Here’s my buck from the Gila last month. We elk hunted the area a few years ago. During the elk hunt we saw no one for miles. On this hunt, hunters were everywhere. The weather was pretty hot and made for some pretty bad hunting. It seemed by 9 am all the deer were bedded down and they did not get up until dark. My buck was running with 2 other smaller bucks. Those were the only deer I saw in 5 days, so I felt pretty lucky getting this guy.








We surprised a lot of the hunters in the area. No one has ever seen a deer hunter (in that area) from California before. Everyone was extremely nice and helpful. Something that us Californians aren’t use to. But we did get accused of bringing California weather with us.

Nice buck.

Really nice deer!

Hey CA, Nice Buck for a tough Hunt.

The Gila is all up and down, as your picts show. Tough hunting there. Stenuous going up, hard on the joints going down. Congrats on a fine buck.

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Originally posted by SGraves155:
The Gila is all up and down, as your picts show. Tough hunting there. Stenuous going up, hard on the joints going down. Congrats on a fine buck.

I shot him about mile straight up a mountain and about 2 miles from camp. All sideways down hill...





2 trips and he was off the mnt.

It looks like you had to work for that on! Good job on a nice buck.

Peter

Must have been hot. That buck had his tongue hanging out from the heat while he rested in the shade on that rock...

Thanks for the report and nice pictures. Great deer!
I have hunted mule deer twice in New Mexico, south of Silver City and absolutely loved it out there. It's so different from here in Maine where can only see about forty yards in the woods.

I've only hunted Northern Mexico (between Castillo and Red River) and Alamogordo. I heard that the Gila is great for Elk.

It looks like the western edge of the Texas Hill Country (obviously mountains instead of hills) - real rocky, dry, and lots of cedar. Meaning not much cover for the elk?

Anyone elk hunted there?

I've hunted both Elk and Mule Deer in the Gila (Unit 16B) . . . missed a Bull Elk, got a Mule Deer. I've seen more Elk than Deer in the specific area that I hunt. Don't know if that holds true throughout.

Congratulations, that is a nice buck. Well done.

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I've seen more Elk than Deer in the specific area that I hunt. Don't know if that holds true throughout.

That’s what I’ve found. Lots of elk.....few deer and drawing an elk tag is hard. Chances are around 5%-9%.