Hike Near High Rolls / Mountain Park

I just received an email that our Oryx hunt this weekend will be delayed a bit - not hunting on Friday due to activity on the base. This gives us a little time to kill on Friday morning. Can anyone recommend a moderate hike/trail near High Rolls / Mountain Park which is where we are staying. Somewhere we might see an elk or two. Maybe a 3–5-mile route.

No idea on a hike, but man, I'm jealous of your oryx hunt. Have fun.

Drive the 130 at first light and you probably will see a couple hundred. Then use your ONX to hike any of the public land

I would stay available and close. My brother had the same message from the range. At the last minute they opened the hunt with little notice.

There's some good hiking in the cloudcroft area and great stuff about about hour north in ruidoso.

I agree with the above and think I'd stay close by in case things change. Unless this lost day will be made up on the back end then go out and have fun.

Lots of really cool places to explore around there, but I agree with others here that it would be a good idea to stay close and not get too far from your vehicle. If you haven't been there before, there is some unique hiking in White Sands National Park.

How did the hunt go?

Thanks for all the messages. We had a great hunt. We drove the 130 early Friday morning and saw 100+ elk. We did not see many bulls until the loop took us back towards Cloudcraft. The turkeys were sounding off and we saw 200+. A few mule deer - I think I saw a whitetail deer - is that possible? The mule deer literally let us pet them around the house.

We then went to the shooting range in La Luz. Great facility and people. Spent some time at the White Sands National Park, then lunch a Ceezy F Tacos. In line for orientation by 2:30 p.m. I hate losing that half day but zero you can do about it. Just finished processing the Oryx meat - this is our sixth one, so I have come to appreciate the meat maybe as much as the horns/hunt.

We were on Oryx from the get-go but found many of them out in those huge flats with little cover. We were on a group of seven bulls. They were a one mile off the road. We got into position with the sun at our back and the wind in our face. I was letting them feed in our direction slowly when some hunters on the road spotted them, parked 100 yards from our truck and headed in on the same group? On to the next group.

We spotted several others but wanted to pick a stalk that was manageable for a youth hunter. We finally found a group of 12 that were bedded in a low area with a ravine that would lead us within 300 yards. Took us about 45 minutes to get into position. We had all the time in the world. Let them feed into an opening and picked out the best one of the group. Had the Death Grip set up with the .300 WSM and two nice shots dropped him quickly - one a bit back in the rib cage and the second a bit forward in the neck/shoulder area. This was at about 3:30 p.m. Took photos, deboned him in the field, hiked out, and at the gate by 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. I likely made it harder than it need to be - 8.2 miles on Saturday - I am not sure I walked that far on all my other hunts combined .

One last note - the east bound interstate between Santa Rosa and Tucumcari is the worst and most dangerous stretch of Interstate I have ever traveled - it has potholes that will make someone lose control of their vehicle. If you are driving this at night seriously be careful. It is so bad they have put up signs that tell you it is dangerous - WTF.

The bull was just a little over 30". Not a giant but a clean kill on a quality animal.

Congratulations! That just adds to your VV bull!

Iowan said:

parked 100 yards from our truck and headed in on the same group?

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Gotta love NM etiquette!
Great bull! The youngster looks happy! That’s a pretty cool vest as well!

Congrats!

Iowan said:

Thanks for all the messages. We had a great hunt. We drove the 130 early Friday morning and saw 100+ elk. We did not see many bulls until the loop took us back towards Cloudcraft. The turkeys were sounding off and we saw 200+. A few mule deer - I think I saw a whitetail deer - is that possible? The mule deer literally let us pet them around the house.

We then went to the shooting range in La Luz. Great facility and people. Spent some time at the White Sands National Park, then lunch a Ceezy F Tacos. In line for orientation by 2:30 p.m. I hate losing that half day but zero you can do about it. Just finished processing the Oryx meat - this is our sixth one, so I have come to appreciate the meat maybe as much as the horns/hunt.

