Unit 52 MZ wrap up...our 10th year.

[crcountry]

Well...unit 52 changes every year. Drought, location of quality feed, pre-season cattle drives, weather, rut variances, locations/pockets of elk, and size/quantity of elk. This year: we covered 3 of my spots, inside the wilderness and out, but we never turned up a decent bull, or even a 260" bull for that matter. We spike camped 2 miles from the main road, and then relocated to another spot which was also 2 miles from a main road. So we def hiked our packs all over the place. With the Sat mid-AM weather, and the Tuesday blizzard, which completely shut down the rut, finding bulls/cows was largely an AM spot and stalk idea or an evening ordeal when they came out of the timber to feed/drink on their classic seeps and green spots deep in the cuts. Numerous spots were completely devoid of elk, and they never are, which was also a bit odd. Other spots had numerous scrub/baby bulls, and like most years, you really have to work hard to punch your tag on a decent bull....or have a gang buster rut, which we have had for the past 2 consecutive seasons....and then unit 52 becomes the easiest hunt in the west. We ended up going 1 for 4, with one buddy who never left his tent due to a fast onset of covid. Yes, we could have gone 3-4 with lesser bulls, and not missing a couple chip shots, but I can't wrap my brain around killing small 4x4's and our misses weren't exactly justifiable, but it does happens. I'm eager to hear how the 1st/2nd rifle season worked out. I think my unit 52 hunts are coming to an end. I've hunted piles of that country, and I have cubby hole spots from one end of the wilderness all the way to Ulguin and back....from the unit 4 border out to Banco Julian, all the way to Bighorn Peak over to Brazos. When the rut is on, that place is fun hunt, but it really only works out perfectly 50% of the time. Out of our 10 seasons, I think we've hit it perfectly 5 times. Meaning: we were knee deep into daily rutting scenarios, calling, and charging bulls. The other 1/2 of the hunts have been too hot (1x), blizzard conditions (2x's), bad post-rut but with good weather conditions (1x), post-rut and poor shooting/execution (1x). Is it worth $4k in landowner vouchers, tags, etc?....I guess, but its a tough call. I think there are other place I need to start exploring.

 

[Scuba_Steve]

Lol good luck getting a voucher for any quality unit at that price. That sounds like a solid price for what everywhere is right now.

If people didn't post so much info on everything and exact spots everywhere I bet the quality of the hunt wouldn't have diminished.
People will go hit the spots that are posted and most of them won't have a second thought shooting a 260" bull.

It sounds like a good hunt to me. Plenty of guys hunted quiet bulls this year.
If you want it different then I'd switch to private ranch hunts. Landowner vouchers are going to keep going.up, and private will start being more justifiable when the prices of public cost the same.

 

[DonVathome]

I hunted 52 a lot but have not been there in 15 years or so. LO tags are crazy pricey. They were $500 when I hunted there. Ah well. I have a lot of points elsewhere but ever now and then think about 52. This will help to continue me decision not to go back.

 

[RioHuntNutt]

I hunted 52 a lot but have not been there in 15 years or so. LO tags are crazy pricey. They were $500 when I hunted there. Ah well. I have a lot of points elsewhere but ever now and then think about 52. This will help to continue me decision not to go back.

Last time I saw you was in 52 you had arrowed a bull that year.2006 MAYBE?

 

[DonVathome]

Sounds correct, it has been awhile

 

[garneroutlaw]

I noticed a marked decline this year compared to 2018 in which I was up there for a deer tag for whatever that's worth. But then again, this year I noticed UTVs were being driven on the forest service trails and even the continental divide trail. I would bet my entire bank account that has something to do with it considering there's a lot of private land not that far away. 52 is a gamble with your draw. I would never put in for it again myself.

 

[Ms. Blackwolf]

