Prairie dog Shooter,
Well, you have a good attitude which will pay dividends next year. If you are near Angel Fire you are probably at least at 8,000 feet. Wheeler Mt. isn't too far away and its over 13,000 feet - the highest in NM. Every year the snow depth is unpredictable as Mother Nature isn't consistent, You can have 20 inches in the pines but the south facing slopes might have none. A likely feeding area though. The best snowstorms come out of CA. and head towards "four corners". Obviously the elk sense the impending low pressure and feed heavily the day before. They hold up during the storm and come out to graze as soon as they can. We glass small meadows for active animals and plan accordingly.
While it's certainly not fun to travel in fresh snow, it certainly helps out when it comes to notching a tag. If there appears to be at least a foot of snow on open level ground, we put 'em on and head out. You can always take them off and cinch them to your pack or start with them there and put them on as need be. Snowshoes on thin crust are noisy but they still save energy. About five years ago I was in thin-crust moseying up to cut off a small group of 6 cows just over a ridge. As I thought I was near them, I kick the shoes off and crept the last 50 feet to peer over the ridge. Using a dead pine as partial cover, as I topped out, there were 6 sets of eyes watching in my direction. The rifle was already ready and I picked off a fat one off to one side as they were a bit bunched up ready to travel. They stuck around long enough to have five head out. I used a .308 Win. and a 165 Partition on that cow at 85 yards. Lots of good clean fun!
