NM Unit 45 for Elk

[Tankhead]

Got my first elk tag. Bow 9/1 - 9-22. Unit 45 is the Santa Fe National Forest which includes the Pecos Wilderness. And trying to do everything possible to increase my odds. It was my third choice behind Unit 34 and 36. Got a friend who is a proven hunter and offered to go with me to help. Already got some quadrant maps from BLM and ordered some Forest Sevice maps of trails off thier web-site. My friend wants to try and get as much info of the concentration of elk as possible. Gonna start scouting this weekend or next. E-mailed and left a phone message for the local fish cop but he hasn't asnwered my inquiries. My friend prefers to stay off the Wilderness. I can understand his motivations. We don't have horses. But we will pack it out if thats where there at. I do have an ATV. But there's no travel management map for this Nation Forest. Looking at the BLM map I should be able to get fairly close to a kill using the logging roads in the National Forest. I wish the conservation officer would reply for a definite answer on retrieving downed game. Can you tell I'm psyched for this hunt? Any help for this unit would be appreciated for a lifetime! Thanks!

[exbiologist]

Hi and welcome to BGH. Congrats on the drawing, I haven't hunted that unit, but I can take a look at it for you and tell you what I would do, but that's without any working knowledge of the area.
As you can see right now, New Mexico information is kinda hard to come by.

[Tankhead]

I just got the Forest Service map of the Santa Fe National Forest which includes the Pecos Wilderness and a map of just the wilderness with all the trails. Nice. Plenty of unimproved roads that I can use my ATV outside the boundary of the wilderness up to 11,500 feet elevation. I know the Northern part of Unit 45 has a reputation for big ones. But arriving from the south I'll be hunting the southern end of the National Forest. Pretty much to the North in between Pecos and Las Vegas, NM along I-25. Matter of fact I don't know if you heard but its right about where a rescue helicopter crashed last week after picking up a lost hiker. There was snow still on the ground. I am getting so psyched to go do some scouting.

[henry wilkins]

I hunted it last year and it's a great area,easy access if you look at the FS map and stay away from roads. Go into the Pecos Widerness on foot. You don't have to go way back where packers are.Good luck and good hunting,it was my 3rd choice too, but I drew my first.The Warden is friend and is very busy but if you leave mess. he usually replies.

[Tankhead]

I hunted it last year and it's a great area,easy access if you look at the FS map and stay away from roads. Go into the Pecos Widerness on foot. You don't have to go way back where packers are.Good luck and good hunting,it was my 3rd choice too, but I drew my first.The Warden is friend and is very busy but if you leave mess. he usually replies.

He had a good article in the New Mexico Wilderness quarterly publication. Got most of the questions answered. Thanks for the extra help!

[gameboy100]

Hey i was drawn for unit 45 as well but i was drawn for the season after your's, the muzzleloader archery season. can i contact you after you do some scouting and after your hunt? maybe by that time you will be able to help me out some. I have never hunted in NM. I will be doing about a week of scouting at the end of july but thats all the time i could get off work aside form the time for the hunt and I live in CA so i'm not exactly close. But any help you can offer along the way would be much appreciated. Good Luck with your hunt!!!

[Tankhead]

Hey i was drawn for unit 45 as well but i was drawn for the season after your's, the muzzleloader archery season. can i contact you after you do some scouting and after your hunt? maybe by that time you will be able to help me out some. I have never hunted in NM. I will be doing about a week of scouting at the end of july but thats all the time i could get off work aside form the time for the hunt and I live in CA so i'm not exactly close. But any help you can offer along the way would be much appreciated. Good Luck with your hunt!!!

Not a problem. I'll be around.

[glock210]

Tankhead,
I drew again for Area 45 as well for the first session in the rifle season. I did not have any success last year. I stayed at Jacks Creek Campground and loved it. Where do you plan on staying? When you finish your hunt I would like to talk to you so I can hopefully have a successful hunt this year. Thanks.

[Tankhead]

Tankhead,
I drew again for Area 45 as well for the first session in the rifle season. I did not have any success last year. I stayed at Jacks Creek Campground and loved it. Where do you plan on staying? When you finish your hunt I would like to talk to you so I can hopefully have a successful hunt this year. Thanks.

I want to leave my truck somewhere near Torreon, in think its called,

[gameboy100]

I was just wondering how your scouting has been going, if you have don any yet. I set out tonight for NM and with be scouting in the holy ghost creek area and around the Katherine lake area.

[Tankhead]

No, I haven't gone out yet. Gonna go in the middle of August. Not planning on going hunting until 9/14 - 9/22. Anxious on gettin up there and looking for a camping area though. Not gonna stay in the campgrounds. I will definitely give a post after I go scout.

[gameboy100]

Yeah I dont plan on staying in any of the campgrounds either. I'll put up a post after I get back as well let you know what I see, if anything, this next week

[Tankhead]

So, how was it? Did you travel any of the Forest Service roads? Was it pretty wet up there?

[gameboy100]

I ended up hiking in at cowles and I didnt end up seeing any elk, I was a little to high in elevation. saw plenty of mule deer and half a dozen big horn sheep at about 7yards. talked to a couple locals and they said they saw 8 cows and 2 bulls the day before we saw them down by the river near holy ghost. another local told me there are more elk than deer. one local said the pecos falls was a good place to check, in that area bc a lot of elk have been killed on that mountain. I think I am gunna stay at iron gate and go out of there just hike in. we didnt use any forest service roads I wasnt sure of the access points for them and didnt have an atv with me anyway. let me kno how your scouting goes and where you think you'll be heading out of. I also have a deer tag so let me know if you see any smoker mule deer

[Tankhead]

Thats weird cause thats where the fish cop said they were. Up on top. Thats where I'm headed. I'm goin for a scout in a couple weeks. The weekend before the hunt starts. I have a cousin who has somebody who knows the area I'll be hunting. He's been feeding me info the last couple of days when he found out what unit I was hunting. He called em herds up there. They were checking out the Forest Service map and he just came by and I was verifying that they knew the area with my map. I got my ATV trailer in last week to carry all my gear. Taking the tree stand along w/ the usual essentials. Hard to believe the hunt starts in a little more than 2 weeks. I'm goin the last full week. Tryin to time it just right instead of being the first in there. With the 3-day holiday ending on the 7th, we're expecting there to be a lot of traffic that first week at least. I hope you understand why I don't want to give up the exact area I'll be hunting just yet. Thats great you got a just to see the area you'll be camping at. I'm anxious to do the same. Having set aside 9 days of hunting I'm having some pretty high expectations of seeing elk.