This MlMonths NM Whitetail... Not Coues'

[WFGinNM]

I shot this buck on a limited NM whitetail hunt in the eastern part of the state.

More to follow....

--Bill

Well poo I guess I can't edit the typo in the title. Although I did stutter a bit.

 

[WFGinNM]

I received some help from a local and wanted to be polite and check before I posted any pics of the area.

I had started thinking about hunting these deer in December of 2010, started looking over maps and made a few scouting trips. There were 10 licenses for this hunt and a friend and I drew 2 of them. This country has very little cover, and these deer were harder to hunt than antelope. When they spooked they would run over the horizon miles away, not just a few hundred yards. We glassed a few bucks, and on the 3rd day I decided on the buck I wanted to try for.

Using the truck to block the 30 mph wind while glassing.

Eastern NM deer country

Here is a herd of whitetails we watched for awhile.

More glassing and waiting.

After waiting from around 9:00 am to 4:20 pm the herd moved to within 350 yards and I shot this 8 point with a 15 1/2" spread.

After I got the group moving my friend shot this buck, 9 point with a 8 1/2" spread.

Here are a couple pictures from where we camped the next morning.

The deer are bigger bodied than the Coues' we normally hunt in NM. I was expecting a smaller deer so judging them from a distance was deceiving. I hope to hunt whitetail in NM again, but will go a little farther south to see some new country.
One thing to add, I don't know what this buck was rubbing his antlers on but I can't get the skunk smell out of them.

Thanks for reading,
--Bill

 

[----]

That's really cool. I didn't even know you guys had any. They do a lot bigger than I'd expect, more like a CO plains deer than the Texas kind.

Congrats, looks like a blast.

 

[highmountian]

Congrats on a great hunt and a couple nice bucks.

 

[Oak]

Nice. I hope they shoot every one of them in NM.