NM 16E cow tag?

[dhershberger]

Hey i was wondering if anyone has hunted 16E for elk before and if you could give me a reccomendation of where to start. I'm a youth hunter and didn't draw an elk tag this year so I ended up being able to get a 16E new mexico youth encouragement cow hunt! It is a late hunt from December 26-30 and i will be using a rifle. Last year this hunt was 100% successful and every youth hunter filled their tag. I'm sort of worried about the affect the fire may have had on the unit. Was 16E affected by the Whitewater-Baldy fire? I have hunted 16A and 16B before but never 16E. Any advice, information, or places to start would be a huge help! Thanks!

[Wapiti7]

I archery hunted 16E ~7 years ago, so I'm not overly familiar with it. I don't think Whitewater-Baldy got anywhere near where you would be hunting. Below is a link that is clearly outdated now, but it has the last fire map posted and the fire pretty much burned within that perimeter. I've heard most people either hunt Pelona Mtn or Luera Peak. Quite a bit of private land in that unit. Those ranchers are pretty protective of their land but might be willing to let a youth hunter fill his tag (one less elk for them to feed). I also attached a link to the Landowner tag list that has contact info for all landowners who got tags (including 16E ranchers). We camped right off 163 (unit border) southeast of Pelona and hunted the pinon/juniper that leads into the San Augustine Plains. Have no idea what idea where the elk would be in December. Good luck.

http://inciweb.org/incident/2870/

http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/recr...ug%202012).pdf

[dhershberger]

I archery hunted 16E ~7 years ago, so I'm not overly familiar with it. I don't think Whitewater-Baldy got anywhere near where you would be hunting. Below is a link that is clearly outdated now, but it has the last fire map posted and the fire pretty much burned within that perimeter. I've heard most people either hunt Pelona Mtn or Luera Peak. Quite a bit of private land in that unit. Those ranchers are pretty protective of their land but might be willing to let a youth hunter fill his tag (one less elk for them to feed). I also attached a link to the Landowner tag list that has contact info for all landowners who got tags (including 16E ranchers). We camped right off 163 (unit border) southeast of Pelona and hunted the pinon/juniper that leads into the San Augustine Plains. Have no idea what idea where the elk would be in December. Good luck.

http://inciweb.org/incident/2870/

http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/recr...ug%202012).pdf

Thanks for the info and the link wapiti7!