NM 23/24 ELK Honey Hole , no joke

[realhunter123]

I’d like to see a DIY rather than the highest bidder take the next toad out of these units.

 

Anyone with a unit 23 NM elk tag. Here’s your lucky day wanna see monster bulls in a unit everyone calls a hard hunt. Want to see them off the highway? Instructions, waypoint, and areas of interest below. Most honest piece of honey hole elk country you’ll read today.

 

The bull pictured, no joke was killed right by the highway. Everyday countless people drive by and think nothing of it. Right off highway 180w and the mangas road is where you’ll find these beasts. They spend a lot of time in both 24 and 23 bouncing in and out of private. Look on any imaging system and you see the depressions east of agua alto water tank and there erosion dams the elk go all about these low desert ridges from the Tyrone mine to blacksmith canyon. You’ll find them repeatedly in up the deep draw near Fleming canyon. The 24 side is hard to hunt them unless their in one of the checkerboard areas of public but the 23 side is easy. Park off the highway where the little piece of Forrest touches 180 or go around and walk in from the saddle rock side. Big bulls dominate this area.

 

Here’s an onx way point to get you in the right area.

 

32.77611, -108.48253

 

You can go farther south and find elk all the way to edge of the mountains and desert but they get much harder to find. In mangas there’s a large herd/herds that live there and are easy to find.

 

Go smash a toad.

[GreyGhost85]

Ooohhhh. Someone’s got a beef with G3 outfitters it sounds like. This might get juicy. 

[JSR]

[AZBIG10]

Pretty good for quail too. Few good Muleys 

[rossislider]

There probably already are a handful of DIY guys planning to hunt that area, and you are ruining it for them. 

[PRDATR]

6 minutes ago, rossislider said:

There probably already are a handful of DIY guys planning to hunt that area, and you are ruining it for them. 

Sounds like he has an axe to grind.

[trphyhntr]

i love highway bulls. 

[realhunter123]

8 minutes ago, rossislider said:

There probably already are a handful of DIY guys planning to hunt that area, and you are ruining it for them. 

in the last 3 years out of the 8 years that I've watched this area its gone from 1-3 to  3-1  paid clients to DIY, in this spot. 

You are correct the knowledge of this getting out and more people in there is likely. I support DIY'ers competition in the field is what makes it fair chase. currently $$$$ is king in this area and its time to level the playing field.

[AZBIG10]

Good luck. They push the bulls iwhen they ride horses in about 5 miles. Bring a spike camp and be mobile. They don’t stay on bulls overnight they come back each day.

[ctafoya]

I only hunt by power lines........

[wildwoody]

G3, is that like our gods A3.

[Fakehunter123]

Posts like this make me laugh and cringe. I have lived down that way and hunted the mentioned area for awhile now. The post is somewhat true. There are elk in the mentioned areas however the number of “big bulls” isn’t that great and most the elk hang on the private once they feel pressured. The bull mentioned/pictured wasn’t a secret if you lived in the area or had friends that did or even followed certain people on social media. Lots of people tried to kill that bull for a handful of years and couldn’t get it done for what ever reason (must not be the walk in the park you make the area out to be). The bull blew up this year and apparently some guide had a client pay a landowner to gain access and kill the bull. If I had the money to get access and shoot that bull you bet your butt I would have done it! However, not sure what your thoughts on posting this is going to do. Make you feel better that someone killed the bull you hunted and now you’re ruining the spot for them? News flash, it will ruin the spot for a lot more than just some dude you have some beef with or a guy that paid money to shoot a bull. Lots of serious DIY guys as well as a few guides and a handful of junior hunters every year now have you to thank for potentially ruining a spot they liked to hunt just because you got your feelings hurt. Grow up.  

[realhunter123]

3 hours ago, Fakehunter123 said:

Posts like this make me laugh and cringe. I have lived down that way and hunted the mentioned area for awhile now. The post is somewhat true. There are elk in the mentioned areas however the number of “big bulls” isn’t that great and most the elk hang on the private once they feel pressured. The bull mentioned/pictured wasn’t a secret if you lived in the area or had friends that did or even followed certain people on social media. Lots of people tried to kill that bull for a handful of years and couldn’t get it done for what ever reason (must not be the walk in the park you make the area out to be). The bull blew up this year and apparently some guide had a client pay a landowner to gain access and kill the bull. If I had the money to get access and shoot that bull you bet your butt I would have done it! However, not sure what your thoughts on posting this is going to do. Make you feel better that someone killed the bull you hunted and now you’re ruining the spot for them? News flash, it will ruin the spot for a lot more than just some dude you have some beef with or a guy that paid money to shoot a bull. Lots of serious DIY guys as well as a few guides and a handful of junior hunters every year now have you to thank for potentially ruining a spot they liked to hunt just because you got your feelings hurt. Grow up.  

it will devastate the elk herd that lives there - yes more than likely it'll push the elk back towards the CORE ELK Management zone . the new regs that allow land owners to sell UNLIMITED tags outside the core is why I believe it necessary for those with public land tags to now take their last chance to harvest a big bull in this area since land owners can wipe them out all by themselves. as it is the land owner in the area has been a bit unfair and chased elk towards the private having hunters on their side of the fence. nothing we can do about them "running cattle" even though that's not at all what their doing. 

the idea of paying lets say $30,000 to hunt the elk is pitiful. if you have 30k to drop on an elk hunt go do it on a high fence , your already proving your not really the skilled individual to find it yourself and do it.  after listening to the podcast and hearing the hunt for this guy all came down to a race to sell the tag and get a hunter onsite the fastest is lame. sell hunts for ungodly amounts your just selling your soul.

trophy hunters is what gives hunters a bad name.  we all know were doing conservation and blah blah blah but when your paying again say $30,000 for a single animal that's not conservation. that's a greedy land owner taking  a big paycheck likely un taxed  to let a guy walk on his property and shoot  an elk prior to even rifle season just because  he has the $$ to do it.  again lame.

this area used to be known for monster mulies and they've declinced over the last decade as elk moved in . let the elk get wiped out, and mulies return. 

the area is about as easy of an elk hunt as possible not steep, not rugged, just about at all times your within a mile or 2 of a road , mostly open. archery hunters have hit it harder than any other class. and that's why the bull lived as long as he did. open country archery is a challenge. by the time rifle came he was flirting with public private. best time to hunt this area is archery, and youth hunts. muzzle is still good but be ready to see a lot of elk moving towards private (winter grounds)  . and rifle again is absolutely do-able just be ready that the elk will be more north than south. 

 

lastly - Nice name!

[J.S.R.]

🍿 

[oz31p]

I can’t believe there’s even a market for a guided hunt 

 

just reminds me how small my circle is.