Too bad you didn't get into them.  But, it's still better than working, and elk camp is a fun time!  Nice photos.  Hopefully you will have a chance to get into them next year!

You may not have succeeded in filling your tag but I imagine you still had a good time while you were able to hunt.  You gained knowledge of the hunting grounds and got to spend a few days living in God's country!  I'll take that any day!

Good luck on your future hunts!

That sucks, I was hoping you would get a giant bull out of there. I cant even draw a tag in NM!!!

Do not worry, you are not alone. Those pesky elk are some pretty darn elusive critters and they are definitely not easy to hunt. They are fun to hunt though and I am sure you had fun. I can not imagine hunting a place like New Mexico either. I bet that was awesome! I bet it was cool seeing that good buck too. High winds can be a game ender too. They are never fun to mess with. Especially when you are staying in a tent. That can get really interesting, really fast. Good luck on any other hunts you might be able to get out on this year.

Thanks for all the positive comments. I leave this Friday for my mule deer hunt which starts on Saturday. Maybe I'll have better luck.

I'll be hunting the Gila again but in unit 24 instead of 16, same place where I harvested my deer last year.

Well I hope that you can get yourself a big old mule deer buck as a reward for your efforts trying to get a big bull elk. That country is really cool. I have never gotten a chance to hunt it and I do not know if I ever will but from everything that I have read and seen on TV, it really looks like the place to be for big elk. Are the mule deer quite as big down there? I guess I just haven't quite heard of them. But I am sure if the habitat is able to produce that big of elk that deer can get big too. As long as the deer populations are strong. Good luck to you and you will have to keep us posted on how everything turns out.