I drew the 16 C rifle tag.

Has anyone hunted with Bugling Bull outfitters guy's name is Curtis?

What about Beaverhead outfitters?

I saw in the other thread that you're looking at outfitters to get horses. You don't really need horses to effectively hunt a lot of 16C. We've hunted the heck out of that unit, killed three bulls and a number of cows, and all on foot from the truck. There are a few places where horses would be nice, but I would say they are not required for that unit.

That said, there's Beaverhead Outfitters right smack in the middle of the unit. I have never hired a guide in NM, so I don't follow them too closely, but they might be worth checking out.

I also work with a guy who is a licensed guide and is pretty familiar with the 16s. His pricing is reasonable and he's a hard hunter. He doesn't run horses, but I don't think that's a deal breaker for 16C.

I am going to check it out on Saturday. We need to get off WSMR more than anything.

Kind of make a decision then.

I was hoping to draw an oryx tag, considering I can find one in about 20 minutes driving from my house, but no love.

Pretty excited about the elk hunt. I was washing my hands over this whole season as I had originally applied for points in AZ for elk, and then found out that I was going to be able to hunt, so this all worked out.

AZ won't let you change your application from points to a tag application. Rough deal.

Beaverhead Outfitters is a first class outfit!

I've been friends with the boys at Beaverhead for 20 yrs+...very good outfit!!

Congrats on the tag...that's awesome!!

I am going to go look at it this weekend.

Figure out if it is something I can do on my own or not.

quote:

Originally posted by Aaron Neilson:
I've been friends with the boys at Beaverhead for 20 yrs+...very good outfit!!

Congrats on the tag...that's awesome!!

I'll call them and see what they'd do. I was offered a military deal at $4000 from another outfitter.

I like the idea that they live there.

Congratulations on your draw! I hunted there for three years going back about 35 yrs ago (Elk / Deer archery). A real Honey hole.
They never had enough applicants to fill all the available tags back then.
We had a guy that was probably 50 years old back then who retired from the forest service pack us back in 15-20 miless to areas he knew were springs and allowed us fresh water. The area is very dry.
I stuck the second largest Coues deer ever taken in NM at that date.
THEN....JIM "DUMBO" ZUMBO wrote about the biggest bulls he ever saw in the Gila in a sporting wrag.
There were 50,000 applicants for those tags after that.
I learned then not to talk about you honey holes. Do not brag about your prime hunting locations. They will not be good very long. They are not easy to find on public land any longer.
The Gila is still good due to the permit limit.
Excellent genetics in there.
I liked Zumbo once upon a time, but now? Guess it was just a matter of time before the cat got out of the bag (Gila).
I do not believe the tags were over $100.00-$300.00 back then. Steve packed us in and out for $100.00.
We always stopped by the road side "Chili" roasting" stands in Hatch, NM> on the way home. About got sick we ate so many of those on the trips.

Congratulations! Looks like you will have access to a great place to hunt elk.