The OP was hunting in Unit 46 of New Mexico. It’s a damn dumpster fire. These ‘outfitters’ really aren’t even outfitters, as they are just agents for the landowners. There are thousands private land tags in the unit (zero public draw permits) that are pimped out at discount rates at every outdoor show around the country, to gullible guys like the OP, who are looking to book their ‘once in a lifetime elk hunt’. These hunts are usually pretty cheap, especially by fully guided elk hunt standards, but that’s because they suck!
For the folks giving the guy a hard time, stop… he’s already been bent over enough. Even the best of you elk hunters would have a very low batting average here; I concur with the OP’s guide in trying to bump one by stumbling into them as a tactic. There is zero public land to hunt and they’re often smallish chunks of land by western standards. Since it’s an entirely private land unit, hunters can choose any 5-day period for rifle, or a 10-day period with a bow, in which they want to hunt. The elk have not had a break in hunting pressure since September 1st, save 5 days between the 26th and 30th of September, because of this. With hunters being pumped through that country in an assembly line, the resident elk are likely only in a few, well patrolled, areas that don’t have any other hunting pressure…. If those even exist, because Mora and the surrounding areas are some of the most lawless lowlife enclaves of scum one could ever want to look for in rural America.
