New Mexico Bound...Finally

[bigharge]

Finally hitting the road with my 12 yr old son for some NE New Mexico pronghorns. Had planned on leaving a day or 2 earlier to scout but our AC went out and I couldn’t leave Mom home alone with 105 degree weather and no AC. But thankfully it’s finally getting fixed and we are driving through the night. Never been in the area so will have at least one day to drive around and check some of my google earth spots.

Best of luck to everyone else out there this weekend. Hopefully I’ll have some success pics to share by the end of the week.

 

[BrooksRanger]

Good Luck! Definitely post some pics!

 

[Valley1320]

Looking forward to see what youall get. My uncle and cousin are coming to hunt the first hunt here on the private ranchs we have to antelope hunt so it will be fun times. Not seeing any really huge bucks but definitely some bucks that will be good first bucks

 

[wytex]

Good luck, hunted that country a few years back. Lots of history and the cinder cones are interesting to hunt.
I found out those antelope will jump fences pretty readily.
Are going to be near Raton or Clayton?

 

[duck wrangler]

Good luck and safe travels.

 

[bigharge]

We rolled in about 2 this morning with no issues, thankfully. Did see 2 bruiser mule deer bucks outside Mosquero driving in, made me do a double take.

We have been able to find pronghorn in just about every spot I had marked. Now whether they will be cooperating tomorrow when we have a rifle and not a spotting scope, who knows. Haven’t seen any real big bucks but not too worried about size, just which ever one gets the blood going. Time for a mid morning nap then we will try to check on some more spots this afternoon/evening.

 

[Rzrbck918]

Awesome update, good luck!

 

[teej89]

excited to hear some updates!

 

[WildWill]

If you're near Clayton Rabbit ear cafe is good if they're open right now.

 

[NMGuy]

Good luck to you and your son!

Maybe some day I'll be able to draw an antelope tag. I was hoping this would be the year, but I struck out again.

 

[bigharge]

Thanks for all the well wishes, we are tucked into the tipi and headed to bed, going to try and be the early bird in the morning before all the shooting starts. Had a fun evening scouting, saw a couple really nice but younger muley bucks and even a couple cow elk over on a private pasture so that was fun. Will be interesting to see if we can get close to one tomorrow, they seem very skittish already, there are way too many roads cutting through all this area imo. We will have fun trying regardless.

 

[Cheesehead]

Good luck with the 14 day pre-hunt quarantine now required. Must suck to deal with.

 

[406LIFE]

Good luck with the 14 day pre-hunt quarantine now required. Must suck to deal with.

I was wondering how hunters are going to deal with this, too.

 

[Cheesehead]

I was wondering how hunters are going to deal with this, too.

There’s an article on gohunt on it here.https://www.gohunt.com/read/news/14-day-quarantine-required-for-nonresident-new-mexico-hunters#gs.cy81qf
In case pay-walled, basically out of state DIY has to Pre-quarantine for 14 days.

Note: there is an exception to this according to the New Mexico Council Of Outfitters and Guides (NMCOG). Anyone who is "contracted by an essential business" and because "all outfitter clientele is, by statute, required to be contacted by the business and because under the current NM Public Health Order outfitters are clearly labeled as essential as businesses that provide "fresh meat", "food cultivation", and food related logistics... NMCOG is confident that any client who is properly contracted with a legal NM outfitter is exempt from the 14-day quarantine."

 

[NMGuy]

@Cheesehead Sounds like a money grab by the outfitters. Prey on the fear of out of state hunters to sucker more people into paying for services they don't need. I would like to know the state's stance on that statement. A client paying for services from an outfitter isn't their employee, so they may not be covered by these essential services.

@406LIFE My guess is most hunters will ignore the current state-mandated 14 day self-isolation for out of state travelers. Show up, wear your mask if/when you stop, keep your head down, have fun, then go home. All will be fine. I honestly think this is one area (of many) they haven't fully thought out. If a traveler comes to NM and can conduct all of their business in isolation/quarantine (like hunting), there is no reason to make them stay 14+ days.

 

[Valley1320]

@Cheesehead Sounds like a money grab by the outfitters. Prey on the fear of out of state hunters to sucker more people into paying for services they don't need. I would like to know the state's stance on that statement. A client paying for services from an outfitter isn't their employee, so they may not be covered by these essential services.

@406LIFE My guess is most hunters will ignore the current state-mandated 14 day self-isolation for out of state travelers. Show up, wear your mask if/when you stop, keep your head down, have fun, then go home. All will be fine. I honestly think this is one area (of many) they haven't fully thought out. If a traveler comes to NM and can conduct all of their business in isolation/quarantine (like hunting), there is no reason to make them stay 14+ days.

Well said and I agree

 

[bigharge]

Don’t worry we have stayed at least 6’ away from all speed goats unfortunately.

