Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Luna Canyon Outdoor Adventure Chacón NM Elk Hunt 11/2-11/6

Unfortunately if you wanted a given bull hunt you should have paid a few grand more. It is what it is. You should have accumulated points in WY, CO, AZ and did a DYI hunt for half that. That I
Combine a drawn tag with a summer scouting trip out west. You said you're in teaching so have summers off.

Ive done a few guided hunts that were like yours. I paid attention when hunting and insisted to go back where game and sign were seen when they just want to drop you off to sit in an unproductive spot. Ive saved a few schitty guided hunts by being proactive using research on google maps before and going out on my own or insisting on moving locations when it was obvious the guides did not know area. A lot of those "guided private ranch hunts" you are just paying for access and not good guides to hold your hand if its under 8 to 10 k.

As mentioned getting a reference list of hunters successful and unsuccessful is a no brainer on guided expensive hunts. At least can pick their brain where they ran into elk in different conditions. Sounds like you didn't even bother contacting and talking to prior hunters and just relived the advertisement . That was your mistake


. Not shooting that cow was your mistake on your first hunt imo

There for sure are outfitters out there that are shady as hell, but I am seeing red flags with the OP's post, and not just the red flags he self-describes.

I'd talk to the outfitter and guides before forming a conclusion here...

Were you hunting a RO authorization for 46? If so, that falls in the special management zone and does not lend itself to being able to move around much.

That country has had a lot of activity with the recent fire along with being a state hot spot for year round hunting.

The area also has a unique make up of residents, they are not to keen on outsiders. I worked for years with a crew from Mora/Cleveland/Chacon and they were great people, but the area is unique.

It was for private land. And there was a fire in the area but James assured me he had plenty of land away from the fire and “a 5x5 should be no problem”

We did hunt some land about an hour away from camp which is where I saw the 2 cows.

The elk seen by the other guy while driving was close to camp

The common denominator I have seen in complaints about elk outfitters on private land hunts is a low price point. $5K for a private land elk hunt is a huge red flag....best scenario you are looking at a raghorn. I would expect a low pressure, private land elk hunt with trophy caliber bulls to be at least $10k, with many closer to $14K.

If $5K was my budget for an elk hunt I would go wilderness with horseback and wall tents. Its a known crapshoot, but at least the experience is there.

Cheap and 80-90% success on 5x5 bulls doesn't add up. If it were true the outfitter would be booked up years out. That being said cheap guided hunts are tempting. I went on a couple cheap bear hunts when I was younger and there were always issues. When you save a little more money consider booking through a hunting consultant. It may sound weird to add a middle man but good consultants only book hunters with reputable outfitters they have vetted so it takes much of the worry about finding a good outfitter out of your hands. My last 2 hunts were booked through Hunt-nation. Both were great exactly as advertised. I'll probably book another one with them soon.

WideOpen and Bill N

I am learning what you both posted is true. I was certainly blinded by a “bargain”.

Wish your hunt would have went better.

46 is tough due to it being mostly private and the “ranches” are mostly pretty small.

PM sent

Most of these responses sound like they are from employees of the outfitter. When someone advertises the possibilities of success as high as this outfitter, you would expect better results.

Guiding for someone on property you have never been on before certainly doesn’t sound like a prepared outfitter or guide. How some people here that want to call themselves guides, will tell a potential client he needed to do more homework and know the terrain, don’t fit the model of a desirable guide.

The fact remains that if the outfitter advertised a hunt that you would have an inexperienced guide, walk for a couple hours in the morning, then sit on a hill in the evening hoping to see something. The next day do the same or less and ask you to be patient because your guide hasn’t been on this property before and he needs to leave mid-morning to go work cattle, and so on...

I doubt any of the guys supporting this farce of a hunt would pay to be treated this way either. It sounds like a major loss and anyone anticipating a good hunt, expecting a chance at a bull elk, would be disappointed with this outfitter.

This is a good post.



It seems to me that you may have had some unrealistic expectations that your outfitter did not disabuse you of, Redman. And he had a financial incentive not to. Like others have said, a nearly guaranteed bull hunt would run at least double what you paid, at least here in MT, even with the "covid" going on.

In another thread, I mentioned my cousin who runs what amounts to a bull-shooting business. He makes good money. The reason isn't because so many guys think it's great to shoot what amounts to a bull in a corral. The reason why is because bull elk are often quite difficult to find, and even harder to get a shot at. They don't like to be hunted and killed, and they can get into and out of places that people can't, in conditions that keep most guys from wanting to go out.

Elk hunting is a life-risking endeavor. I have nearly died on one elk hunt, due to a storm that moved in on us while we were trying to get one out. Another time I got to the top of a mountain when it was about -25 F, sat down to rest, got hypothermic, and nearly had to be drug off the mountain when I started to go into shock. All of the toes on my right foot are frost-bitten, and I can't feel most of them. That's all elk hunting.

What you had was a guided hiking expedition.

There is a five dollar fine for whining. And brother, you're gonna need another jar. Get more money out cause you'll never kill an elk on your own.

I never indicated that I even think I have the ability nor the desire to kill an elk on my own.

None of my buddies hunt elk....no one in my family has hunted elk. I am 44 years old and fully aware that I need a guide because I have never had a clue about elk until now.

You pay for what you get..

That is true, but did you look at the claims made by the outfitter on his site?

The outfitter's site claims that over the past 4 years they had 80 to 90% success on bulls that were 5x5 or better and the outfitter set the price. The OP claims that nobody who was in camp with him tagged an elk, let alone at least 80% of them tagging 5x5s or better. The outfitter in question seems to have set high expectations that weren't, in this client's experience, close to what was delivered. I would have expected full-time guides, not guides who had dumped me in camp while they hurried off to do the regular day jobs.

I've never hunted elk with a paid guide, only as a guest of landowners who didn't lease their hunting rights and hadn't sold a hunting easement to an outfit like RMEF. The owner offered advice on where to look for elk, good places to glass from, and springs/seeps that didn't appear on my topo maps.

This is in no way a defense of the outfitter, sounds like the OP got a bad deal.

The outfitter would have a hard time selling a hunt any higher than that if a person looks at the make up of unit 46. The unit is made up of a bunch of small “ranches”, 50 to 300 acres with most being less than 300. There are some larger places, but not many.

Unlike other units, all authorizations are ranch only, but you are allowed to hunt other properties with written permission. You may hunt a 100 acre place in the AM and have to go 10 miles to another property that the outfitter has access to to hunt 60 acres in the PM.

The cost of private ground hunts with an outfitter on bigger ranches, in better units in NM cost twice that partially due to an authorization from a better unit running $3,500 to $10,000. A unit 46 mature bull authorization sales for ~$1,000 to $1,500 when they can find a buyer. ( which is hard)

Again, not defending the outfitter at all, it sounds like he is not up front on the hunt, just giving a little perspective.

How many acres would you find acceptable to elk hunt?

I've never hunted for elk on a ranch that was less than 750 acres or one that was more than 7,000 acres.

1200 was at risk of fire but the fire turned north.