New Mexico Elk Questions

Hi all.

I've entered to draw a tag for unit 50 late rifle. I've been searching the web for advice on the unit as well as looking over Google Earth trying to get the lay of the land. By looking at GE during one of the rifle seasons last year, I could see that there were a number of camps set up more north in the unit around the stand alone mountains. This and the less amount of roads have led me to focus my efforts towards the southern end of the unit. Specifically to the East and West of Ojo Caliente. I've identified the water sources in said areas but have a few questions that I was hoping you all could chime in on.

1. The areas east and west of Ojo Caliente are not all that rugged with a number of draws throughout. It looks as if there is sparse cover of what I assume is pinyon juniper. Is this an area that an elk would like? Most info I've seen shows that elk are move likely to be in the mountainous areas.

2. Looking at GE it looks as if it is bare rock/dirt/clay for the most part. Is there actually grass there? If so, is this what the elk are eating or what would they be eating in a landscape such as this?

3. Does Ojo Caliente have a gas station?

Right now, the plan is to spend all my time at an elevated location with binoculars and the spotting scoping looking in hopes of finding a bull for a stalk. If it comes down to the last couple days of the hunt with nothing to show for it, I'll head north to the stand alone mountains and give them a try.

I'd appreciate any feedback you could give whether it be here or PM.

Thanks!

what are your draw odds? i do not know that unit or I’d try to help.

I can answer 3. Yes Ojo Caliente has a gas station (as of last Fall). Oddly enough there is no longer one at Tres Piedras.

I drive along 285 a lot, but I have never hunted 50. It has a reputation of being a tough unit for elk. My recollection is that the southern half is flat and thick Pinion Juniper, which is one reason it is a tough hunt. In most of that country I think it would be really hard to glass. There are elk in the PJ, I hit one on the highway about 15 years ago around midnight. I knew one guy who occasionally hunted the north half of 50 in the more mountainous terrain, he had a few chances but I don't think he ever killed anything.

The open areas are generally sagebrush and grassland (more like antelope country), some years it is really greened up by the Fall, other years it can be really dry. Right now it looks like we are heading into a drought. Summer rains will make or break the green-up.

UPDATE; after typing this I looked at the map again, the area I'm thinking about is still a ways north of Ojo Caliente, between Taos Junction and Tres Piedras. In that area unit 50 is totally on the east side of 285. I think Ojo Caliente is significantly lower elevation, and with much drier and sparser vegetation. Probably more glass-able, but there might not be anything to look for.

1) It's PJ/Sagebrush high desert country. The elk will like it if the weather is severe enough to push them in there. No Weather, few to no elk. Its winter range. How late is the hunt?

2) That time of year that the elk are there, the elk will take what they can get for food.

3) I can't remember, it's been years. I'd hunt up near Tres Piedras though. There is a town just across the border in CO.

The tag is 10/13-10/17 with 50% odds. Looking at historical weather data it doesn't seem the snow has come yet to push the elk down. Thanks for all the input.

I second the recommendation for the north end of the unit over the south, especially in October. There are some high points in the south, but PJ is hard, and grass is thin in that area.

There is currently gas in Ojo Caliente, and also at the 84/285 junction. Antonito CO may or may not have gas. Tres Piedras definitely does not. Taos does.

matthbrown1022 said:

The tag is 10/13-10/17 with 50% odds. Looking at historical weather data it doesn't seem the snow has come yet to push the elk down. Thanks for all the input.

Click to expand...

There’s a reason it’s easy to draw. I wouldn’t hunt that country in October.

Check out Chiflo and Cerro de la Olla. (pot)

Ojo does. And there's gas at 285 and 84 south of there, in Abiquiu, Taos, Questa, and Costilla. That's about it for gas within 50 miles of 50.

Thanks for the responses on everything guys! I'll eagerly wait the draw results and take what I can get.

matthbrown1022 said:

Thanks for the responses on everything guys! I'll eagerly wait the draw results and take what I can get.

Click to expand...

Don’t dismiss 50. It’s a tough unit but there are elk in them thar hills. A lot depends on summer rains and weather just before the hunt. It’s a big area, so keep moving until you find them. I’ve heard they can be quite active at night down low. So, early and late in the days may serve you well.

Good lucj