We were on Oryx from the get-go but found many of them out in those huge flats with little cover. We were on a group of seven bulls. They were a one mile off the road. We got into position with the sun at our back and the wind in our face. I was letting them feed in our direction slowly when some hunters on the road spotted them, parked 100 yards from our truck and headed in on the same group? On to the next group.

We spotted several others but wanted to pick a stalk that was manageable for a youth hunter. We finally found a group of 12 that were bedded in a low area with a ravine that would lead us within 300 yards. Took us about 45 minutes to get into position. We had all the time in the world. Let them feed into an opening and picked out the best one of the group. Had the Death Grip set up with the .300 WSM and two nice shots dropped him quickly - one a bit back in the rib cage and the second a bit forward in the neck/shoulder area. This was at about 3:30 p.m. Took photos, deboned him in the field, hiked out, and at the gate by 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. I likely made it harder than it need to be - 8.2 miles on Saturday - I am not sure I walked that far on all my other hunts combined .

One last note - the east bound interstate between Santa Rosa and Tucumcari is the worst and most dangerous stretch of Interstate I have ever traveled - it has potholes that will make someone lose control of their vehicle. If you are driving this at night seriously be careful. It is so bad they have put up signs that tell you it is dangerous - WTF.

The bull was just a little over 30". Not a giant but a clean kill on a quality animal.

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Congratulations. Sounds like a great trip. And yes there are pockets of whitetail in several parts of unit 34. Mostly on private but, they seem to be thriving.

Iowan said:

Thanks for all the messages. We had a great hunt. We drove the 130 early Friday morning and saw 100+ elk. We did not see many bulls until the loop took us back towards Cloudcraft. The turkeys were sounding off and we saw 200+. A few mule deer - I think I saw a whitetail deer - is that possible? The mule deer literally let us pet them around the house.

We then went to the shooting range in La Luz. Great facility and people. Spent some time at the White Sands National Park, then lunch a Ceezy F Tacos. In line for orientation by 2:30 p.m. I hate losing that half day but zero you can do about it. Just finished processing the Oryx meat - this is our sixth one, so I have come to appreciate the meat maybe as much as the horns/hunt.

We were on Oryx from the get-go but found many of them out in those huge flats with little cover. We were on a group of seven bulls. They were a one mile off the road. We got into position with the sun at our back and the wind in our face. I was letting them feed in our direction slowly when some hunters on the road spotted them, parked 100 yards from our truck and headed in on the same group? On to the next group.

We spotted several others but wanted to pick a stalk that was manageable for a youth hunter. We finally found a group of 12 that were bedded in a low area with a ravine that would lead us within 300 yards. Took us about 45 minutes to get into position. We had all the time in the world. Let them feed into an opening and picked out the best one of the group. Had the Death Grip set up with the .300 WSM and two nice shots dropped him quickly - one a bit back in the rib cage and the second a bit forward in the neck/shoulder area. This was at about 3:30 p.m. Took photos, deboned him in the field, hiked out, and at the gate by 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. I likely made it harder than it need to be - 8.2 miles on Saturday - I am not sure I walked that far on all my other hunts combined .

One last note - the east bound interstate between Santa Rosa and Tucumcari is the worst and most dangerous stretch of Interstate I have ever traveled - it has potholes that will make someone lose control of their vehicle. If you are driving this at night seriously be careful. It is so bad they have put up signs that tell you it is dangerous - WTF.

The bull was just a little over 30". Not a giant but a clean kill on a quality animal.

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Click to expand...

Congrats on the success and nice oryx! Yes, that stretch of highway in both directions is terrible and has been for several years now.

New Mexico has been good to my family/friend group. We have had more tags in New Mexico than all other states we apply in combined by a long shot - like 10:1. Wyoming has second place locked up with all other states way back in line. We caught the tail end of the 'good ole days' and have had some luck since then.

Sounds like a trip worth taking. Congrats to the hunter. Oryx on range hunts are fun, even when things get messed up a bit.