Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Need some help NM hunting for old timer

This guy has been my other dad for 40 years. Old old old school farmer that has worked his whole life. NM resident lives here in VT half the year. Great great guy. So many stories to tell.
Would love to get him close to anything to cap his storied life.
Lives to hunt whitetail here in new England.
You would die laughing at his stories. Any direction or help would very appreciated!

W

What do you have in mind? Missed the draw for this year but otc tags available for private land deer, Barbary sheep and antelope. Bear and lion tags as well. Landowner permits for elk but pretty pricey. Snowbird I take it? What part of NM does he reside in?

Any interest in hunting cows or just bulls?

A cow elk hunt on a ranch will be much cheaper than a bull elk hunt.

Google cow elk hunts in Colorado and new Mexico . The lodge at chama offers cow elk hunts but I think they're booked for 2019. Numerous other places have cow hunts. Good luck and kudos for taking care of your older friend.

What about Cow elk over in the Raton area?
Anyone have any ideas they might get to.

What about Cow elk over in the Raton area?
Anyone have any ideas they might get to over in that part of the state?.

I do a cow elk hunt out of raton on a landowner tag through Kiowa outfitters. Not cheap but doable. He's booked out I believe for this year but I have done six hunts with then and brought home meat every time. I figure counting the hunt, license and other fees plus gas, food and lodging to run me about $3K give or and a $100. It's an easy hunt for old geezers such as myself and I am somewhat handicapped. FWIW, I'll be there in early December for a hunt and I'll be 81 Y.O. at that time. The ranch is Ted Turner's Vermejo Park and they usually have a high success rate on those cow hunts.
Paul B.

I agree on all points that Paul made here.

Figure on including a decent tip to your guide.

Tim Barraclough, who runs Kiowa Hunting Service, includes advice on tips in his materials. His firm is very popular for good reason. It's an awfully easy hunt the way he sets it up. He hires good guides too.

We live south of Santa Fe about 40 miles, so we dove up for a cow elk hunt in mid-December, met our guide at the very nice Best Western motel in Raton, and he then drove us out to Vermejo Park Ranch, scouted elk by driving us around the west side of it, where we saw huge numbers of elk including a few dandy bulls, and helped us with knowledgeable advice and hard work on harvesting cows the same day.

I'd say that even old geezers, of which I am one myself, if they do their part by shooting accurately, should definitely score 100% of the time there. Great country, and friends who have stayed on the ranch (for a little more expense) said that it was thoroughly enjoyable too.

Vermejo has its own weighing station and there is at least one fine processor in Raton. If you can stay around long enough for them to prepare your meat and wrap the cuts in butcher paper and cardboard boxes, that's the way to go.

Norm

R&B out of Chama. They hunt the high plateau and else where so if your acclimatized not that strenuous a hunt but get there up to a week early as you will be at 9,000 ft.

Tomahawk out of Springer has all levels of hunts from semi guided to all inclusive where they do everything but shoot the Elk for you.

If it is a one time hunt I would go for a land owner tag and private ranch hunt. Public hunts can be a mixed bag with the yahoo factor running high.

I would not go with USA hunts, in fact I had to restrain myself from shooting at their plane while they not only scouted out of it but tried to herd the elk by plane too.