Drew a NM 16A and learned something COOL!!!

I've hunted Elk in 16C 6 times and know it pretty good, didn't know 16A and broke out the map. My Mother has an unusual last name and her last name was all over the map in 16A in a certain area. There was a hill, stream and canyon with her last name on it. The wife is all into genealogy and looked it up. One of my ancestors, Charles Eckelberger discovered gold in the Gila and developed the King of Arizona gold mine. Several things were named after him and I didn't know it.

This Fall I'll be Elk hunting in the same area my ancestors walked in the late 1800's. I think this is pretty dang cool..

Stompy, what a great opportunity, you may be hunting elk from the same gene pool that fed your ancestors, or least walking the same ground and looking at the same mountains and streams. Good luck on your hunt.

Now that's cool!!!!

I hope you smoke a stud!!!

X's 2!! Will be almost like a religious experience. If anyone say's something, you can say "my family was here 1st!"

Very dang cool.

That is pretty awesome!!!

Good luck out there!

May you get the best one..AMEN

so where's your royalty check???

After reading up on it the mine was sold shortly after the strike.

That is very cool Stompy. Good luck on the hunt.

That is very cool sir. Channel your ancestors into telling you where the only 200" buck in the unit is hiding!!!! Good Luck on your hunt.

Going to be looking for a 350"+ Bull, the first couple of days anyway

Congrats!!!

For a 350" bull, check out the field near Ruidoso elementary school play ground.

Very cool, do you by chance have a relative who is a retired 3 star General?

Short answer, probably. Over the years the spelling has changed due to census takers spelling the name the way they hear it and such. She's doing more digging.
His direct descendant is Johann Fredrick and mine is Johann Adam. They came over here for the same area in Germany but a few years apart. Going to take some time to connect them (if she can), when you get back that far it's gets and bit more difficult.

X2

In 1997, the first time I ever applied for bull elk I drew 16A for the first rifle session! One way into that unit is thru Mogollon, probably the scariest ride I ever took. It is a one-way highway with about a 2000ft. drop on one side! But Mogollon has several abandoned mines of various kinds and the town hasn't changed much in 100 years!

Oh, the hunt....turned into a bust! On Friday night, we got 14" of snow! The first time it had ever snowed that early in like 30 years. Elk were no where to be found and every outfitter in the unit was driving around trying to find them. The next night we got 8" more of snow, and traveling was almost non-existent. We ended the week not seeing any bulls, until we went into Reserve to get gas, and on the way out spotted a big 6x6 at the rodeo grounds!

I keep waiting to hear you were heir to a gold fortune you had no idea about.

I wish, he sold that mine to a large mining company. If he was like the rest of that side of the family he drank up 3/4 of it and spent the rest on wild women

Neat family story. Hopefully you'll write the next chapter with a trophy bull at the center of the story!

Wow this is awesome, will be a hunt to remember regardless of the outcome!

Small world....that pic was taken 200 yards from the house I grew up in!

Good luck!