New Mexico Unit 18

[ccc23454]

I didnt even think 18 had elk, learn something every day!

 

[Valley1320]

I didnt even think 18 had elk, learn something every day!

No there's not any there nmgf jus gives out tags for the goofs

 

[Westxhunter]

Congrats on the tag! Follow Pro-mo's advice. It's a tough unit. I've spent a ton of time since i got my first tag for 18. Sadly a sea of red this year. I'll give you some pointers though. There are some elk out there. Get away from the roads.

Study any map you can get your hands on, there's tons of blm.
Get out there and scout. You're kidding yourself if you think you'll find elk on your first trip out.
Have good 4x4
Expect to hike a few miles.
There's DOD land out there, stay away. Give yourself 1000 yards from the border. I don't mess with the military.
If you can contact any ranch owners, see if you can pay a trespass fee.
Some outfitters can real asses. Know your maps and don't let them intimidate you. Get the number of the local rangers.
Near the NWR's there are mountain lions. Yep. They are there.
Stay away from the refuges unless you want to be hassled.

Get out there and have fun! New Mexico is a beautiful state. Unit 18 is varied in it's environments. Enjoy it.

 

[zjzeuske]

@zjzeuske you are really full of it.

First off, unit 18 elk isn't exactly a primo unit. Its broken lowland country with some thick juniper strands. I drove through there last winter and did see some elk on a pivot. It's a unit with very low elk densities and there is a lot of private intermixed amoung accessible public land. Due to low elevation, it's gonna be hot there in Sept making it tough to hunt.

Second, due to above its not a hard hunt to draw. Residents have somewhere between a 32 and 71 percent chance to draw the first or second season tag based on the last three years depending on if its the first or second archery season. It's even pretty easy as a non resident, non outfitted. Between 8 and 16 percent last three years. You realize that it literally is the EASIEST ARCHERY ELK tag to draw for a NR right?

It was your third choice on your app because you just wanted any elk tag and selected the easiest so you can at least be hunting. At least don't lie about your story and man up and admit that you are just looking for a freebie to help on a very tough elk hunt

There is literally only one non resident tag in this unit and my dad and I applied together and both got tags so I would say it's actually not that easy to draw this tag. I understand it's not a primo unit, that's obvious. According to hunting fool we had a 6% chance to draw this tag. What do you think I'm lying about? I'm not looking for any freebie I'm just looking for advice on the unit. I'm not looking for GPS points, water holes, etc

 

[zjzeuske]

I'm sitting on some WY points that I may burn someday eventually. Of coarse the new changes could mess all those plans up. I think you got some pretty good advise above on 18. It could be a tough hunt but low density units can produce some big elk in NM. Good luck out there and please hang around would love to see the out come. Find the water find the elk especially on a dry year in NM.

Much appreciated. If you ever burn your points in Wyoming, unit 38 is a great option. We were covered in elk and opportunities. First 30 minutes of our hunt almost had a 360 in our lap. Can't wait to go back there

 

[zjzeuske]

Congrats on the tag! Follow Pro-mo's advice. It's a tough unit. I've spent a ton of time since i got my first tag for 18. Sadly a sea of red this year. I'll give you some pointers though. There are some elk out there. Get away from the roads.

Study any map you can get your hands on, there's tons of blm.
Get out there and scout. You're kidding yourself if you think you'll find elk on your first trip out.
Have good 4x4
Expect to hike a few miles.
There's DOD land out there, stay away. Give yourself 1000 yards from the border. I don't mess with the military.
If you can contact any ranch owners, see if you can pay a trespass fee.
Some outfitters can real asses. Know your maps and don't let them intimidate you. Get the number of the local rangers.
Near the NWR's there are mountain lions. Yep. They are there.
Stay away from the refuges unless you want to be hassled.

Get out there and have fun! New Mexico is a beautiful state. Unit 18 is varied in it's environments. Enjoy it.

Much appreciated! Unfortunately I have limited vacation time and won't be able to do any scouting since I'm out of state. All that advice is helpful and good to know! We're already preparing to have to relocate camp a few times as necessary. Thankfully my dad is 73 but in great shape and has no problem putting 10 miles on per day with me.

 

[Westxhunter]

The elk are there. Find the water. ;-)

 

[HONEYBADGER]

That is one thing they do right over at the slide. Any thread with a unit number in the title gets nuked. Helps prevent the google fisherman from stopping by to wet a line every year at draw time.

 

[zjzeuske]

The elk are there. Find the water. ;-)

Did you ever end up killing one last year?

 

[PRO MO]

The elk are there. Find the water. ;-)

searching for underwater stream systems can be beneficial, i've heard.

 

[Westxhunter]

Did you ever end up killing one last year?

I only had an OTC tag for Barbary sheep last year. The years prior I was still learning where the herds are. I've only ever gotten mule deer tags for that area. I've not taken one yet. The country is beautiful and spread out though I've done my due diligence and I'm ready for another tag. Honestly, I haven't seen many bucks and I'm not the "brown is down" kind of hunter. The Doe's I've seen were in good shape though even with the drought last year. This unit does not give up its secrets easily.

 

[sromer2715]

Westxhunter,
My dad and I drew unit 18 New Mexico for archery elk this year and am hoping you could share some info with me on this unit. Any information would help! We're traveling from Wisconsin so we have no way to do any scouting on the ground. My dad's been hunting elk for 45 years and I've been lucky enough to hunt with him the last 10 years. This is our 5th state hunting together and were just happy to have a pair of tags that we get to burn together.
Thanks

I hunted mule deer in 18 a few years ago. I did spot some bulls in a few spots I can pm if you like? It's going to be tough with limited access and all the hunters will be in the same spots as you but definitely seen some shooter bulls

 

[zjzeuske]

I hunted mule deer in 18 a few years ago. I did spot some bulls in a few spots I can pm if you like? It's going to be tough with limited access and all the hunters will be in the same spots as you but definitely seen some shooter bull

Any information would be helpful. There's only 30 tags total for this unit so I'm surprised to hear your concern about other hunters. Were they mainly mule deer hunters that you were encountering? Did you end up shooting a muley?
Thanks,

 

[sromer2715]

Any information would be helpful. There's only 30 tags total for this unit so I'm surprised to hear your concern about other hunters. Were they mainly mule deer hunters that you were encountering? Did you end up shooting a muley?
Thanks,

So I did not tag out I did run across a 2X3 scouting and the opening morning of the hunt he took a different route and got hammered by another hunter. So there is a piece of blm that borders the sevilleta refuge and although I didn't see elk (this was October) I saw kills from the September hunts atleast 3. Now I did see elk in yellow dog canyon but they were bolting to private. Also chupadera mesa does hold some elk. Keep an eye on that private land in that side you may get lucky and catch them crossing