area 2-B in New Mexico for MUle Deer

[wildcat westerner]

Hello,

I have drawn the late season tag for Mule Deer in area 2-B. The response by people who are aware of this area's reputation is quite positive, since it butts up to the Jicarilla reservation, the Colorado border and also a huge reservoir.

Are there hunters who use this site who have hunted in 2-B and are aware of its features?

Thanks in advance,

Gene

 

[Damol]

I used to hunt unit 2 for archery elk when I lived in Farmington.
The lake would be Lake Navajo,and is fed by the San Juan river.
My information would be a bit dated since its been about 20 years
since I moved away from there.The histery of that area is long and diverce,
its not often that you can stand on top of a nuclear blast site
(do a search for GasBuggy NM). Its in unit 2.
Good luck on your hunt and let us know how it goes.

 

[Damol]

Just looked at a map that shows the break down of the units and unit 2-B is what we called unit 2, This is in the Carson National Forest. The south end has a lot of easy walking and a few steep canyons. We used to see good numbers of deer in the north end of the unit. If you are in the north end it pays to look up since this part of the unit is called home by a good number of eagles both Golden and Bald. It pays to take a camera. Not sure when your late season is, but watch your weather it can change fast. N.W. N.M. has a good rep for warm summers and mild winters, but it is the foot hills of the rockies. Even in the summer nights can be chilly.

 

[junior71]

Its a weather/migration hunt 4 sure. If CO. gets snow early, you could have a great hunt. If not, you could miss the migration all together! My son had the early youth rifle hunt there a couple years ago. We didn't see many deer, but there was a ton of sign from the previous winter. Roads everywere you want to go, but man they can get nasty with just a little rain. I would take chains!

 

[wildcat westerner]

Hello Damol,

Thank you very much for this information. I perceive this area as "locked in" legally by the Jicarilla reservation, the Colorado border, and actually by that body of water. I've been told that when the weather turns bad, the deer move into this area from both the "res" and Colorado and that when it really turns bad they head out of this area and go further south.

My hunt is the very end of October, the 3rd season. What kind of weather normally can you expect on the northern portion of this area at that time? I have been told that there is a trail, not a road, that roughly parallels the border in this 2-B area. Have you seen this trail? I am already tending to want to spend the majority of my time in the north end of 2-B, hoping for bad weather.

Thank you for your insights here.

Gene

 

[Damol]

You should see some great weather in Oct. but dont expect snow to push the deer out of Colarado at this time of year. There are a lot of roads like was pointed out thanks to the natural gas thats found here, every road leads to well sites. And the roads get bad with a little bit of rain, chains can get you most places even with 2WD. The guys checking the wells use 2WD and you wont see them stuck.

Dont hope for bad weather, I have seen it go from hot and dry to 2 feet of snow in about an hour but thats rare around there. Its odd to see how only a few miles north or south can seem so differant in weather and even the plant life can change. On the northpart there are a lot of huge pines and forested areas with the vally floor made up of sagebrush flats, south you have much smaller pines like the pinon and lots of scrubbrush leading to sagebrush flats that run for miles. All this in an area that you can check out in a day.

When I talk about north and south I use the highway as a dividing line. On the south side its much drier and its good to find waterholes. As far as trails go remember that this is the area that the Anasazi indians are from and there trade paths run for hundreds of miles.

Most hunting here is spot and stalk, not much stand hunting there's just to much space for the deer to move in and to few choke points. Waterholes and some clearings (locals call them parks) are the exceptions.When its dry even the dirt crunches under your feet but it will teach you to slow down and watch were you step.

I dont know how long you have to hunt but take a day and hunt one side and
a day to hunt the other and see which suits you best unit, 2-B realy is not that big of an area. I hate to say it but most hunters will just road hunt, but if you will do a little hiking you will find a whole lot of national forest to use as your own private play ground. If you plan on camping there are some public camping areas that will have a lot of people and noise, but if you just look around you will find alot of jewels of primitive campsites. Just rememberyou can not drive off of established roadways.

 

[wildcat westerner]

Damon,

This reply I find to be filled with fact and I find the fact that there are lots of roads an opportunity. Its an opportunioty to turn hunters into ROAD hunters, so almost certainly I shall start to try and locate areas which are more remote.

I shall take the entire time to hunt this as it almost certainly will be the last hunt of my life.

Finding out that you can cover the entire area in a day was a real insight, and further that areas of concentration of animals due to geographics, better learned now than later.

I regard this info Damon as extrememly important Damon and I really appreciate it.

Thank YOU,

Gene