Buying New Mexico Elk Land

[Bulldawg87]

To close out my 2024 season, I ran out for my Mule Deer hunt...which actually didn't start until Jan 1st (drawn in March 2024). I only got to hunt the 2nd through the 4th of January, then had to hustle back to San Antonio. I knew going out there the odds of killing a muley would be very low, probably very low odds to even see one. That is pretty much how it went. I saw one cross the road, found plenty of elk and did a little more work on my place. It probably ended up more as an elk scouting trip for few elk hunts in all reality, but that is ok too.

Caught some great sunrises and sets, and was better than any day at work still. My neighbor out there today text me and said a mountain lion had killed a cow elk on our fence line...and one of the things I got to see glassing on this hunt was watching a big herd of cow elk really struggle to cross a 4 of 5 wire fence. The calves even had a hard time and couldn't get under, then one cow had to back way up and get a running start. As I watched this, I thought, "man, if a predator came up on these elk, a couple would be easy pickings due to that fence"

I wonder if that is what happened with the cow elk killed on my fence line? If that cow was not in the area of one of my 14 elk jumps and got tangled up on the fence, the cat would have had no problems getting on her neck.

I didn't realize how much the elk jumps I put in on one of my places would help, but having seen that group struggle with that fence on state land, I definitely believe in that work I put in now! Maybe more will go up next year.

Next step now, 2025 New Mexico Big Game Draw opens in mid January (hopefully draw a tag in March). Then in early June, I should see if my land scores improved as many should and by late June, I should have elk tags in hand again!!



These mountain / sunrise views are on my easternmost property. A lot of muley tracks, I just couldn't find them

Sunset on the drive out, just outside of Socorro, NM...these sunrise and sunset are incredible every day out there!

[JMart76]

That’s really cool and a beautiful landscape. You got me thinking about land in NM now, dunno how I’m gonna break it to the wife but I may have to see about how to make it happen.

[Bulldawg87]

That’s really cool and a beautiful landscape. You got me thinking about land in NM now, dunno how I’m gonna break it to the wife but I may have to see about how to make it happen.

It's a low cost option for sure....at least relative to TX. A lot less in taxes too

[Yak blue]

Loving the pics!
I’d love to buy in NM for so many reasons…but as I get older the more I dislike long drives….my routine 4 hours one way to the ranch in the panhandle is about all I can take….kuddos to you on making that drive all the time….

[Bulldawg87]

Loving the pics!
I’d love to buy in NM for so many reasons…but as I get older the more I dislike long drives….my routine 4 hours one way to the ranch in the panhandle is about all I can take….kuddos to you on making that drive all the time….

It's about 12 hours for me...but only plan to do it 2 times a year or so going forward.

That said, if I never go, the elk tags will just about cover everything too. So even If I didn't go for several years, nothing is really lost financial as I have land that can pay for itself.

[stxhunter]

Thanks for all the updates! This thread and my hunt this past season in the Gila makes me really want to get a place out there!

[Bulldawg87]

Thanks for all the updates! This thread and my hunt this past season in the Gila makes me really want to get a place out there!

Exactly why I bought out there! I drew a Gila tag a few years ago and it was such an amazing experience, I had to figure out how to do it every year.

And this was my solution...and it has been fun!

[Bulldawg87]

No luck on the Public Draw for me this year, but my uncle — the one who killed that monster bull a couple seasons ago — drew that same tag again... and on second choice!

That got me thinking — I never really told the full story on here about that huge bull, so here goes:

---

After I drew a Gila elk tag a couple of years ago and bought my land, my uncle told me he would buy whatever bull tag I had left. In year one, I didn’t draw a bull tag, so he figured he’d be sitting out the 2023 elk season — which was supposed to be his first-ever elk hunt.

About a month before the September opener, one of the outfitters I’d been talking to about selling tags posted that they had a 1st archery tag available. My uncle called and asked me what I thought. I told him, “You’ll probably have to sit water a lot, and if it’s hot, don’t expect much bugling.” The outfitter only had September 1st–6th available.

The tag was in one of the units where I own land, and he had been looking at land there too. He wanted to go on this hunt before pulling the trigger on his own land purchase.

Originally, I was going to tag along and help on his hunt, but right before the trip, I had to go to Mississippi for some family stuff.

