Leaving for Florida, the Mountains, soon.

[Zmaxhunter]

I moved up, 700y south of camp, gained 400ft in elevation..
Theres a few cows in here.. see an hear them from time to time.
It was in the 20s last night.. wind was howling, rattling the tent..
They stayed on the mountain last night.. my nephew had 16 water bottles in his pack.

[NotJose]

Awesome!! Input in for this hunt every year. Good luck to the hunters!!


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[Slick8]

Keeping updated, keep posting the pics and best of luck.

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[Zmaxhunter]

Couple nannies on lookout.. billys well below them.
(Not in this pic)

[Zmaxhunter]

Keeping an eye on them.. making a plan

[trophy8]

Hopefully the silence is good! Been checking often.

[Zmaxhunter]

Its a balmy 18 this morning, making a pot of Death Wish coffee, fry up some Jimmy Dean.
Tonights dinner you may ask.. Ragin Blaze CHILI for me. Those on the mountain get Mountain House or Peak meals. Will get back on the glass soon..

[Pedernal]

Sound like the breakfast of champions right there. Hope you folks have success later today and please keeps us up to date…. This thread is great!!

[Zmaxhunter]

Bowhunter went up a steep chute in the dark this morning.
Not sure of his exact position.. but several Billys are near him.
Thinking something may havehappened, as 1 billy came back from under a huge slab of rock.
Moved onto a ledge and stopped..looks like he may have laid down.. foor sure got seperated from the rest of them.

[Zmaxhunter]

Couple cinnamon rolls, sausage, and hot coffee.. amazing!

[Zmaxhunter]

Insane lil critters, they run across these verticle wall faces like Tyreek Hill does a flat football field.

[Zmaxhunter]

Last 2 pics.. they were on that tallest peak.

[docmay]

It’s a tough hunt but dang, they are awesome critters. It’s sad that there used to be a lot more in New Mexico and they were spreading out some. Then they got the hammer!

[docmay]

Gotta keep grinding! It can be done. I was a little younger back then!!!!!!


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[Colton]

Originally Posted by docmay

It’s a tough hunt but dang, they are awesome critters. It’s sad that there used to be a lot more in New Mexico and they were spreading out some. Then they got the hammer!

What happened to them?

[Cazador]

Awesome hunt for some incredible animals! Good luck y’all, keep after ‘em!

[S-3 Ranch]

Originally Posted by docmay

It’s a tough hunt but dang, they are awesome critters. It’s sad that there used to be a lot more in New Mexico and they were spreading out some. Then they got the hammer!

Listed as the toughest bow hunt in the America’s,
That Florida mountain range look tough to navigate
Why does NM want to eradicate the ibex? Heck nothing else to do in Deming

[docmay]

Originally Posted by Colton

What happened to them?

Unless things have changed they opened up depredation tags on the mountains except for the Floridas. In those areas it was no season and no limit on tags. They did not want the ibex competing with desert bighorns. They also increased the tags in the draw a fair amount from when I did it. I think when I hunted the success rate was 2-3 percent.

[Zmaxhunter]

Been reading up on the history and geology.. home to the Mescalero, Chiricahua, and Mimbres Apache.. Victorio, Geronimo, Cochise,. Amazing.

[Zmaxhunter]

Congrats Docmay! We saw more Billys today, different group.. 1 bowhunter was about 160y..
Stadium brats and Ragin Blaze chili.. put em on buns.. for chili brats..

[Greenheadless]

Zmax……….I like your style.


I would be all about what you are doing…. To heck with trying to be a billy goat, I would be all about sitting back, cooking good food, eating as much as possible, spending some time in the mountains, and watching the show unfold fr9m a spotting scope.

[Zmaxhunter]

Great day.

[Zmaxhunter]

Hunter had a close encounter today.. just not close enough.

[lmartin5]

Thanks for taking us along…good luck!


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[Dale Moser]

That country looks wicked, what an amazing hunt!

[Zmaxhunter]

Truth is, my 51yo sister in law is on that mountain, she has her tent, her bow, meals, jet heater.. and is climbing all over those rocks, up and down chutes, etc. She can out shoot many others, 70, 90, 120... she can possibly be the 1st woman to kill one of these Ibex with a bow.. theres literally just a handful who have ever tried.. shes up there now, in her tent, waiting for dawn.. and her quarry.

