New Mexico Mule Deer Unit 32

My grandson drew his first western tag for Unit 32 Nov 9-13. I plan on being his help and started looking at OnX to get the feel for the unit. I have driven through these areas but never scouted or really gotten off the main roads. When Ive drawn before it has been for Unit 30 and 36 and hunted the higher elevations. I hope to get a few days this summer to drive out to get an idea as to how many locked gates I will be dealing with and get use to the landscape and hopefully have a plan together before his hunt begins.

Any tips from the group would be helpful.

Pm incoming

Replied to PM.

I drew the same tag after applying for elk and deer tags for years. Looking forward to seeing some new ground. Happy to share info and a campfire.

I would be glad to share boots on the ground info from the October 19-23 Muzzleloader hunt with you.

That would be fantastic. My plan is to do a fair amount of scouting while trying to not screw up the earlier hunt seasons. That is the challenge sometimes.

Lnewton said:

I would be glad to share boots on the ground info from the October 19-23 Muzzleloader hunt with you.

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Hope y'all are okay and on high ground. Crazy storms and flooding in Unit 32 last night.

We were about to wash away. Had a small river under the tent! Thankful for the Alaskan Guide series for sure. Road we came in on was a river this morning so we took a 40 mile detour through some tough washed out roads yo make it to town for church.

So glad to hear you are good. Gonna be a mess out there for the local folks for sure.

Crazy about the weather forecast for 32! My ranch is in GMU 31 and starts about 100 yards north of the Texas border. The Pecos river should be going up because of the rain to the north. Not a drop of rain in the forecast for us! I have one of the solar wells that pumps when the sun is out and also feed about 1200 lbs a month for the wildlife.

For us the water and food situation is really bad and not expected to change anytime soon. Muzzleloader season started this weekend, and our GW went out to see if there were any poachers and called me yesterday late afternoon and there was no activity. The wind yesterday was brutal as usual so that may have something to do with it. With the influx of the oilfield in a major way the last 15 years we have a lot of trespass problems, cut fences, gates and locks.

Going to skip opening day here in Texas in a couple of weeks as the 1st rifle season opens the same day. My spotting scope, binoculars and drone will be my primary tools for watching for poachers. Will have the M5 with me along with my thermal and NV for coyotes only.

Report from the hunt:
First morning saw 5 does and a 2 point buck. Also glassed up 3 mountain lions across the valley on another ridge and watched them for a while. The rain hit Saturday evening and we about washed away as I posted earlier. Sunday morning came across a nice buck while we were trying to make it to town for worship only to find town was locked down. Came back and tracked that buck for a couple of hours with fresh tracks but after 4 miles decided to give up. Hunted another area that evening and turned up does but no bucks. Monday morning only two does. Moved to another area and around 5 pm turned up an 8 point whitetail along the Pecos. We tried to make a stalk but that rivet country was so open we only made it to about 260 yards. Went to another ridge and glassed til dark and decided a hotel and hot shower were due! Headed back out to glass the next morning. Spent 5 hours glassing three different areas and saw zero deer. It was a good trip, learned a lot and had a good time. Would go back but would definitely say the weather hurt our chances this time.

I just heard from a New Mexico resident that lots of camps got washed out. Stranded trailers and lost gear. Going to be an adventure. I really appreciate the report.

It was ugly! Our county Eddy has more than one (Game Warden) and the one that primarily handles our issues was up there to help out. He said it was a real mess! Going out to the ranch earlier than expected this weekend and early next week to put up an additional camera and an additional NM compliant (not easy like Texas is) "No Trespassing Sign" on one of our roads about 20 yards behind the sign. Had a vehicle driving around scouting who knows maybe even hunting. Got a pretty good pic of the rear plate so time will tell! LEO's have it and it is not going to be pretty.

Heading east on Nov. 2 to meet up with my New Mexico friends in Texas for a few days of white tail and pig hunting out near Coleman, TX then back to NM for a few days of scouting before the season opens for me on Nov 9. Pretty sure most of my pre-planned access routes are washed out and my plan of "walking the arroyos" is a no-go. Lots of time glassing in my future...