Red Sparky

So there was a TV show about your unit? You dont think that had more to do with it than you telling a few people online? How many of the neighboring units also went up in applications? The stats just don't support the hyperbole of secrecy. There are no secrets anymore. Nope not in my unit but an adjoining unit. Everybody started applying for central NM due to the show saying that is where they were hunting public land. So if the TV show wasn't aired I would still be pulling tags for that unit. The difference between the TV show and the internet is the TV show is only aired certain times but the internet is accessible 24/7. They are now putting TV shows on the internet so you can search for it and find it in short order. As far as telling people on the internet in forums I really don't care as residents here get 84% of the tags so I am more than willing to help NR to have a decent hunt. Let's go back about 30 years before the internet took off and we did not have a deer draw here. Go to the local sporting goods store and buy a tag for anywhere in the state. My cousin killed a nice big mule deer and got his picture in the paper and gave an area description where the deer was killed. Next year there were about 200 more hunters in the area. So what difference does the unit make in the story? You tell me as I have my own ideas based on my own experiences. Why do you think there are so many "I drew this unit and have never stepped foot in it so where do I start ?" Why are they applying for that unit? Usually it is post number 1 and you won't hear back from the OP after the hunt has happened.

You missed the military guys stationed here. They get resident status.

So to answer the original question of why not to give out unit numbers here is my perspective. I use to muzzle loader hunt a unit here for elk where I usually drew every year, 200 tags with about 500 applicants putting in for it. Not a very popular unit but a few elk in there to be able to get on them every year. I love hunting and chasing the animals even if I am not successful. I gave people information about the unit in general forums on different websites. Then there was the TV show where the bull was snuck up on and shot pretty close range during the archery hunt. Now there are still the same 200 tags with over 1500 people putting in for them. I haven't drawn that unit since so I went to another unit. Again not a very popular unit but enough elk in there to have some fun. So enjoy the stories, the unit shouldn't matter the least bit in the story.

I have used the dog house blind. Bought it new on e-bay with free shipping for a decent price. It is a good shotgun/ rifle/ muzzle loader blind but too low to draw a bow in.

I would go to the shop and find the bow that is most comfortable to you. I shoot a Hoyt but that was the best bow for me as I am not set on one brand. I bought me daughter a Bowtech Diamond mainly for the adjustability as she grows. As far as broad heads I shoot 100 grain Slick Tricks. I tuned me bow and they shoot tight out to 60 yards but I shoot daily in my backyard.

Awesome job on that bull. Sounds like you had a great hunt.

You all are taking this way too seriously. He plays for the forty-niners. When was anything said in the news about the 40-whiners recently. Something had to be done to get some focus on the team.

I was at a high school football game last night, daughter plays in the band, and it was totally cool watching it come up over the Manzano Mountains.

I started going with my dad and "Uncle" when I was 8. I took hunters ed when I was 11, I had my first deer tag at 12. In those days in NM you just bought a deer, bear, fall turkey license over the counter. Then at 13 I went on my first elk hunt. I haven't missed a season yet as I always put in for a unit that has leftover deer tags so I am guaranteed to draw a deer tag.

What is Jeremiah weed? It is a 100 proof Bourbon Liqueur.

What Mocha1545 said except instead of Crown I have Jeremiah Weed.

This year I had a mule deer tag down in 23 not a coues tag. I just got back and here is how it went. Friday before leaving I went to the Dr. for what I believe was strep throat. They took swaps and sent me on my way with 3 pills to reduce the inflammation in my throat but no antibiotics. I left Saturday morning and got a quick look and hunt in before the wife and kids came down. We spent Saturday night until Monday morning in Reserve eating and goofing off. Monday afternoon came and I took off the walking boot I was in and put on my homemade walking splint. I walked around the top of the mesa still hunting. I was surprised as I was not seeing any elk sign. I had this elk hunt the last two years and there were not any new rubs, droppings or tracks like there had been in the last two years. I went to an old blind that overlooks a meadow to sit for the evening. I could tell I had a fever and a headache as I watched the meadow. There were fresh deer tracks and I had seen deer here for the last two years so felt good. It was getting close to dark about 7:30 and since I had been hearing goats, a hallucination of the fever I am sure, I got up and blew out six does about 100 yards away. Tuesday morning came and I ended up "road hunting" from camp. I still hunted to the SW down a road all the way to the end of the road that over looks Frieborn Canyon. I walked about 3.4 miles according to the GPS one way. I had lunch and walked back. I saw my group of bucks in some finger ridges that go up and down in elevation from 50-150 feet on the mesa. We played cat and mouse for the next four hours until dark. Wednesday morning came with a light drizzle. I threw up the tent real fast and put my bedding in there, everything got covered in tarps. I "road hunted" again this time to the NW 2.2 miles to a tank on top of ridge in the direction the bucks had been going the night before. There was a side by side parked just off the road so I took off due east cross country a mile to a water catchment tank. The year before about 10 vehicles a day had been down that road but not much traffic this year, maybe the SXS only once from the main road. At this point I had the rain gear I bought from a member here on. After going from on ridge to another, dropping 200 feet and then gaining 600 feet in 1/4 mile I reached the catchment. The top that catches the water was full and running down the hill but the 8 ft. diameter x 2 ft. deep tank was dry as a bone. I checked the valve from the two 10,000 tanks and knocked on the tanks but they were empty. I went back to the top and reached down into the cold water. I pulled out one rock after another until I found the magic one, it was like pulling a stopper on a bathtub and the water went down the pipe to the tanks. I cleaned out the bottom and put everything back together. Then I cleaned all the pine needles and dirt out of the trough. I could kill the idiots that threw rocks through the screen and stopped the water flow down into the big tanks. I stood in a dry spot under a tree and watched that tank for about an hour and it had refilled about 1/2 the drink tank. After about 15 minutes I noticed a lock box to a trail cam that had been broken into and smashed to bits. I felt guilty even though I had done nothing wrong. I just hate thieves. It was still still raining and I was about 3.5 miles from camp so I hauled it back to camp. I found out why nobody had been to the catchment. 3 big Ponderosa Pine trees had fallen across the road so no telling how long that catchment had been dry. When I got back to camp even the rain gear could not stand up to that amount of rain for that long and I was soaked. Thursday morning comes and my ankle is killing me and I still have a fever with a bunch of crud in my throat. I stay on top still hunting and standing. I hear something that howls instead of yips. There is no mention on the USFW site about any wolf pack in that area but I wonder. Hunting the finger canyons I catch my four bucks. We play cat and mouse all day until I get a 170-180 class buck 40 yards from me. He is looking away as I draw and settle the pin and release. I am still watching where I want to hit as I pick up the arrow going perfectly to the boiler room. 15 feet before the arrow hits the deer, a limb I did not see explodes in water and my arrow takes off for the sky easily clearing his back by 5 feet. They go bounding into one of the deep canyons. Friday morning comes with me sitting among some rocks and trees. I hear those howls again, not yips, and they are close. As the sun comes up in this little valley I am watching I catch five canines looping in from the west. They pass me 50 yards upwind and the two adults have collars on them. Now I know why there are no elk up here like there have been in the past. That evening I am sitting in the blind over looking the meadow again. I have a terrible crud in my throat and splitting headache. It is about 4:30 and I lay down in the blind trying to stay in the shade. It is long before dark and I sit up suddenly and start coughing up a storm. Two little coues does had snuck in from the SW and were about 20 yards when this happened. I think they turned inside out getting out of there. So that was my deer season until I go back in Jan. and my elk hunt is coming up soon. Can't wait to get back out.

