NM unit 16A 1st Rifle hunt

[montana1979]

Hey Crew, I drew unguided 1st rifle in 16A.
Toured the area a little last year with a couple buddies before their 16C hunt started. I’m headed down from MT to spend 3 days in the unit last next month, before I head to Alaska to guide.

Would love to connect with people that have hunted in there in the past…
Archery or rifle. Thanks!! Good Luck

 

[trophyhill]

I can tell you it is as green as I've seen it. Saw lots of cows and calves this weekend in the Gila. Some creek beds had flowing water and some didn't.Winston got pounded with rain Saturday night with scattered thunderstorms throughout the Gila region. Hoping the monsoons keep going

 

[Short Track]

16A is Overrated. I saw a few herd of cows, and maybe 2-3 bulls. This was 1st rifle season.
Tags auction off for $10,000 +... I'd never spend that kinda money for a tag.

 

[Gila]

Monsoonal flow is back this entire next week. Looks like another banner this year in the Gila. 2018 was the last really bad drought year that lasted well into winter. 2020 was very dry as well but still quite a few good bulls were taken and the hunting was good. OP is a guide so should be able to find a big bull. A five day rifle hunt isn’t very much time to find a shooter bull if one is not familiar with the area. Scouting the last few days of August is wise and should be productive.

The Elk generally don’t move around very much in the Gila. But they are used to moving away from hunting pressure. If you find elk next month, they may be pushed back in a couple of miles. When i scout those areas I look where the elk will probably move to during the rifle season. Bow hunters like to call up bugling bulls on the ponderosa slopes. That leaves the hidden pinion, juniper meadows for the rifle hunter. The bulls love pinion nuts. Finding a fence around a burn edge is like taking the exit off the freeway. The Gila truly is elk hunter’s nirvana! Congrats on drawing that tag!

 

[Gila]

16A is Overrated. I saw a few herd of cows, and maybe 2-3 bulls. This was 1st rifle season.
Tags auction off for $10,000 +... I'd never spend that kinda money for a tag.

The bid for the Governor’s tag for the 16s is currently at $10,020 and there are 9 days left for the auction. Started at around $7,500. Unit wide LO tags go for over 10K. That is just the tag, before hiring an outfitter. If you don’t hire a guide to get you on a possible 400+ bull for those tags then you are wasting your money IMO. But then there is no such thing as a sure bet. It is after all elk HUNTING not elk shooting. It is common to see over 100 elk and a dozen good bulls on a 5 day hunt. There are some “sleeper” units in NM but 16A is not one of them. The unit is famous for a reason And only the lucky few (or the wealthiest) get a chance to hunt there.

 

[Mike4282]

My buddy drew this same tag this year. I will be coming down as support. Were a non seasoned group from Michigan, but willing to do what we must and put the effort in. We are planning to do a DIY tent camp, and drive from there every morning. Any thoughts on this approach?

 

[Gila]

My buddy drew this same tag this year. I will be coming down as support. Were a non seasoned group from Michigan, but willing to do what we must and put the effort in. We are planning to do a DIY tent camp, and drive from there every morning. Any thoughts on this approach?

That’s what i do, cabin tent with wood stove. i take the UTV in as far as I can. I put my camp in the middle of the areas I am going to hunt usually 3 to 6 miles away from camp. I usually come back for a nooner. Bulls won’t be moving around very much and they will be out there a ways.

 

[Mike4282]

This was another debated topic in our group. I have a UTV available but is a long haul from Michigan. Is this necessary or a big advantage or should we just use the truck? What are the roads like in the area.
?

 

[ElGuapo]

16A is Overrated. I saw a few herd of cows, and maybe 2-3 bulls. This was 1st rifle season.
Tags auction off for $10,000 +... I'd never spend that kinda money for a tag.

This is nonsense… buy some optics and use them. I have glassed dozens of bulls from my truck off the main roads.

 

[Gila]

This was another debated topic in our group. I have a UTV available but is a long haul from Michigan. Is this necessary or a big advantage or should we just use the truck? What are the roads like in the area.
?

What roads? We have two dirt tracks. Some have boulders and logs, some don’t. I can’t see tearing up a $75K truck myself. If you don’t have heavy ply off-road tires and a winch on your truck, you may want to haul your UTV. Your season is the 4th, so the bulls won’t be near any ”good” road.

 

[MichiganJohn]

What roads? We have two dirt tracks. Some have boulders and logs, some don’t. I can’t see tearing up a $75K truck myself. If you don’t have heavy ply off-road tires and a winch on your truck, you may want to haul your UTV. Your season is the 4th, so the bulls won’t be near any ”good” road.

I'm the buddy from the earlier post - looking forward to this hunt. The unit appears to have a lot of roads throughout it, when you say two dirt tracks, are you referencing Reserve Beaverhead Road - coming south out of Reserve?

Our plan as noted was to set up camp somewhere along one of the more "main" roads we can get to with a trailer, and then take the truck from there each day, hiking in where we see potential. If none of the smaller roads are passable in a pickup, then I think the UTV might be more of a necessity.

Mike and I are both too newbie on Rokslide to DM anybody, but if you're able to message us I'd like to connect to figure out if anything else we're assuming about the unit is too far off-base.

 

[KHNC]

This is nonsense… buy some optics and use them. I have glassed dozens of bulls from my truck off the main roads.

Did you think about maybe he was saying this to deter all the people applying for the 16's?

 

[Gila]

Did you think about maybe he was saying this to deter all the people applying for the 16's?

I don’t think he had a very good hunt. I dare say that some of the unsuccessful hunters in the 16s are non-resident DIY hunters. Most have never set foot in the area before. Too many don’t have any or maybe limited elk hunting experience as well. Ya, there are a lot of elk in 16a but there isn’t a bull behind every tree...LOL. I might have mentioned it, I don’t recall because we see dozens of threads about elk hunting the Gila every fall, but the first rifle tag in some of the 16s is really not the first rifle season. There are youth and/or other rifle seasons happening before the 13th of October. Scouting during these hunts may be legal, I don’t know, but certainly not the ethical thing to do. I do know that the GWs are out in full force to make sure that these hunts are not interfered with.

After 3 seasons (two archery, one rifle) the elk are usually pushed in a few miles, so you won’t be glassing as many from the main gravel roads. The rut is winding down so the herd bulls will be either moving back into their bachelor herds or they go to “Devil’s Gulch” to recuperate from the rut. They may still be bugling at first and last light but they most likely won’t reply to a bugle call. Unless there is inclement weather, the elk are usually in bed after the first hour. The bulls will be gorging themselves on pinyon nuts and oak mast during that time of year. I like to see people fill their tags in 16a, it really is the hunt of a lifetime, especially for non-residents.

NMFG requires that off-road vehicles used for hunting on public land be registered: https://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/ohv/