nmelk13

Rough I can completely understand your fustration. I dont understand why they increased the nr's fee to 27. I am glad they went to up front though as alot of residents were putting in girlfriends, moms, aunts, etc trying to grab a tag this should stop that problem. To be honest I would of liked to see just the residents pay up front for elk, deer, lope or any other species that we dont compete with nr's for. And charge the upfront fees for residents and nr's for all the speices that isnt a 78/12/10.

Here is the deer and lope I popped last month in NM. Nothing huge but since this was all I drew I am happy.

What were you driving?

Very nice PSE, Tell the hunter congrats....

Welp here goes when the draw came out this summer I was bummed that I didnt draw an elk tag but when I saw I had drawn a 2c muzzy hunt and WSMR Stallion Range Antelope hunt I was blown away. I had heard nothing but great stories about the Missle Range. And heck who wouldnt want to go and look at Oryx all day long. Well come to find out that Antelope herd has been in decline for the last several years. It is so bad WSMR and G&F started calling successful hunters to see if they would switch to other areas in the state. Out of the 15 tags issued for this hunt 5 took that option. Now to the hunt after the mandatory meeting we took off to see the first Oryx about 1/2 mile from the gate. I never thought I would get tired of looking at Oryx. But after seeing 250 head by 9 or so in the morning and not one Antelope welp I did. We finally found a small group of Antelope around noon and the biggest buck was almost 12 inches. These things were skittish to say the least the closest we were able to get was 500 yards. We chased that group for 2 hours until finally my hunting partner noticed him at 291 yards and smoked him. While he was taking care of it a WSMR officer stopped and told me of where he had just saw a nice goat and it wasnt skittish at all. As soon as we loaded my friends goat up we headed that way. We finally spotted 2 bucks about 1200yards away feeding towards a road. My friend and I drove down the road I bailed out when we were 300 yards away from them. As lucky as I thought I was going to be I noticed another truck doing mock 50 down the road headed from the opposite direction. Sure enough he drove right thru them I had lost site of them and was walking back to my firends pickup when I heard something grunting at me. Welp this goat was 70 yards staring at me he took off running right at me then stopped one more time at 50 yards only shot I had was a head on and I drilled him in the neck and he dropped like a sack of potatoes. We were number 4 and 5 out of the gate to have harvested a lope out of 10 hunters I havent heard if anybody else got one. The deer hunt well all I can say is I had some good information from friends that have hunted or guided this unit. If it wasnt for them I would have not known what to do. I was by myself for the first two days so I planned on checking out the areas my friends told me about. The first morning as I drove around I decided to glass off into a canyon while on my way to the rim I notice some fresh track. After a 3 1/2 mile journey I never caught up to him. A little discouraged but knowing it was the first day I headed back to camp pour over the maps I was giving and find some other areas to check out. Around 4:30 I headed to another place to glass as I sat down I caught movement about 400 yards away a 3x3 about 20 wide or so. Even though It was the first day I decided I wanted him. I made my way down a sandstone cliff to another out cropping which put me 125 yards away from him. Once there this guy was with him and the 3X3 was just saved. They spotted me and I took a kneeling shot at him not knowing if I hit him he suddenly disappeared behind some sage brush. The 3x3 just stood there. I wasnt sure if he went down into another arroyo or what so I made my way down another cliff to the last spot I saw him at. Once I got to the spot I last saw him he jumped up 2 feet from me which scared the crap out of me. He bounded away and as he made his way up another arroyo I popped him again at 50 and he disappeared once again. After reloading I snuck up to the last spot I saw him and 10 yards away he was down under some brush again. Even though it wasn't needed I put one more in him as the light was fading fast. Now my delima I had left my light at camp, I quickly quartered him ran the head back up the cliffs to my truck grabbed my pack frame and began the process of hauling him out in the dark up down the cliffs. I finally made it back to camp at 10 that night. Would have been nice to have my friends with me but it was also nice to know I could do this task by myself which was rewarding in itself. I havent scored him but who cares he is 26 wide 4X4 with eye guards. I doubt I will ever harvest one bigger but I do know they are there look at PSE's even if he was north of where I was. Sorry for the long post and spelling I really stink at typing.

Sorry Guys I have been remodeling a rental I have I will get a story up soon. Didnt mean to sound like a cry baby about only drawing these two tags I am happy as heck at what I shot heck it took me 12 years to draw these two tags. There are bigger deer than the one I got and the lope is only 13 with zero mass but they are trophys for me. I will write up a story on the hunts when I have a few extra minutes. I have to get back to my real job now. Thanks for the compliments everyone.

I wouldnt waste my time in water canyon. Message me and I can steer you all in some places to look.

I know NM has there problems but to be honest AZ should scrap the BP's. Take 10% of the tags for unguided nr's and 5% for guided then the 85% goes to residents. Striaght up throw your app in the hat and draw. Pay all fees upfront. I couldnt stand it if I had to wait as long as you all do to draw a tag. That stinks!! Just my 2 cents

What part of the unit were you looking at going to? If I dont reply back for awhile I am going on my elk so it will be a week or so but I will get back to you.

So did any of you see that thread on MM about the guy from muleycrazy hanging a cam up on the strip. Some dude took the card but the camera took a pic of him and it was stored in the internal memory. Then the dude that did it fessed up on MM but said he didnt take the card but his mug shot of him viewing the card was the last pic taken . I want to hang a cam or two but man even if it is only a 100 bones for one money is tight and the unit I hunt most gets alot of traffic.

Congrats Tommy. You know I didnt think it was bad gutting mine, but if there is a new technique to get blood behind your ears I would like to learn it lol. It was a tough hunt when I went for mine but I drew one of those one day hunts 4 years ago.. I have heard they are getting harder to come by on the range but there is some places off range that are holding a few groups of them.. Again congrats nice bull. Arley

Thanks Bass.....

Dang I'm happy for yall.. Hey would anyone help me out and tell me how I can get a piss on uso sticker? It would look great since I do live in NM...

Account was hit....Unit 9 once again...

Kevin, Curtis lives in Los lunas now. We work & hunt together. I will get him to get on next time I talk to him. Arley

Jeff I was wanting to know if you know Curtis Winner? I also have a question about a place. I cant figure out if it is in 21 or 24? nmelk13

Tommy, I sent you a PM I think lol... Let me know if you get it. Arley