Anyone elk hunt near Taos, NM?

[dm3280]

Has anyone done any elk hunting near Taos, NM? My family has a cabin in the mountians about 20 miles south of Taos and I have been thinking of applying for an elk tag but not sure which unit to apply for or if it is even worth it. If someone has what unit did you hunt in and what was your experience?

I have talked to several of the locals and they all say there are lots of elk in the valley our cabin is in. I have never seen any but I am usually up there during the summer months. I have seen mule deer and black bear. There are elk crossing signs along the road so I have no doubt they are there.

I want to get as much info as I can before I put in the application and $$. Not sure I could even get drawn

Thanks

[ironramrod]

dm3280,

Doesn't look like you're getting a lot of bites on your question so maybe I can help you out some in a general way.

Although, I'm not familiar at all with the Taos, NM area, I can tell you that both elk and deer are mainly nocturnal especially during the warm months. They do very little moving around during daylight, but they often move around quite a bit during the period from 1st light until sunrise and the same period again in the evening. You may get a good idea of movements, activity, and high use areas by being out and about at those times of the day, if you can. Often one can have a fairly large number of deer or elk around, and see very few of them during the day.

If it were me in your situation, I would buy a license and go give those suckers a run for their money. Additionally, I don't know if you have hunted elk, but in case you haven't I can tell you that dead elk are really heavy; one often has to take them apart wherever they are laying. At least some specialized gear is really helpful in handling and cooling out big chunks of meat.

Regards

[dm3280]

Thanks for the help. I have only hunted them once before by archery. The only elk we saw was about 100 lbs in a mans backpack as he was hauling his out.

I figured if I am going to go after them I better do it while I have my health. Since we have the cabin it would make a much cheaper hunt.

Now if I can find someone to go along. I refuse to hunt alone. I have a friend that was deer hunting and fell out of his stand, broke his back and now he is in a wheel chair for life with little use of his arms and no use of his legs. Still hunts from his chair and does better than me. Because of that I refuse to hunt alone or at least where someone can come look for me at the end of the day if I don't return.

Thanks again

[Omak Cowboy]

I've been watching the outdoor channel where most of the hunts for deer seem to be in stands. The visability is hard to argue with but there seem to be too many catastrophic accidents with those things. Scares me to death. I have no intention of spending my remaining years in a wheelchair over a hunt gone bad.

[bulldog]

I wasn't going to reveal anything as figured someone would say something about those elk but I changed my mind. By the way, I agree with Omack. Anyway, I suppose it won't hurt to say somehting since most guys don't like to read my posts anyway and prob. will Ignore this, I hope. The fact is, there's so many elk around there you might be able to bag one off your cabin porch unless there's close neighbors. I stayed a friends place just SouthE of Taos and walking with the dog about noon three elk came across the dirt road from the pine trees about 300ft from us. Naturally the stupid dog took off after them and the elk just stood there and looked till the dog was right on them then they ran down the road whih him barking like and idiot. I felt bad for the elks as it was a bit hot about then. Then, walking another dirt trail the next day without dog I found myself staring at one from 10 ft away. Huge female. I backed off. By the way, driving down I saw over 300 to 500 elk about 6pm on the side of a mountain in a huge heard This was above Eagles Nest which is N of Taos and East on the other side of the hills on the road that turns off to Raton. These were wild elk too as I inquired to make sure. I never knew they went in such big groups.! Now, none of this was huntin season time and you know how that changes things. I think your prospects are good! Bulldog

[decook2k]

dm3280 does your cabin reside in unit 49? I’m looking at the map there and this should be a good location. The locals will have it right, if there are elk there they will know. I might not get the whole truth (from the locals) cause I don’t own land there, but you probably will.

Scout the area prior to the hunt if this is possible. The sooner to the hunt date the better. But after the first hunt starts, the pressure will move them just like anything else.

Ironramrod is right, elk are heavy. Maybe what you saw was a quarter or even an eighth that was on a meat pack. Coming from just a bit more South of you, I know elk run in the 600-800 lbs category on the hoof. They can and do get bigger though.
Going with someone else is a really good idea. If you are successful you’ll be glad of the help.

I wish I could go with you. I was invited to hunt just on the other side of the road from the Valle Grande, but gas trip expense is just too much now.

Bulldog I know of where you speak. I’ve been through there many times through the years. Never saw that many in one herd, but it don’t surprise me a bit. BTW – the elk you saw was also in unit 49.

-dc

[dm3280]

Unit 49 sounds right. Our cabin is right on 518 about a mile west of Sipapu ski lodge. If I remember right 518 is the dividing line between 2 units. The unit to the north has several roads but the unit south has some trails but not any roads. The Pecos wilderness is about 3 miles south of our cabin. I figure most folks will go to the unit north of us since it is easier to get back there.

I have not decided on which unit to put in for, I have a year to decide before I have to put in for it.

We will be up there this September on a vacation, I plan on doing some scouting then as time permits. My wife usually spends the entire time trout fishing so she won't want to play tourist too much. I will also do some more asking around with the locals.

Thanks for the help.

[Beruisis]

dm3280, a buddy of mine rented horses in Pecos & hunted to the north of there for several years for mule deer. He was warned by the wrangler not to shoot the elk by mistake. He thought that was pretty useless advice until he saw some good bucks back there. Very large racks. He gave me his maps & contacts but I never hunted back there.....hunted the Chama area for many years. I have even seen huge mule deer bucks think that they were elk & ran, ate with them, even bedded nearby. I believe that area (north of Pecos) is good & relatively overlooked. I should put in for it as well.
Beruisis

[buffalocannon]

DM, have never hunted New Mexico except for mule deer in the southwestern part around Alma, but have driven through Northern New Mexico many times on the way to this and that. I remember one summer driving through the area near where you are talking about and seeing many huge herds of elk , seems like every few miles or so. Many were in the vicinity of a large ski area. There was still snow on the ground along the highway. Ski area had "flame" or "flaming" or "fire" or some such in the name? Good luck on your hunt. I've shot all my elk in Northern Arizona. We grow some monsters over here.

[dm3280]

Anglefire is the place I think you are thinking of. I am guesing that is about 60 miles from our cabin by road, maybe 30 miles by air.

I hope to do a little scouting this September when we are there for vacation. I will let everyone know if I see anything, just in case they are wondering.

Odds of being drawn in the area I want is only 10 %, residents get a larger number of tags than non residents. Maybe in about 5 or 6 years when I retire we will move up there, if prices of property stop going nuts up there.

Thanks