Elk Hunting Unit 9 New Mexico

I was hoping to get some info on any experiences or tips about hunting on Mount Taylor just north of Grants, NM. I drew an elk tag for this years 2nd season archery and am planning on taking a scouting trip this weekend to get an idea on where to camp and areas to hunt. I've got some concern about the numbers and size of bulls on Taylor. I've read on some other forums that 300" bulls are rare. Any truth to this? Any info about this particular region or what to expect on my hunt would be appreciated!

Thanks again!
RW

I hunted there last year for 1st season archery. We didn't see very many elk but from what we were hearing from the locals that was pretty rare for that area. Not that we didn't see plenty of elk sign. We hunting to the east of MT. Taylor near the Floyd Lee ranch and Ignacio Chavez and got on a few bulls. Only 1 would have gone over 300" the other two were around 250". We did get a few days to hunt around Mt. Taylor also. Again we were on sign the entire time just not seeing very many elk. The bad thing about Mt. Taylor is there is going to be alot of people.

Let me know if you have any other questions. If I can't answer them I can ask a buddy of mine who used to hunt there quite a bit.

Hey wow thanks a lot for the feedback. I was hoping for a better report than that though! Were you doing a DIY or with a guide? If you had to do it again in the same unit what would you do differently? Would you stay down low like you did or get in the mountain and try to hunt a little higher? I'm hoping that the 2nd season will have the bulls more fired up and talking.

Also, would a guy have more success if he remote camped off the main roads you think? Or are the elk just pretty hard to locate in that area?

Thanks again.
RW

If I had to do it again I would rather have hunted the 2nd season. We were diy. I was hunting the opening week of the 1st season and the bulls just weren't responding as much as I think they would have later so you're probably gonna be in a pretty good time of the rut.
I don't know where I would go first really I think 2nd season you could go either way. If it is colder than usual I would probably head to the low country otherwise if it's still pretty warm I'd stay high. When we hunted last year we definitely heard more bulls up high just because it was so warm. Mid day temps were in the 80's and some times in the 90's.