 

[bigharge]

Still keeping our 6ft distancing from these skittish goats. Logged just at 13 miles today, but came out empty handed. We had some opportunities but didn’t execute one and got busted out by other hunters on 3 others.

Found a really nice buck right at first light with some does. We had hiked in and setup about 40 minutes before you could see. By the time we got into position a couple other hunters pushed beyond us and had the group on high alert. He had a couple seconds to take the shot but said he was just too nervous and couldn’t rush it. I told him that was a good decision, I’d rather go home empty than wound one.

We were able to get back on him at around 450 yards. Was making a plan of attack when some trucks came rolling in beyond them. They were on the opposite side we were on and I’d guess at least 5-600 yards away if not more. About 6 people hopped out with 2 shooters and the buck started trotting. They started slinging the lead, they each got 3 shots off but that bucks never broke stride straight into private. It was a blast though

He actually had an easy shot at 2 different smaller bucks but they were real young and he told me didn’t want to go home just yet, lol

This evening we walked in on a buck that we spotted from the road. Knowing he was fairly visable we knew we had to work quick. We circled back to get a little elevation between us to put a stall on him. We got just about to where we could see the tips of his horns when sure enough someone spotted him from the road and pulled over to get out and glass him I guess. Once they stopped and got out he alerted and took. We were able to watch him for about a mile and started to setup the next stalk. About halfway towards him we saw a truck coming down the road behind him so we knew we had to hurry. We closed to about 600 yards but they were able to get to him first. Shot rang out and down he went. And I swear some kid let out the biggest celebratory shout I’ve heard. We couldn’t help but be extremely happy for them and were excited they got it done. Even my son looked at me and said, I’m really glad they got him.

Had one more shot at a buck that was moving towards us but we were a little exposed as he caught us off guard and had the son behind him. He had the gun up and ready and I was spotting behind him with the binos. And I saw the sun hit my eyes through the glass and that little reflection was enough to make him weary enough to turn back and trot off back to the private area he came from.

All in all it was an amazing day chasing these critters. Might need to stay in the truck more tomorrow as that seems to have worked for quite a few. Anyways sorry for such a long post, a short monsoon rain snuck up on us this afternoon ang wiped out the tipi and drenched our beds so we are sleeping in the truck and I can’t sleep, lol

 

[bigharge]

Also I lost my dang rangefinder crawling through some scrub, spent way too much time trying to find it, but no luck. So someone needs to post a cheap one in the classified section, lol

 

[WildWill]

Still keeping our 6ft distancing from these skittish goats. Logged just at 13 miles today, but came out empty handed. We had some opportunities but didn’t execute one and got busted out by other hunters on 3 others.

Found a really nice buck right at first light with some does. We had hiked in and setup about 40 minutes before you could see. By the time we got into position a couple other hunters pushed beyond us and had the group on high alert. He had a couple seconds to take the shot but said he was just too nervous and couldn’t rush it. I told him that was a good decision, I’d rather go home empty than wound one.

We were able to get back on him at around 450 yards. Was making a plan of attack when some trucks came rolling in beyond them. They were on the opposite side we were on and I’d guess at least 5-600 yards away if not more. About 6 people hopped out with 2 shooters and the buck started trotting. They started slinging the lead, they each got 3 shots off but that bucks never broke stride straight into private. It was a blast though

He actually had an easy shot at 2 different smaller bucks but they were real young and he told me didn’t want to go home just yet, lol

This evening we walked in on a buck that we spotted from the road. Knowing he was fairly visable we knew we had to work quick. We circled back to get a little elevation between us to put a stall on him. We got just about to where we could see the tips of his horns when sure enough someone spotted him from the road and pulled over to get out and glass him I guess. Once they stopped and got out he alerted and took. We were able to watch him for about a mile and started to setup the next stalk. About halfway towards him we saw a truck coming down the road behind him so we knew we had to hurry. We closed to about 600 yards but they were able to get to him first. Shot rang out and down he went. And I swear some kid let out the biggest celebratory shout I’ve heard. We couldn’t help but be extremely happy for them and were excited they got it done. Even my son looked at me and said, I’m really glad they got him.

Had one more shot at a buck that was moving towards us but we were a little exposed as he caught us off guard and had the son behind him. He had the gun up and ready and I was spotting behind him with the binos. And I saw the sun hit my eyes through the glass and that little reflection was enough to make him weary enough to turn back and trot off back to the private area he came from.

All in all it was an amazing day chasing these critters. Might need to stay in the truck more tomorrow as that seems to have worked for quite a few. Anyways sorry for such a long post, a short monsoon rain snuck up on us this afternoon ang wiped out the tipi and drenched our beds so we are sleeping in the truck and I can’t sleep, lol

Sounds like NM to me hang in there y'all will get it done with some persistence. Having a adventure with your boy in beautiful country sound like a great hunt.