December 2011

Dave Kleber, of Pennsylvania, took this fine Coues buck on the second day of his hunt.

The Peloncillo Mountains of unit 27 are really unique and beautiful.  They border Mexico to the south and Arizona to the west.  Normally these mountains are dry with only a scattering of springs and man-made water tanks.

The day before opening day of Dave’s hunt, we received 8 hours of drizzling rain.  The normally dry creek bed that we were camped by, became a crystal clear stream by the end of the day.  By opening morning it had quit raining, but we were socked in with fog and clouds with very poor visibility.

Coues deer hunting requires lots of glassing from vantage points and visibility is a must.  We did manage to spot a couple of bucks through the clouds, but never had a shot.  The fog and clouds continued until about noon of the second day and then finally lifted to welcomed sunshine.  We saw 8 bucks in the afternoon and Dave collected this fine buck shortly before dark.

Congratulations and many thanks to Dave, who has taken mountain lion, elk and coues deer with us on previous hunts.

November 2011

We had a super 2011 mule deer season, with all clients have shooting opportunities at some really great bucks! This includes all our rifle, muzzle-loader, and archery hunters.

Pictured is Dean Henderson and Chris Hester, from Texas. Dean’s buck was trailed off an alfalfa field into the mesquite desert.  While hauling Dean’s buck on an ATV to the truck, another buck was spotted in his bed under one of our glassing stands.  After lunch at the ranch house, we took Chris back to the bedded buck and he collect this fine mule deer buck!

We are fortunate to be able to use a variety of hunting techniques in our area. Glassing, spot and stalk, stand hunting and horseback hunting are all viable methods in our area.  We are also able to successfully track deer to their beds.  Skillful trackers and sandy country are the key to this method of deer hunting.

Archery hunters have the rut on their side.  Rattling and grunting can be used to lure bucks to within bow range.  Usually this is when the very largest bucks are seen.  With a great area and all these tricks in the arsenal, we can’t help but be successful.

November 2010

Chris Sherretts of Texas took this WHOOPER 32″ wide mule deer on the second morning of his hunt!

Chris was in an elevated stand on the edge of a wheat field just before daybreak.  We use these stands to spot deer and then we make a stalk on them.  Being just a few feet above the mesquite makes it a lot easier to spot deer and see where they’re traveling to.

There were numerous bucks and does leaving the field at daylight.  They were slowly making their way towards their favorite bedding areas.  This enormous buck was the last deer to leave the wheat and he took his sweet time working his way towards the mesquite beyond Chris’s stand.  This buck was on a path to come right by the stand and Chris sat tight.

Chris later said, “I had to look at something else for a while.   Between the cold and buck fever I had to focus on something else!  I was shaking like a leaf!”

After waiting a long long half hour, Chris took this buck a short distance from his stand.

Great job and congratulations on a magnificent trophy!!

October 2010

Dale Guthrie, Gary Webb

Jim Sides

Jim Sides of North Carolina took this nice 4×4 buck on the second morning of our muzzleloader mule deer hunt. The bachelor group of 3 bucks fed to within 150 yards of us shortly before daylight.  Jim had plenty of time to choose which one he wanted.  Jim has also taken a Tom mountain lion with us on a previous hunt.  Congratulations on your nice mule deer Jim!

Dale Guthrie of North Carolina, Jim’s hunting partner, took his buck on the third evening.  We had spotted several bucks that morning working towards a shady hillside about 1/2 mile away.  We circled way around and found a good vantage point in the general area we had last seen 2 really nice bucks. As soon as we started glassing, we were spotting deer.  We saw numerous does and 10 or 12 bucks, but not the 2 we were looking for.  We stayed in the same spot glassing for hours and finally spotted one of the bucks bedded down about 350 yards.  I think he’d probably moved a little as the shade moved and we were finally able to spot him.

It was getting late and 350 yards was way out of muzzleloader range.  We decided to try a stalk.  Dale and I slipped up a draw staying out of sight and when we raised up about 150 yards from where he’d been laying, he was gone.  It was getting close to sunset, so we decided to walk over where he’d been bedded down and take a look.  The buck was up feeding and Dale took his trophy at 30 yards!  Dale has also taken a 6×6 bull elk with us.  Congratulations on your mule deer Dale!

Julie and I want to thank both Jim and Dale for hunting with us and look forward to hunting with them again in the future.

November 2010

Tom Ogle, Chad White

Tom Ogle of South Carolina and Chad White of Kansas took these bucks on the first afternoon of our second rifle mule deer hunt.

While glassing the first afternoon, we spotted 2 bachelor groups of 4 bucks each.  Both groups were about a 1/2 mile away and in opposite directions.  We moved to within 500 yards of one of the groups to take a closer look.  There were actually 6 bucks bedded across a ravine.  We circled way around and closed the gap to 275 yards on these two bucks.  It took all afternoon to spot and stalk these bucks.  It was a very fun stalk and Tom and Chad collected their first mule deer!

Congratulations!  Thanks to both Chad and Tom!

December 2009

This dandy mulie was taken a few days before Christmas by Mike Wear.  Mike and his buddy Tony Celia were here in New Mexico for the holidays.   Both Mike and Tony are Warrant Officers in the army.  Mike flies the Apache Helicopter and Tony flies Blackhawks.  They will be deployed before next fall, Mike to Germany and Tony to Kuwait.  Both will be flying sorties in and out of Afghanistan.  This was the last chance to get in a hunt here in New Mexico before returning to work.

Fortunately for Mike and Tony, the Game Park is not under state jurisdiction and we can hunt whenever we want.  We set our own seasons, bag limit and there is no license to buy.

Although they didn’t plan it this way, they were hunting during the beginning of New Mexico’s mule deer rut.  Bucks here start getting interested in does about Christmas time and will breed through January.  Bucks are less wary during the rut, but a skilled stalk must still be made to get within reasonable shooting range.

Mike and Tony had already glassed up several bucks when they spotted this Management buck.  He was nosing around some does and acted like he was sore footed or injured.  He walked with a limp.

Mike liked the looks of him and soon had a trophy for the wall and venison for the dinner table.

Mike and Tony, we wish you good luck on your missions and a safe and sound homecoming!

November 2009

Frank Sullivan of Oklahoma, took this nice mulie on the 3rd evening of his hunt. Not to far away from where his hunting partner, Robert St. Pierre, took his buck.

Frank was sitting in an elevated blind about 1/4 mile from some irriagated alfalfa fields.  These blinds make it easier to see over the mesquite brush while glassing.

A little before dark, Frank spotted a group of bucks working their way towards one of the fields.  These bucks were a long ways off and Frank was running out of time since it was getting close to sunset.

He got out of his blind and took off trying to intercept the deer.  By the time Frank made it to the field, the deer were already out in the middle.  Frank made an outstanding 450 yard shot to collect his trophy mule deer.

Great shot Frank!

November 2009

Robert St. Pierre of Oklahoma, took this nice mule deer on the first day of his hunt.  We were sitting on the edge of an alfalfa field that was being heavily used by deer.

About 30 minutes before sunset, 20 does poured out of the mesquite brush into the field.   We could see a couple of bucks come right up to the edge of the brush line, but were reluctant to go into the field.  They were just out of range and stayed back in the brush, so Robert eased up towards them and waited.  One of the bucks finally jumped the fence and trotted into the field right at sunset.  He was 300 yards when Robert put him down.