My uncle gets to New Mexico, and the outfitter — who’s pretty well known — has a nice camp setup. The basic plan was to get up high and spot and stalk. But it was hot, the moon was full and bright, and the elk weren't bugling much. Tough conditions.

Over the first few days of the 1st archery season, with a big camp spread out over 3–4 units, they only killed one elk. Most of the herds were down low on private land. He had a few encounters with small bulls, but nothing you want to punch a primo tag on.

---

After four or so days, my uncle had been looking at OnX and found a piece of public land a few miles north he wanted to check out. He talked to the outfitter, but they didn’t want to go up there. He drove up there at lunch one day, found a gated road with very little traffic, and thought it looked promising.

After a couple more slow outings, the outfitter still didn’t want to go check it out.

I told him, "Man, that's a landowner tag you have — it's good for 14 days. If you don’t get anything on your guided hunt, go home to Alabama for a few days, and then let's fly back out the last couple of days. I’ll come out and help. By the 14th, the elk should be bugling."

The outfitted hunt wrapped up, and the outfitter admitted it was a rough week. They offered to let guys stay longer, but my uncle decided to head home.

On September 12th, he called me and said, "I can fly out tomorrow and land in Albuquerque around 9:30 AM." I checked flights and found one too. The next morning, we met at the rental truck, and off to the mountains we went.

We had 1.5 days to hunt — no intel other than that piece of public land the outfitter didn’t want to check out.

---

By early afternoon, we were several miles deep on rough roads and hadn’t seen another vehicle. We climbed a small mountain and started glassing.

Based on my past experience, I was expecting the bugling to start around 5 PM.

5 PM... nothing. 6 PM... nothing.

We started working back toward the truck just before dark, and finally heard something — but it sounded more like cattle than a bugle.

While glassing, I looked down the mountain and, about 100 yards from our truck, there was a 300-ish class bull making a dirt wallow right in the middle of the road.

We tried working down to him but couldn’t get in front, and he moved off the direction we had to drive out.

Then we found another small bull and a cow as we made our way down the mountain.

We got to the truck and decided to ease out of there — because we were definitely coming back the next morning for the final day of the tag. I was excited to hear those predawn bugles.

As we started to drive out, crossing a valley that funneled several dark canyons, a cow ran across the road right in front of us, followed by a much bigger bull than the 300-class one we had seen earlier.

Now we were really pumped for the next morning.

---

The Last Day

We were in there early, expecting it to be loud. But... not a sound. Not one bugle.

I was shocked. It was September 14th — the last day of 1st archery — and still dead quiet.

We called, glassed, and finally spotted a bull around 1200 yards away. Just a yellowish dot grazing along a hillside.

To get to him with the wind right, we had to go way around — turning into a nasty hike. By the time we got into position, the bull was gone.

We called, raked trees, cow-called — nothing. Maybe we bumped him. Maybe the wind swirled. Who knows.

After a while, we linked back up. My uncle took the arrow off his rest and said we should head back to the truck for lunch. We had been on the mountainside for hours.

I was looking past him when I suddenly saw branches moving — and a bull steps out at 30 yards! A nice 6x6!

But he had us pegged. Nothing we could do. He eventually spooked off.

A little deflated, we headed for lunch and also swung by the outfitter’s camp to talk about maybe buying landowner tags in the future. They had offered to help pack out meat if we killed one, and they had a walk-in cooler.

---

Back for the Evening Hunt

We went back into the valley for the evening hunt.

I told my uncle we should approach from the opposite side this time, based on how the thermals would shift after sunset. We decided to stay only partway up the mountain, thinking the elk would move down to the valley floor.

Hours passed, and still no action.

Finally, around 5:30 PM, we heard a bugle down in the valley.

We glassed hard and found a cow. Then we saw a tree getting shredded.

We ranged it — 970 yards. Then the bull stepped out.

From nearly 1000 yards, we both immediately said: "That’s a monster."

I started counting points and told my uncle, "That’s at least a 7x7!"

The bull was moving with a couple of cows, headed toward us. We stayed put, waiting for the sun to drop behind the mountains so the thermals would shift in our favor.

Once the sun set, the wind shifted, just like clockwork.

We dropped into the valley and started moving aggressively, using the bull's bugles to close the distance.

Every bugle, we moved closer. He was bugling every 3–4 minutes.

Finally, he was just over the next knoll.

