Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting i drew a valle caldera cow tag !

Congrats Mark....should be a fun hunt!

If you draw unit 2b again, I have a better spot in mind. Been seeing lots of deer lately.

Mark, it couldn't of happened to a nicer guy. Congrats!

Congrats!!! It is spectacular country, my wife and I were there last weekend.Lots of great opportunities to get around on the place in advance of your hunt too.The grass is really low this year what with our lack of moisture. Good Luck on your hunt!

thanks.
wife and i wanna go fly fishing there soon.
i can kill 2 birds with one stone, fishing, and finding out where to set up my 5th wheel.
heard there is a camp ground or ? just down the road.

it shouldn't take me more than 2.5 hours to get there from here, depending which way i take.
thinking going down to san yasidro (sp?) turning left and getting on 4 should be the easiest.
i know turning outta cuba, i got a hard pull getting up over the mountain.

Splatter,

A good chunk of the road in from Cuba to Fenton Lake is dirt. Or it was as late as last November when I was wood cutting up there. If your coming down from the Farmington area with a big trailer San Ysidro is your best bet. There are 3 forest service camp grounds between Jemez Springs and the Valle. To my knowledge none have hookups with the possible exception of the Jemez Falls campground. If you like boondocking it there are plenty of forest service roads you can pull off on and camp. Probably the closest is called the Dome Road. I can't remember the road number off the top of my head but it runs from a few miles east of the Valle off st rd 4 all the way to cochiti lake. The first two miles are in Bandelier national monument and are closed to camping. After that there are 5-6 miles of easy fifth wheel road before it starts down the mountain and gets hairy.

Depending on how they allow you to access the caldera there is a road that starts on hwy 126 about halfway between La Cueva and Fenton Lake that runs north south along the western boudary of the Valle. The first few miles are fifth wheel friendly.

If you need road numbers let me know and I'll look them up for you. I drag a 28ft 5er all over the Jemez.

Sean

thanks for the info.
i have a 36 footer. pm sent.

thanks sean

The times I have been the only gates they let you in are the main gate and I believe it is FR 105. (also off SR 4). If you are going on one of the cow hunts the campgrounds might be closed by then ( they were closed on the cow hunt I went on ). There is plenty of places to park in Graduation Flats off of the Dome Road if so.

my hunt is november 5,6, and 7th.
planned on going down the 3rd, and setting up the camper. have to go to orientation the morning of the 4th, then get loose to scout my appointed hunt area, then calling it a day, and get ready for the morning hunt.

I am sure the campgrounds will be closed by then, the latest I have seen them open was mid October. Start praying for unit 13.(grin)

Digs is correct.. Dome road or just past it on the right before you start going down the mountain into Los Alamos there is a great place. The locals call it American Springs. It's where my buddy and i set up camp for Muzzloader Mule deer last year. Nice camp and very close to paved road. Also, that area before Fenton is still not paved, I was up there 2 weeks ago. If you feel frisky you can also try climbing up on Cat Mesa to really get away!

Congrats on the tag! Lets hope we all get so lucky on Wednesday!

holding my breath for a deer tag !
good luck to us all.