Well...unit 52 changes every year. Drought, location of quality feed, pre-season cattle drives, weather, rut variances, locations/pockets of elk, and size/quantity of elk. This year: we covered 3 of my spots, inside the wilderness and out, but we never turned up a decent bull, or even a 260" bull for that matter. We spike camped 2 miles from the main road, and then relocated to another spot which was also 2 miles from a main road. So we def hiked our packs all over the place. With the Sat mid-AM weather, and the Tuesday blizzard, which completely shut down the rut, finding bulls/cows was largely an AM spot and stalk idea or an evening ordeal when they came out of the timber to feed/drink on their classic seeps and green spots deep in the cuts. Numerous spots were completely devoid of elk, and they never are, which was also a bit odd. Other spots had numerous scrub/baby bulls, and like most years, you really have to work hard to punch your tag on a decent bull....or have a gang buster rut, which we have had for the past 2 consecutive seasons....and then unit 52 becomes the easiest hunt in the west. We ended up going 1 for 4, with one buddy who never left his tent due to a fast onset of covid. Yes, we could have gone 3-4 with lesser bulls, and not missing a couple chip shots, but I can't wrap my brain around killing small 4x4's and our misses weren't exactly justifiable, but it does happens. I'm eager to hear how the 1st/2nd rifle season worked out. I think my unit 52 hunts are coming to an end. I've hunted piles of that country, and I have cubby hole spots from one end of the wilderness all the way to Ulguin and back....from the unit 4 border out to Banco Julian, all the way to Bighorn Peak over to Brazos. When the rut is on, that place is fun hunt, but it really only works out perfectly 50% of the time. Out of our 10 seasons, I think we've hit it perfectly 5 times. Meaning: we were knee deep into daily rutting scenarios, calling, and charging bulls. The other 1/2 of the hunts have been too hot (1x), blizzard conditions (2x's), bad post-rut but with good weather conditions (1x), post-rut and poor shooting/execution (1x). Is it worth $4k in landowner vouchers, tags, etc?....I guess, but its a tough call. I think there are other place I need to start exploring.

Read about my ordeal in 52 lol...my first dance hunting big game combined with a "guide" from hell and all in unit 52 to boot. If I had a cow tag I was 20 yards away from one but my tag was MB. If I had a turkey tag there was a huge flock of them 10 yards from me while I sat unnoticed. Had freezing rain/snow sending me packing as I don't have a 4wheel drive yet. But I learned a lot what NOT to do, that's for certain. Good luck next year to you!!!

 

[Bigfoot 1]

Well...unit 52 changes every year. Drought, location of quality feed, pre-season cattle drives, weather, rut variances, locations/pockets of elk, and size/quantity of elk. This year: we covered 3 of my spots, inside the wilderness and out, but we never turned up a decent bull, or even a 260" bull for that matter. We spike camped 2 miles from the main road, and then relocated to another spot which was also 2 miles from a main road. So we def hiked our packs all over the place. With the Sat mid-AM weather, and the Tuesday blizzard, which completely shut down the rut, finding bulls/cows was largely an AM spot and stalk idea or an evening ordeal when they came out of the timber to feed/drink on their classic seeps and green spots deep in the cuts. Numerous spots were completely devoid of elk, and they never are, which was also a bit odd. Other spots had numerous scrub/baby bulls, and like most years, you really have to work hard to punch your tag on a decent bull....or have a gang buster rut, which we have had for the past 2 consecutive seasons....and then unit 52 becomes the easiest hunt in the west. We ended up going 1 for 4, with one buddy who never left his tent due to a fast onset of covid. Yes, we could have gone 3-4 with lesser bulls, and not missing a couple chip shots, but I can't wrap my brain around killing small 4x4's and our misses weren't exactly justifiable, but it does happens. I'm eager to hear how the 1st/2nd rifle season worked out. I think my unit 52 hunts are coming to an end. I've hunted piles of that country, and I have cubby hole spots from one end of the wilderness all the way to Ulguin and back....from the unit 4 border out to Banco Julian, all the way to Bighorn Peak over to Brazos. When the rut is on, that place is fun hunt, but it really only works out perfectly 50% of the time. Out of our 10 seasons, I think we've hit it perfectly 5 times. Meaning: we were knee deep into daily rutting scenarios, calling, and charging bulls. The other 1/2 of the hunts have been too hot (1x), blizzard conditions (2x's), bad post-rut but with good weather conditions (1x), post-rut and poor shooting/execution (1x). Is it worth $4k in landowner vouchers, tags, etc?....I guess, but its a tough call. I think there are other place I need to start exploring.

We have been elk hunting 52 since the 80’s. It used to be somewhat of a guaranteed draw for many of us. We always apply for rifle mid October. We have and continue to have tremendous success in this unit. It wasn’t that way in the beginning. It took us four or five years to really learn this country. We now hunt one spot and kill multiple elk in a quarter mile radius consistently. They are not the biggest yet every once in a while we get a wall hanger. You can’t eat hose antlers anyways.

