Unit 80 or 81 Muzz elk

[ducksbucksandbulls]

Unit 80 or 81 Muzz elk

Anyone hunt this area in the past?
whats the good ,bad and truth about the unit.
i hunted on the new mexico side in 52 years back and had a good hunt, saw lots of bulls.
How is the access,
PM's welcome,
thanks,
Howdy

 

[JRABQ]

RE: Unit 80 or 81 Muzz elk

LAST EDITED ON Feb-01-13 AT 08:56AM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Feb-01-13 AT 08:55?AM (MST)

I've hunted 81 it a good bit with bow/muzzy/rifle, don't know much about 80. Access is good at the higher elevations, there are some large wilderness areas. Some of the terrain is similar to NM 52, but much of it is a bit rougher. There are also some areas labeled "backcountry" that are supposed to limit 4 wheelers, but it doesn't seem to get enforced.

Decent elk herd, but they can be scattered around in September. Hard to find anything larger than raghorn or 5 pt. Hunting pressure can be pretty high, archery is OTC. For a non-resident I think it now takes 4 or 5 points to draw a muzzy bull tag, which seems high to me for the quality of the hunt (it used to only take 1 or 2 points). Cow can be drawn with zero points, but probably no longer as 2nd choice. I think the average harvest rates are in the teens, even for cows. I think you can draw the first rifle hunt in October with 0 points.

So compared to NM 52, I would say it is a somewhat tougher hunt. But it's better than staying home!

 

[Whiterock]

RE: Unit 80 or 81 Muzz elk

LAST EDITED ON Feb-01-13 AT 02:45PM (MST)[p]I have a friend that has hunted 80 a couple time with archery.He has and the area gets lots of hunters.i myself hunt the NW part of the state and it gets hammered ,but we always find a good spot .I think you would be able to do the same down south with some scouting.Even a couple days before your hunt can prove helpful.