Looking to find someone that has put in for the draw in New Mexico for Elk to help me with some information. I am wanting to go on an elk hunt next year and I'm trying to figure out what and where the best odds are to take a decent bull. Preferences would be to use muzzleloader or rifle and leave the bow at home. Any tips or assistance would be GREATLY appreciated as this would be my first hunt out of state or for elk.

Thank You.

Bub, It might be easier to put in this year as New Mexico has a new law on senate floor that would reduce Non-resident tags from 22% to 16%. As far as best odds Muzzleloader would be your best choice for most succsess. I have a outfitter there and we hunt in unit#15 in The Gila National forest, Great bulls in that area with a good chance of scoring on a bull over 300 inches. For the draw I would put in for the late November hunt for your first choice then the 2 October hunts for second and third choice. That should give you pretty good odds. PM me if I can help in any other way.

i have put in for pronghorn & mule deer up there for many years now. The trick is figuring out how much money you want to spend which dictates how far into the state you can travel. If that doesnt matter then you can get on NMDGF's website and research draw results for the last few years. It will take a little math but you can quickly figure out how many tags were alloted for each unit and how many people put in for that unit for the particular species you are after. The key to a higher success for you drawing a tag is finding the unit with the lowest ratio of people putting in for the tag : tags offered. But there may be a reason for the low input as well...may not be very many elk in that unit or they are harder to hunt.

I am not 100% positive because i have never put in for the elk tags but i think out of state people who drew a tag last year cannot even put in for a tag this year...they have to skip a year. Which increases your odds. But don't hold me to that.

Another issue out of state hunters are facing in NM is there gov't is trying to take what little % of tags out of staters can have down to almost none...the locals are complaining they do not get enough tags to hunt in there backyard because the state is giving like 10% to out of staters. Thats because the state makes more than 10X more money on the 10% of out of state hunters than it makes on all the in state hunters. So i really dont see that law being passed.

But this is all my 2 cents...i am just a speed goat chaser with a muzzle loader...:)

What Blues Skies Hunting Advent said...sounds like he has hunted elk b4 up there!!!

Non residents may hunt ever year there is no lay off for pulling a tag for one year to the next, and they are getting 22% of all the tags this year. 12% to the ones applying with a guide and 10% who are not applying with a guide. Next year it will go down to 16% 10 for guided and 6 for non-guided, that is why I state this year will give the best odds. Deadline to apply is March 28th and yes I have hunted there and it's a great area.
Thanks!

Thank you all for the info. So can I draw a tag then seek out a guide for where I draw? Also Blue Skies, are there any other units that i should try to draw into that you have success in?

thank you again!

Any one else been or going to NM???

Been the past 3 years. They publish all the odds on their website.

Go take a look. Try to hit the less hunted areas. The numbers may not be there, but the size is usually better.

No. You have to arrange an agreement with a guide first and get the guides ID #. Then - when you enter the NM drawing, you enter the Non-Resident/Guided pool and it will prompt you for the guide's #. OFten times the guides will require a deposit before they give you the #. If you don't get a tag, they will then try to upsell you a private land-owners tag or encourage you to try again next year.

BTW - Way too many people (hunters) in unit 15 when I went last year.

Thank you all for the info!

There are a number of good units for muzzleload hunts, but probably Unit 15 is one of the better ones. Most all of the bull hunts are Q/HD which means the higher fee!

If you haven't already picked an outfitter I would recommend All American Outfitters in Reserve, NM. Here's my bull from '01 that I took with them and you can click to their link:

http://www.gilaguide.com/gallery2.php?CAT=Elk&ID=339#/gallery/291_scan0002.jpg

JDickey - Nice bull. Thanks for the info. Might have to put in for unit 15 as one of my 3 picks.

thanks,

Brandon Gaudeli has a good crew of guides. You can tell by some of the other pictures how well Unit 15 can be. It is an archery and muzzleload unit ONLY. I'd put in for the last bull hunt offered for that unit. Can be a little tough then because it is after the rut, but usually will get you a nice bull.

I used Brandon last year. Nice guy - But I will not be back and would not recommend. Guide had no idea where the elk were or what they were doing. Never had a shot opportunity. Often times would get out to a spot very late (knowing you’d be fighting for spots with other hunters) only to settle for a 4th or 5th choice location and often way too late in the hunt. I was very disappointed.

Unit 15 is pretty big and having a guide who knows it helps, my guys have been hunting it for a while and know it well. Is there a bunch of people there yes, but where we hunt we usually only see people driving by, only saw one other hunter while I was hunting besides the group we were with. If you get drawn contact me, my guides do a great job.
Thanks!

Last year in Unit 15 the hunting was real hard. It was dry as it could be, the wind was terrible everyday but 1 day. we were in reserve one night eating supper and one of the other tables had 6 guides setting at it, they were discussing different areas to hunt the next day. all of them had seen no elk since the start of that season, we had not seen anything either. they were hunting just like we were. they were doing the best they could in the conditions we all had to work with.
unit 15 will be my only choice to hunt elk in other than maybe 52. thats why the call it hunting, not killing.

when I was there for November hunt in 15, we went 3 for 3 in 15 with all bulls going over 300+. We had to glass quite a bit as there was a lot broken bulls.

I went and hunted with All American/ Brandon Gaudelli last year in unit 15 on the last elk hunt the week of Thanksgiving. We didn't see many hunters and we saw bulls every day. Our group went 3 for 3 and had a good time doing it so all of my comments about the guide service and the unit are positive.

A couple of our guys hunted with Mike Deloa / GilaTrophyhunts.com and they were pleased with him also.

Unit 15 was our first choice, but the outfitter helped us with the application and told us the other units to add for our second and third choices.

good luck with your hunt.

thanks for the info. looks like later in the season is better???

I went 2 years ago for mulies in unit 30... I just put in today to go back. Tough hunting but lots of fun.

It costs more but there is always the option of private land hunting. At our ranch in NM Unit 4 the hunters have exclusive access and guaranteed landowner permit.

Jenny

any other help....looks like i'll be putting in for the draw early this coming week.

thanks for all the advise!!!

DEADLINE IS MONDAY @ 500pm New Mexico time.

thank you sir....i'll put in tomorrow morning!