[Dale Moser]

Originally Posted by Zmaxhunter

Truth is, my 51yo sister in law is on that mountain, she has her tent, her bow, meals, jet heater.. and is climbing all over those rocks, up and down chutes, etc. She can out shoot many others, 70, 90, 120... she can possibly be the 1st woman to kill one of these Ibex with a bow.. theres literally just a handful who have ever tried.. shes up there now, in her tent, waiting for dawn.. and her quarry.

What a ******. That is real dedication, very admirable.

[rolylane6]

Originally Posted by Zmaxhunter

Truth is, my 51yo sister in law is on that mountain, she has her tent, her bow, meals, jet heater.. and is climbing all over those rocks, up and down chutes, etc. She can out shoot many others, 70, 90, 120... she can possibly be the 1st woman to kill one of these Ibex with a bow.. theres literally just a handful who have ever tried.. shes up there now, in her tent, waiting for dawn.. and her quarry.

Go SIL...get em girl!!!

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[EZ-10RANCH]

Originally Posted by Zmaxhunter

Truth is, my 51yo sister in law is on that mountain, she has her tent, her bow, meals, jet heater.. and is climbing all over those rocks, up and down chutes, etc. She can out shoot many others, 70, 90, 120... she can possibly be the 1st woman to kill one of these Ibex with a bow.. theres literally just a handful who have ever tried.. shes up there now, in her tent, waiting for dawn.. and her quarry.

That is awesome!! Best of luck to everyone on the mountain. I’ll be following this one.

[BlackHogDown]

Following

[Kmart49]

I'm in for more of this one!

[JES]

Cool hunt, thanks for posting and letting us follow along.

I wasn’t even aware there were Ibex there.

Good luck to the hunters!

[rolylane6]

Originally Posted by Zmaxhunter

Great day.

Those horns are a neat feature to look for. Kinda makes for a dead giveaway when you find em.
Now getting to them once spotted....uhh yeah, good luck.

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[MAP]

Truth is, my 51yo sister in law is on that mountain, she has her tent, her bow, meals, jet heater.. and is climbing all over those rocks, up and down chutes, etc. She can out shoot many others, 70, 90, 120... she can possibly be the 1st woman to kill one of these Ibex with a bow.. theres literally just a handful who have ever tried.. shes up there now, in her tent, waiting for dawn.. and her quarry.

This thread just got alittle cooler, thats pretty awesome

I dont know what emotions I would go through if I actually stuck and found one of those with my bow.......or if I did all that work, got within bow range, and couldnt make it happen. Keep the pictures and updates coming

[Buck_jane]

Good luck to the hunters. That place looks like a nightmare to navigate

[Zmaxhunter]

Well Mr Weather forecaster.. youre fired!
1pm forecast called for a 10% chance of rain..
Cant see the mountains... just hope it doesnt freeze on the rocks up there.. gonna be slippery enough.

[Pedernal]

Originally Posted by Zmaxhunter

Truth is, my 51yo sister in law is on that mountain, she has her tent, her bow, meals, jet heater.. and is climbing all over those rocks, up and down chutes, etc. She can out shoot many others, 70, 90, 120... she can possibly be the 1st woman to kill one of these Ibex with a bow.. theres literally just a handful who have ever tried.. shes up there now, in her tent, waiting for dawn.. and her quarry.

This is awesome!! Best of luck to her and the other hunters! Hoping to see some horns on the ground soon.

[Zmaxhunter]

Wow.. what a view.

[Dale Moser]

Legit camp setup as well! I’m starting to think you got the best job on this deal.


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[lmartin5]

Good luck tomorrow


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[Graysonhogs]

Originally Posted by tvc184

I hate to break the news but there are no mountains in Florida.

The Silicon Mountain Range on Daytona Beach.


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[trophy8]

Originally Posted by Graysonhogs

The Silicon Mountain Range on Daytona Beach.


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And I’m a mountain climber. Put me in coach!


Hope she drills an ibex today!

[S-3 Ranch]

Found this interesting, didn’t know you can rifle hunt them right now? I assume on a different mountain range?
On New Mexico trophy.com

“” 37 inch billy shot downhill thru the heart in his bed facing directly head on laying on a boulder at 258 yards with a savage long range hunter 300 win mag topped with a zeiss 4.5x14 rapid z 800 sending 165 grain barnes TTSX. ””

“” punched my tag on day 2.5 on the second biggest Billy of the trip seen. G&F has straight up pounded this resource way too hard and between that and the drought I'd lay off applying a year or two for your OIL. Nanny/kid hunts have cratered the population from over 800 to less than 300 on this range. 2 other rifle hunters in camp, one was active military and ate his tag after 5 hard days, one killed a billy in mid 20's that ran over the back of the mountain after I missed his big brother at 450 yards on a very uphill shot over a granite dome on the morning of day two.