We crept over — and the noise was insane. It sounded like trees getting demolished.

At first, my uncle thought we had spooked him. I said, "No, he’s raking — let’s move!"

We eased in and realized he was right in the middle of a thick motte of trees — invisible unless you knew exactly where to look. I saw tines slashing and hooves moving through the trees.

We were 30 yards away.

My uncle was ready — arrow nocked, bow drawn.

I had the rangefinder locked on him.

He started to walk out left — but hung up. My uncle held full draw for about a minute before letting down. The bull raked some more.

Time was running out. Maybe 15 minutes of legal shooting light left.

Finally, the bull started walking out — broadside at 60 yards.

I whispered, "Sixty yards!"

Seconds later, the bow went off. I watched the arrow arc, lost sight — then heard the hit.

The bull spun and ran — and I saw white vanes buried flush with the chest, right where the heart would be.

---

The Recovery

Right after, a storm rolled in — lightning, thunder, heavy rain.

We had no service to check weather, but it didn’t look good.

We made the call to get to the truck and get out before flooding trapped us.

When we finally had service, the outfitter said they couldn't help — Second Archery was starting the next morning and they had new clients arriving.

We ran into town, grabbed some snacks, then headed back up after the rain died down.

When we got to the shot site, all the blood and tracks were washed away.

It was rough.

After 20 minutes of hopeless searching, I happened to look down — and I was standing in a giant clump of coagulated blood.

“Hey, I found blood!” I yelled.

We marked it and started tracking.

Across a creek, up a ridge — and there he was. Antlers sticking up out of the brush.

We walked up and were blown away.

Huge body. Giant rack.

He was a 7x7 — with a little eighth point kicker.

---

Packout

It took three trips to pack him out. First two loads were meat, last trip was the head and cape.

We got the first load to the truck around 4 AM, took a quick nap, then finished it out after sunrise.

At the outfitter’s cooler, a bunch of guides and new hunters came out to see the bull.

One of the guides said, “I told you that bull would go 380!”

Turns out, they had been glassing that bull for five or six days. They were even watching him the night we killed him — but had packed up before we made our final stalk.

Makes me think they were probably saving him for a high-dollar client.

When they rough scored him, they got 384” gross. The B&C book minimum is 385”.

Later, when we added it up ourselves, we got 390”.

A B&C scorer is officially measuring him this month — so we'll find out for sure soon.

---

Now, my uncle pulled that same tag again this year. Lucky joker.

When my landowner tags come out, I hope I draw one for that unit too — would be awesome to hunt it again with him.

What an experience.

[Paycheck]

What a hunt!! Fantastic bull. No wonder the outfitter did not want to take him up there.

[Bulldawg87]

I wonder what the going rate is on a bull like that! That tag by itself sells for up to $13,500 nowadays...without a known bull like this one!

[James]

I wonder what the going rate is on a bull like that! That tag by itself sells for up to $13,500 nowadays...without a known bull like this one!

A rich dude will pay 30k, fly in shoot, and fly home

[Bulldawg87]

A rich dude will pay 30k, fly in shoot, and fly home

A bull like that, I'm thinking more....that outfitted hunt is $20k.

It's for sure outfitted too. I was thinking $50k+ maybe. An
auction sheep tag in NM sold for $1.3M for this year knowing a giant could be killed with it.

[trophy8]

My God what a monster. That’s what dreams are made of there.


Who’s the outfitter that was sand bagging on your uncle?

[Bulldawg87]

My God what a monster. That’s what dreams are made of there.


Who’s the outfitter that was sand bagging on your uncle?

I'm not 100% thats what happened, but it adds up...and they definitely had hunters in the second half of 1st archery that could have been after him. But at the end of the day, that's business. A guy says you find a bull near 390" and I'll pay X amount to hunt him, that's a business decision when plenty of other 300, 350 plus bulls are in that country for everyone else paying the regular rate.

They are ultimately a good outfit as I have had other dealings with them too. New people are now in significant management positions too..so I am not gonna throw them under the bus.

[Trailerman3]

Awesome business and hunt plans you have made. Looks like you have made some great improvements too. Awesome pics and animals. I go back to western NM every year and guide 5 months of the year. Can’t wait to get back this year at the end of July and start it all over again. I might not come back to Texas after this season. Good luck with your eplus tags this year.