NM Unit 50 pointers

• Oct 4, 2018

• #1

Fisherkid1

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Well i ended up with a Mature bull tag for unit 50, second rifle.
ive burnt myself out staring at the satellite images and google searching the area, i got the ONX maps for the state.

Some info is gloom and doom, some sounds great.
im sure this units results change year by year with it being a big flat desert the way it looks.


Anyone have any pointers for a first time elk hunter that is giving it a go and not scared to hike 15 miles a day?

Thanks in advance

 

• Oct 4, 2018

• #2

TLowell02

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My opinion, if you are hiking 15 miles a day in that unit you are moving too much. Find a spot before light, sit, watch and listen. The bulls should still be bugling until the road warriors spook them.

 

Last edited: Oct 4, 2018

• Oct 4, 2018

• #3

Fisherkid1

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Ill give it a try, bringing all the stuff to glass also.
I figured they would be post rut by next week.

First season starts this week so im sure theyll be spooked by the time i get there haha

 

• Oct 7, 2018

• #4

Fisherkid1

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Found a guy thats willing to show me around for 2 days next week. Hopefully he knows where to start! Haha

 

• Oct 17, 2018

• #5

Fisherkid1

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No dice, saw elk 3 of 5 days. Prolly not my first choice of units ever again.

 

• Oct 18, 2018

• #6

TLowell02

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Sorry to hear. It is a tough unit for sure. Did you hear any bugling? When I first responded, for some unknown reason, I was thinking first rifle season.

 

• Oct 18, 2018

• #7

Fisherkid1

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The only bull we saw did let one rip about 40 yards from us but offered no shots and was never to be seen or heard again. We haunted dark to dark and heard 1 other shot all week. Saw 2 big 6x6s come off pot mtn yesterday and we hunted it all day with no shots so are they shooting them in the dark? The ranger we talked to said it happens more than often and he found a dead cow someone dumped.
Holy road hunters is all i can say haha.
I talked to every guy i could and everyone was just as lost as i was it seemed. Met lots of very nice people.
Its amazing things live out there. No water or food. I need to read the elk ecology book before next season cause these things are masters of elusion.

 

• Oct 18, 2018

• #8

TLowell02

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Sounds somewhat similar to first rifle last year, except bulls would bugle nonstop from midnight to about 4 a.m and then vanish. On the last morning we had a very nice bull cross the sage flats a half mile out and just as he neared cover two trucks came flying down the road he just crossed. They claimed to have no idea he was there and, if true, illustrates how sneaky those bulls can be. There is actually water sources scattered all over, mostly for cattle but a few wildlife drinkers too.