Still a great hunt with great guides and I'm happy I got to go. That mountain is a straight up kick in the crotch. And I did it all with a torn meniscus/spaghetti knee and had surgery when I got back; 3 weeks on crutches down, one more to go. Lotta rehab ahead of me.”

Grateful for the opportunity, happy for my trophy

[buck_wild]

Reports dried up. Is the hunt over ?

[slayr]

Originally Posted by S-3 Ranch

Found this interesting, didn’t know you can rifle hunt them right now? I assume on a different mountain range?
On New Mexico trophy.com

“” 37 inch billy shot downhill thru the heart in his bed facing directly head on laying on a boulder at 258 yards with a savage long range hunter 300 win mag topped with a zeiss 4.5x14 rapid z 800 sending 165 grain barnes TTSX. ””

“” punched my tag on day 2.5 on the second biggest Billy of the trip seen. G&F has straight up pounded this resource way too hard and between that and the drought I'd lay off applying a year or two for your OIL. Nanny/kid hunts have cratered the population from over 800 to less than 300 on this range. 2 other rifle hunters in camp, one was active military and ate his tag after 5 hard days, one killed a billy in mid 20's that ran over the back of the mountain after I missed his big brother at 450 yards on a very uphill shot over a granite dome on the morning of day two.

Still a great hunt with great guides and I'm happy I got to go. That mountain is a straight up kick in the crotch. And I did it all with a torn meniscus/spaghetti knee and had surgery when I got back; 3 weeks on crutches down, one more to go. Lotta rehab ahead of me.”

Grateful for the opportunity, happy for my trophy

I know the guy that shot that one, it was about a month ago or so.

[Zmaxhunter]

Sorry, final update for now.
My part of the hunt is over, they have another week.
The hunters are still hunting.. couple decent encounters.
I needed to get home, left the mountains at 11am the 19th.
Grabbed a rental car in Las Cruces.
Got a nice room at the La Quinta in Dalhart Tx.
Had my 1st shower in 7 days..lol
Woke up to about an inch or so snow.. slushy roads,
Met my wife in Wichita at DDENA (dwight d eisenhower national airport) lol
I went to bed about 10p last night.. woke up and its 11:17, lol

On the way home, i picked up 24 tamales from Kathys Carryout in Albuquerque.

Thank you all for riding along, for the support and encouragement.
The Green Screen is the best.

Oh, i got to meet Bill Lewellen with One on One Adventures

[Chompers]

Thanks for taking us along. Amazing

[Burnadell]

The ability of those animals to scale sheer cliffs is amazing, and I will never understand how they do it. Thanks for the pictures!

[Uncle Saggy]

This was an absolute awesome thread.
Hope we get an update with one down


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[Greenheadless]

Originally Posted by S-3 Ranch

Found this interesting, didn’t know you can rifle hunt them right now? I assume on a different mountain range?
On New Mexico trophy.com

“” 37 inch billy shot downhill thru the heart in his bed facing directly head on laying on a boulder at 258 yards with a savage long range hunter 300 win mag topped with a zeiss 4.5x14 rapid z 800 sending 165 grain barnes TTSX. ””

“” punched my tag on day 2.5 on the second biggest Billy of the trip seen. G&F has straight up pounded this resource way too hard and between that and the drought I'd lay off applying a year or two for your OIL. Nanny/kid hunts have cratered the population from over 800 to less than 300 on this range. 2 other rifle hunters in camp, one was active military and ate his tag after 5 hard days, one killed a billy in mid 20's that ran over the back of the mountain after I missed his big brother at 450 yards on a very uphill shot over a granite dome on the morning of day two.

Still a great hunt with great guides and I'm happy I got to go. That mountain is a straight up kick in the crotch. And I did it all with a torn meniscus/spaghetti knee and had surgery when I got back; 3 weeks on crutches down, one more to go. Lotta rehab ahead of me.”

Grateful for the opportunity, happy for my trophy

I’m guessing that was Andy.