TAM

I think there are a lot of factors that can move the "peak" of the rut forward or backward by a few days each year. In my experience I've found the peak of the rut to be about the first week of January. Could change a little each year or vary by location, but if you plan for that time frame you should see some real good rutting activity. Good luck!

I'd hunt the first week of January if I were you.

I don't know the first thing about NM unit 24. I do know that several of the areas we hunt coues in Arizona are unglassable. At least as far as the high power binos are concerned. In heavy forrested areas you just can't glass for deer that are a mile away like in more open country. Look at some of the pictures that I've posted on the trail camera section of the photogallery and notice that the majority of them are in the tall pines. Also look at the trailcam discussion board and look at the pictures posted with the non typical big elk. We have two 100 bucks coming into that same salt lick. We hunt the thick areas from tree stands. Perhaps NM unit 24 is this type of terrain?

Yep it's salt. We usually use salt pellets and powdered deer cocaine. You can't see it very well in the pic's but right in the middle of the salt pile is a purple colored rasberry flavored salt block. The elk really seem to like it while the deer seem to prefer regular salt.

Jamaro, At this point I'm not sure what ranch we've been assigned to or even when we will find out. This area was our second choice, we applied for the Gila as first. I'm not too picky though, I'll shoot the first one I see over 90 inches!

I drew the general antelope hunt for the NE portion of the state. Anyone have any experience with how NM assigns ranches? They sure have a goofy way of distributing antelope tags. Does anyone know if the NE part of the state lives up to NM's reputation of monster bucks?

I don't think that the bucks are actually coming into the salt during the rut. I think the does are still coming into the salt and the bucks will follow the does. Also, yes carp will hit salt just like whiteys. We've got recent trail camera pic's of carp at a salt hole.

I think a common problem with hunting water is that a buck may hit a tank almost every day early in the summer, but as the monsoons hit there peak in mid to late August water sources increase and deer don't need to hit the tanks as often.

Treestandman and myself have several active salt licks that get hammered by deer. A couple of them get very very little buck action throughout the year and the bucks only show up during the rut. We have a couple that get visited regularly by good bucks throughout the entire year, and we have at least one that gets a lot of small to medium bucks year round but good bucks during the rut. We also have a few tanks that have good bucks visiting on a consistant basis throughout the summer, and other tanks that seem like they should produce good bucks that rarely get hit. We know this information because we have trail cameras on them for months at a time and are constantly monitoring the activity year round. To answer your question... either (salt or water). Set up over which ever stand the big deer are coming into. Spend the time scouting or invest in a trail camera. I already know which stands I'll be hunting from in August and one is over water, and one is over salt. Bucks will come into both at that time of year.

I got hit on Friday evening for $196. Looks like I'll be going to NM to rifle hunt antelope. I wish they'd post the results so I can see what uint I'll be hunting.

I can't remember, does NM usually post their results early or are they like Utah and stick to the date in the regulations?

That's weird about the battery. I've had mine out for three weeks with the same battery and it still had some juice left. In that same period it took well over 300 pictures. I got the solar panel anyway just so I wouldn't have to keep changing batteries.

It's one of the new Moultrie digital's. I got it at sportsmans warehouse for $165, but I've seen them since then on ebay for $139. It's only a 1.3 megapixl, but it still takes good pictures and the video feature is pretty cool as well. If you give me your email address I'd be happy to send you some samples. It takes one of those big 6 volt batteries which last about a month and costs about $3.50 each and they also have an option where you can buy a rechargable battery and solar charger so the battery will basicly go on forever without replacing it. It's not going to take the quality of picture to win any awards, but it will do just fine helping me find a big buck to put an arrow in this fall.

I just got a new trail camera set up that takes 10 second video clips. So far I've gotten about 100 clips. Nothing to great because all the bucks have dropped their antlers. It adds a new dimension to trail cameras.

Hey Becker, I sent you a PM about that shed.

Spotted owls, Barred owls, I don't understand what the big deal is. They all taste like chicken!!!

I don't use an actual bow sling, but I do use one of those loops or hooks that slides onto your belt. I got the idea from my quiver when I was practicing at the range or shooting in tournaments, and just took the hook off the quiver and placed it on my belt when I hunt. I think they cost around $10 and they sure make a difference if you're walking a lot.

Thanks Amanda! Sorry if I came across as impatient, I know your busy outside of the website and did not mean to rush you. 25-06, we mostly get coues deer, elk, and bears. I've got a few of turkey, fox, coyote's, and javelina. I was not planning on submiting them for the website because their not that interesting. The one animal that we've yet to get pic's of is a bobcat. Mike and I are both a little surprised by that. Next time I scan some more pic's I'll scan some of them and maybe email them directly to you? I'd be curious to get people's opinion how big the bear is that goes swimming. He looks like he's got a pretty good size melon to me? What do you think Bullwidgeon? That buck with a radio collar comes in alot! We might have a dozen pictures of him over the last month or so. In fact, he's been hanging out with a real wide buck that we think will score around 100 inches or so. We're excited to see what they both grow into this year. I'll get the next group of pic's to Amanda here in the next couple of days.

Sorry it's taking so long 25-06. I emailed them to Amanda over a week ago (5/26)and they've still not been posted. I think I emailed her a couple of a nice bear, a mountain lion, and a coues buck with a G&F tracking collar. I've got more ready to send her as well, but I was waiting for those to get posted first. Perhaps Amanda could let us know the status?

Rode my quad into my bear hunting area yesterday afternoon. It's south of Rye in 22 and I didn't have any problems with road closers.

Yep, we're starting to see some growth on the coues bucks as well. How much growth are you seeing so far? At this point we've only got pic's with bucks showing an inch or two max.

Ok Bullwidgeon, I've got a couple pic's of what I think is a pretty good bear. You'll have to let me know how big you think he is. 25-06, I think I've got another lion pic or two that I can submit as well. We also recently got a bunch of pic's of a little coues buck with a radio coller on that I'll send in. I'm going to email Amanda the pic's right now.

Maybe we should start taking requests. Deer, bear, or lion?

With the exception of the pre rut and rut, I've always believed that a big mature bucks home range could be better described in mere acres rather than miles. I know they will move for food and water as needed, but I don't think they cover much country. I agree with the previous posts about their home range being five miles give or take, but I think that takes in to account the rut when they tend to move about much more often. I tend to believe that throughout most of the year they stay locked into an area much, much smaller than that as long as there is food, water, and cover.

Bill, yes we've tried using a varmit call to call in some lions up there without success. Treestandman had a pretty neat encounter with a cat at another tank in the same area that we tried to call in the next morning with no success. I'll let him tell you the story if he wants to.