on the pack out.

Not really expecting a monster, probably the first branch antlered bull I see is going to be in trouble.

Thanks again for the input.

Nathan

WillPower · Aug 15, 2013

Nathan

Sounds like you are probably in plenty of good shape, probably better than 99% of us, no marathons here and probably never will attempt it. I think you are ready to roll condition wise. The pulley and rope is real smart for a solo job. Really depends on weather and snow for your hunt. If it snows, you may not need to go very deep. In 2011, during the muzzy hunt, we got 12 inches the night before opening day, elk were moving down like crazy earlier that day and the lower hunters were in the elk. Really given your conditioning as mentioned above, you will get after them for sure. Good luck.

WP

"My only regret in life is setting my goals too low"

WillPower · Aug 15, 2013

"My only regret in life is setting my goals too low"

npaden · Oct 15, 2013

Putting the final touches on everything getting ready for my hunt.

Looks like some snow in the mountains tonight and then a little bit of a break for the weekend.

Still not 100% confident on leaving my truck at the trailhead unattended, but I don't think I'm going to go so far as renting a vehicle just to sit at the trailhead for a week so my truck won't get broken into. If someone want a couple empty coolers in the backseat that bad then I guess they will get them.

With my successful Wyoming elk hunt behind me already this year I may be giving a few raghorns a pass on opening weekend. I think any bull over 275" or so will get a bullet on opening day though.

Had some stuff come up at work so I'll be getting to my spot after dark on Friday and the first time I will be able to actually see the area I'm going to be hunting will be when the sun comes up on opening morning. Not the ideal way to do things, but that's how it's going to work this year.

I've got all my lightweight backpacking gear all ready to go so the way things normally work, I'll have my camp all packed up on my back, get all the way in to where I want to go and shoot a bull on opening morning. If that happens I might just hang out and camp out and enjoy myself a few days before heading back down to the trailhead! Less weight to have to carry back that way!

Really looking forward to it.

Nathan

TerynItUp · Oct 15, 2013

Sounds like a fun trip Nathan. You sure smoked a good one in Wyoming and I hope you find one to your liking here in NM. Good idea on the SPOT unit, be safe, good luck, and most of all, ENJOY!

Keep us posted on your trip, looking forward to a report.

Hunt Hard. Shoot Straight. Kill Clean. Apologize to No One.

salsola · Oct 16, 2013

Nathan,

Good luck on your hunt!

Can't quite see the mountains yet this morning, but the webcam on the hill makes it look like they did get some snow up there overnight:

http://skisantafe.com/index.php?page=webcam

You've probably looked into it, but be warned that the gates to trailheads are all closed during the furlough. Iron Gate should be open (and busy I reckon).

npaden · Oct 16, 2013

Actually I didn't realize the trailheads were closed. I knew the campgrounds themselves were closed and gated, but I was assuming the trailheads were open.

What are people doing, parking on the side of the road?

salsola · Oct 16, 2013

Good question. There is a decent parking area at Cowles for the Winsor & Panchuela trailheads, but I think Jacks Creek has a gate pretty far down the road-- where the road crosses the Pecos River for the last time. I may not be remembering the spot exactly. However, there is some paved roadside parking nearby.

I haven't been up the canyon since the furlough and my info came from Huey in Terrero.

Hopefully things will reopen today or tomorrow and all of this will be trivial for you and everyone else on that hunt.

npaden · Oct 24, 2013

Well I'm back with my first unfilled New Mexico elk tag.

Got way too far back in on the first day, way above where any self respecting elk were.

Ended up getting into elk thick on Monday morning, then Monday evening and then super thick on Tuesday morning, but never was able to close the deal. Had a nice 6 point bull at 40 yards in some thick stuff, but I didn't have a good shot so I didn't pull the trigger.

Some big highs and lows hunting solo, and even though I didn't fill my tag I had a pretty good time. Learned a few lessons for sure.

WillPower · Oct 25, 2013

Nathan-

Sorry to hear that you did not kill a bull. I had a very good archery hunt and I killed an exceptional bull for this non-trophy unit. Too bad you did not PM me like I offered, could have helped you on several fronts. You said you went higher than any self respecting elk, so how far in did you go that was to far? I killed my bull 13 miles in from the trail head. How much snow did you have to deal with ?

On a serious down note, my rental truck got robbed in Sante Fe at a motel, they got me could, Swarovski binoculars, Leupold range finder, satellite phone, radios, lights. Let my guard down one time in all my travels around the world and they jack me. Sucked because this was on the beginning of my trip................

WP

"My only regret in life is setting my goals too low"

npaden · Oct 29, 2013

WP, I had several PMs and actually had more spots recommended than I could attempt to hunt. I didn't think that I went in to far, I only ended up going 4 miles in, but topped out at 11,800' and that was higher than they were at when I was there. Not a lot of snow, but no tracks in the snow that there was.

That really stinks on getting your stuff stolen!!! Thankfully I didn't have any issues on that front.

I typed up a full detailed report on my HAC thread if anyone is interested.

http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/DCForumID58/18.html#12