That is the only VERY BIG RACK my wife appreciates me looking at.

Don't think so. Call the number and tell them you have a valid hunting license and want in.

You can just run the ones I chase from NM right back here. Leaving tomorrow to chase them over the line to AZ. :-)

Think of all your experiences and start putting them together. Also read as much about the animals that you are interested in by biologist. Learn the habitat they like (food, water, cover, escape routes,etc.). You will start putting all the pieces to the puzzle together. I think there is something you can learn every year. When I started hunting with a rifle I would sit on a high hill and glass. I got tired of shooting deer at 300+ yards so I switched to muzzle loader. Then I had to get closer and it got more challenging and I learned new things. Then I started bow hunting and started learning new things I missed as a rifle hunter. As far as size of the animal goes, what I tell my daughters who I am teaching to hunt, it is only one person deciding to pull the trigger and that is you. I was so proud of my older daughter on her first deer, not because she shot it, but because she told me she did not feel comfortable with the shot and passed. I shoot the first legal animal I see. I only please myself and I prefer doing that one steak at a time. As far as hunting style goes then do what makes you happy as long as it is legal.

Cabela's Bargain Cave. Also keep your eyes out here as others have said.

Congratulations on some nice looking antelope!

Took the older daughter to the Of Mice & Men, Marilyn Manson, SlipKnot concert last night here in Albuquerque. They were suppose to be here in June but had to reschedule. So we had Meet and Greet tickets and were in the pits in front of the stage. Some idiot moshing stepped on my right ankle wrong so looks like I might be in a real or walking cast for 6 weeks. Elk and deer hunting is in two weeks. Will see what the Dr. says in a few days when they take more x-rays. I will still be hunting but may be severely limited on walking. I don't regret any of it because time with the daughters is priceless. The daughter had an awesome time so it was worth it.

See you all think of the book, not the band. Which is a good book but I prefer Watership Down.

Yeah, I would never shoot one of those dinks. LOL I guess if you got out from behind that computer you might hsve the option All about personal choices dont you thjnk. The beauty of hunting. You get to decide for yourself what you want to try and kill sounds like he was being facetious about the bucks "lol" and ain't you in a stand on the internet?? Either way good luck. Looks like you got a real nice spot with lots of opportunities. At least someone got my attempt at humor. I got it. I think the OP is just a little jumpy, even reading.

It is the snout from that cow in the third picture. The third picture was taken before the top picture. Spacial distance in the picture from one elk in front of the tree and the spike on the other makes the spike look much smaller in relation to the closer elks snout.

I won't ever be allowed to serve on a jury either criminal or civil. Criminal reasons--- My father worked in the crime lab as a firearms/ tool marks examiner. I got to see lots of pictures, talk to all the scientist to know what they did, how test are run, went to a few crime scenes and a few autopsies. I worked for a PD department for four years as a civilian employee. Then there is the wife who was a prosecutor and defense attorney who has practiced in front of every judge in the district. Civil reasons is I was on mock trials in high school and I know too much about how the system works, and the wife who has practiced in front of every judge in the district. A bit of advice is tell the court you have an out of town vacation planned and see if you can get on a different panel. Even if you have to show them your hunting tag. The jury pool is a large group so the attorneys can excuse with cause or use preemptive strikes to get rid of certain jurors and still get a jury. If you ignore it, never admit on a forum that you avoided it.

It sounds like you might be setting up in too open of an area. I did make myself some foam silhouettes that I can roll up in my pack if I need them but this will be the first year I use them. I usually try to set up where I can see about 60 yards only. I am really thinking about buying one of those decoys from poisonarrow. Check him out he is a sponsor of this site.

I will still back the Broncos. Broncos and ABC fan since the 70's.