 

[crcountry]

Agreed. There are a few decent bulls in there. Our biggest: (2) were both around 305-310". Funny story here: we we deep in the wilderness spike camping, and came over a little knoll high up on a hill while pursing a herd, only to run smack into 2 other hunters at 15 yards. To put this in perspective, I had been in unit 52 for 5 consecutive years prior and never saw another hunter while hunting...ever....so you can imagine my surprise as I came toe to toe with 2 dudes in face masks pointing up wind and hoping the same bull we were playing cat and mouse with was about to step into their lane. Needless to say we immediately sat down with them and got through the awkward pleasantries that happen during these moments ("your chasing my bull"...."no, your chasing my bull"). Anyway, we shook it off, introduced everyone, and got to chatting/whispering about our experiences in this general area. This veterinarian, from FL I believe, quickly explained that in 8+ years of hunting this area, with his 6+ buddies that rotated through the years, I was the first he'd every seen or run into in there. I took note, and replied that he was the first I'd ever seen as well, and I guess it was only appropriate that he and I run into each other vs. some Eastern quack, wanna be elk hunter from Maryland... or somewhere like that. He said yeah, I guess so. Then he asked where I was from, and why in the world I was wearing a non-camo fishing/nylon shirt? I said, well, I'm from Maryland, and I figure if you have to rely on camo, then they probably have already smelled, or seen me, and the gig was probably up. He disagreed, and to be quite honest, I stopped wearing those shirts! So, I've stepped up to a camo button down nylon shirt. Anyway, this is getting long winded, so I'll wrap it up by saying that over the 8-10 years that he and his buddies hunted this exact same area (1mile square), their biggest bulls were 305". And....that's the biggest we've ever killed as well. I think I've missed one that was bigger, but he was only bigger in mass, so of course he looked huge....but I bet he was also right at that 305-310" mark. On another note, we were down in lagunitas during our very first season in 2012, and we scouted 3 days before the MZ opener....on the evening before the opener I honestly watched a 340-350" bull at 1.5 miles with my Zeiss 70x spotter for over an hour...at every angle possible...he was a stud. And I've shot a 340" bull, so it was darn close. That was a very, very rare bull for unit 52, and that was in 2012 near the unit 4 border in a very remote spot. We came close to him once, but blew him gotta there and never saw him again...although we both tagged out that year on nice bulls, so we were happy. Last point: this veterinarian also swapped every other year from bow to MZ. They kept it interesting and enjoyed the bow hunt just as much. And he said something that will always linger with me: "the bow hunt in here is nowhere like the MZ hunt"...He was basically saying that getting it done with a bow is very tough....and after all of these years, and even the handful of nice bulls taken with our Muzzleloaders within 60-70 yards, I can say that hunting the bow season in Unit 52 has got to be very challenging.....unless you just hit it perfectly, and the bulls are going nuts. But even in that situation, getting past the small bulls, and the cows, to put an arrow into a 270" type herd bull in unit 52 is no easy feat....that I can promise anyone. But of course, we decided to put 2nd bow as our 3rd choice this year, so maybe we'll draw it and give it a whirl. We love 52, but for $3250+tag fees, I don't know if I love it that much.

 

[Bigfoot 1]

We have been rifle hunting 52 since the late 80’s and have killed a ton of bulls in this country. The weather just like every where else has drastically changed over the years. We got snowed in for 2 days in 1996 and they finally found us on snowmobiles. They managed to get this Frankenstein rig of theirs to our pickup and got us towed out. We had to leave our camping trailer. Taos Search and Rescue was nice enough to tow it down to Tres Piedras for us 3 weeks later after everything thawed out and cleared up some so we could drive that six hours and retrieve it. It snowed so hard so fast on us that you couldn’t open the door to the pickup, you had to crawl out the window. We learned valuable lessons on that hunt and have implemented many changes in the way we camp and deal with that country. It makes for great memories and stories but I wouldn’t ever want to do that again. Anyways, I applied for 52 again this year like every year, killing elk is easy there, the hard part is getting them out. Good luck on your draws.

 

[crcountry]

Agreed. Horses are key. It allows you to hunt anywhere you want, and not worry about how your going to get the meat out of there. I wonder if things have really changed in 52 over the past 30 years....my guess is that its all pretty much that same....even the nasty weather, just not at the regularity it once was. Now it's every 5th year.

 

[Bigfoot 1]

Agreed. Horses are key. It allows you to hunt anywhere you want, and not worry about how your going to get the meat out of there. I wonder if things have really changed in 52 over the past 30 years....my guess is that its all pretty much that same....even the nasty weather, just not at the regularity it once was. Now it's every 5th year.

I’ve been hunting and fishing 52 for a long time. Horses are high maintenance especially on a long elk hunt. We couldn’t get a horse trailer to camp first of all, and it’s a long ride from where we would have to unload them to camp. We camp at 9,600’ and hunt at 10,300’. We have thought about horses and even llamas over the years. Llamas pretty much adapt to their surroundings and eat whatever the country provides. Where we kill elk it takes us about two days to get them out and that’s using a deer cart once we get them up top from down canyon.That’s some rough but beautiful country.