RescueBob
FNG
Went 1 for 10 in the draw this year and pulled the NM GMU 28 deer hunt(Dec 20-21). have been doing all the map scouting and will only have 1-2 days scouting before the hunt due to a cow elk hunt for my wife just prior. Trying to scout 2 weeks prior if I can, but I imagine rut conditions will significantly change during those 2 weeks.
There is virtually zero info on this hunt out there. At only 50 deer tags a year I understand why, but hoping someone on here has had this hunt or one of the other December McGregor tags and can give some general insights. Due to it being a 2 day hunt and a place I can't get into all the areas to scout until the actual hunt, I'm a little worried about being able to get it fingered out in 48 hours. Have some info requests out to biologists as well, waiting to hear back. Not looking for "sit at this waypoint to shoot a big'un" intel, just general information.
I'm fine with shooting a small buck if opportunities are low or general size isn't there, but I'd like to target mature bucks. DMs are fine, and thank you for any info you might be able to push my way. Happy to trade similar info on deer and elk for NM GMUs 13, 16s, 21, 23, 32, 34, or 36 where I'm a lot more familiar.
1. General deer numbers and quality of bucks. Trying to discern if numbers support covering miles in the truck to find isolated pockets of deer, or if picking a few specific drainages to glass/hike into makes more sense. Also don't want to shoot a forky first day if there's plenty of bigger bucks, but don't want to eat a tag looking for a 150+.
2. Rut activity, I am expecting that some rut activity will be going, but will it be far enough along to just hunt the does looking for a mature buck? Or should I be poking around the thicker isolated draws for the big boys even if the small bucks are on does? Personal observations on nearby units have shown that the rut is definitely is not going yet in late Nov and can run a late as mid Feb. I'm just missing that Dec-Jan rut picture for this area.
3. Road accessibility, there's a few roads on the range map that I plan on using but seems from sat imagery and topo that they might be very rough. I'm experienced in moderately technical off-roading and will have recovery gear, but don't want to spend a ton of time creeping through nasty roads on a short hunt.
4. General areas, I have 4 or 5 main drainages I plan to glass and hunt with some backups and question mark points if everything else fails, but there's no way I get through all of them on this short hunt. Also curious about the flatter ground areas with small rimrock ridges.
-A self taught, severely average hunter who adds miles and misery for slightly better than average success.
There is virtually zero info on this hunt out there. At only 50 deer tags a year I understand why, but hoping someone on here has had this hunt or one of the other December McGregor tags and can give some general insights. Due to it being a 2 day hunt and a place I can't get into all the areas to scout until the actual hunt, I'm a little worried about being able to get it fingered out in 48 hours. Have some info requests out to biologists as well, waiting to hear back. Not looking for "sit at this waypoint to shoot a big'un" intel, just general information.
I'm fine with shooting a small buck if opportunities are low or general size isn't there, but I'd like to target mature bucks. DMs are fine, and thank you for any info you might be able to push my way. Happy to trade similar info on deer and elk for NM GMUs 13, 16s, 21, 23, 32, 34, or 36 where I'm a lot more familiar.
1. General deer numbers and quality of bucks. Trying to discern if numbers support covering miles in the truck to find isolated pockets of deer, or if picking a few specific drainages to glass/hike into makes more sense. Also don't want to shoot a forky first day if there's plenty of bigger bucks, but don't want to eat a tag looking for a 150+.
2. Rut activity, I am expecting that some rut activity will be going, but will it be far enough along to just hunt the does looking for a mature buck? Or should I be poking around the thicker isolated draws for the big boys even if the small bucks are on does? Personal observations on nearby units have shown that the rut is definitely is not going yet in late Nov and can run a late as mid Feb. I'm just missing that Dec-Jan rut picture for this area.
3. Road accessibility, there's a few roads on the range map that I plan on using but seems from sat imagery and topo that they might be very rough. I'm experienced in moderately technical off-roading and will have recovery gear, but don't want to spend a ton of time creeping through nasty roads on a short hunt.
4. General areas, I have 4 or 5 main drainages I plan to glass and hunt with some backups and question mark points if everything else fails, but there's no way I get through all of them on this short hunt. Also curious about the flatter ground areas with small rimrock ridges.
-A self taught, severely average hunter who adds miles and misery for slightly better than average success.
