DotShot

I have hunted Elk at Camp Navajo exclusively for the last 6 years, and work with another guy who has hunted it for well over 10. The elk herd is quite substantial and there are alot of good bulls running around the depot. Unfortunately unless you have a valid security clearance you cannot hunt some of the better areas but do not let that discourage you as there are plenty of areas still available to hunt. Which hunt do you have? I will be hunting up there from teh 14th of Sept thru the 23rd of Sept as will the otehr guy I mentioned. If you would like a map and some insider info send me a PM and i will be happy to help you out. Congrats on the tag!!

I'm interested in the Glock, PM the info and the price when you settle on one...Thanks!

THis is an interesting dilema, as the Game & FIsh sent notices to all individuals on the application not just the person whose credit card was used, this tells me that each applicant is on their own, they pay they get a tag, they dont they forfeit their tag (individual basis not group). It is not my fault nor is it the fault of any online applicant that they hired a fisher price web outfit to do their business. ANy way you speculate it ther is going to be a major mess come late July........

Any Pictures?

I did in fact draw an archery elk tag (Camp Navajo), and no i do not hunt up north fo archery deer as i am quite content with my fav area (36C) hence the reason my statement was more of an inquiry so i could get responses from those people who do hunt up in that area during those times.

Call me crazy, but do you honestly think there are so many archery deer hunters out in the field that they are going to seriously impact those elk hunters whose hunt they will overlap?

Well 1 out of 2 aint bad, I got drawn for 6B (Camp Navajo) Archery early cow (5th tag in 6 years) and my son did not get drawn for elk so he is pretty bummed. At least he can tag along and help his dad out. Congrats to all who were drawn now lets fill the tags and have a shortage on tag soup this year!@#$%^&

TO be honest, the only reason I am not getting worked up about the credit card hits is the fact that they took my money right off the bat (paper App) so i am at the mercy of them releasing the official results

Ang just think, we get to do this again for the Deer apps... Personally i dont know why you all torture yourselves like this. The results will come when they are done, and not a minute sooner....

Well here are 3 of the 4 deer that we were able to take durring our November 36C hunt here are the 2 deer my son and i harvested, and of course the smaller one is mine. Both bucks were in the same group of three and were taken less than 20ft apart. THis picture is of my son with his buck: Me with both bucks: This buck was initially shot opening weekend by my friends son but was unable to be located after it disappeared into some thick country, we found him the following weekend and he was killed less than 100 yard from where he was initially shot opening weekend:

Brown Canyon

Congrats on your success, i dont know how you managed it with all the hunters that were in the area. My brother and I along with our sons went down around the Mildred peak area on Saturday and I was completely amazed at the number of hunters in that particular area, having said that we did see a few deer that had been harvested. Just make sure you early hunters leave a few for us second season hunters

I have always shot the Barnes XBT in 165 gr and have had absoloutly remarkable results on both deer and elk.

I Love to hunt period, but, having killed my first deer last year with a bow i could care less if i ever drew a rifle tag again. The rush i felt was unbeleivable. ITs definately a bow for me.

Well for me, my first rifle was a Winchester Model 88 chambered in .308. THe rifle had originally belonged to my grandfather and had been passed form him to my father. I can remember many deer hunting trips in which i watched my dad shoot numerous bucks with this particular rifle. On one such trip in unit 24A we were hunting around Tom Oshanter peak and my dad climbed up on this big boulder over looking a canyon and the rock shifted, he fell, and the stock on the rifle broke in half. After the hunt my father told me that if i saved enough money for a replacement stock i could have the rifle and thats exactly what i did. After replacing the stock I killed my first deer with it and went on to kill many, many more with it. THe rifle now belongs to my oldest boy (13) who also has killed his first deer with it, as well as his first Javi (which by the way was due to the advice i received from this very website). Everytime i look and the rifle it brings back many wonderful memories of hunts passed and excitement thinking of hunts yet to come. This year the rifle will get its first experience in the elk department as my son was drawn for his first elk hunt this year.

The reason the military uses a FMJ is to be "Humane" and forbids its soldiers from using exposed lead, hollow point or any other "hunting type" projectile. I would venture to say that if the military used those types of bullets, the kill percentage would increase. But as we are about the only country who "adhere's" to the ethics of war i guess the FMJ is here to say whether it be the .223, .308 or anything above, below, or in between. ANd as i understand it the Military went to the .223 for recoil and basic load issues as you can carry alot more .223 ammo than you could the .308 for the same weight. Anyhow as i stated earlier i am not a fan of the .223 as i will only own .30 cal rifles.

They are not eligible as they must be free ranging in order to qualify.

I agree with you, but using that logic, we could say that drug dealers are not bad guys, they are just supplying a product. It goes both ways. I completely disagree, drugs are illegal, providing a tophy animal for the taking is not. This is really no different than the hunts ofered at the YO Ranch in Texas, or at the King Ranch. You pay the money, you get the deer you paid for.

It's kinda of funny to sit and read this particular thread as it is obvious that opinions are running rampant. Personally i wouldnt use a .223 for deer and that is only because i have other options at my disposal. Having said that let me say this, the US Military uses the .223 and trains soldiers to hit accurately at 300 meters touting that as a fairly guaranteed kill range given the bullet is placed in a vital area. And therein lies the key to ANY caliber, if you can get it in the kill area, within an acceptable range proportionate to the cartridge you are shooting, the animal WILL die. Now i dont know about you but I havent had to make many shots over 350 yards when it comes to deer and i highly doubt that the average hunter is going to take a 350-400 yard shot (note i said average hunter). For me, if it's not a trophy animal and i have the capability to get closer, imma get closer. One last thing, whats with you fellas and yer .20 cal cartidges? recoil issues? inferiority complex? (ha ha)

You know, I completely disagree with this and find it absoloutley disgusting, BUT, if you want to get angry at someone, get angry at the people who pay for that kind of thing, not at the guy trying to make a buck. As long as there is a market for it this kind of stuff will happen. THis kind of situation is all about money, not sport.

Well so much for that, no success as of yet. We got up there on Saturday and after we got camp set up decided to go look around. AS the rain was falling the elk were very active, we saw 10 bulls, nothing overly large (one really decen 6x7), and about 20 cows. Sunday we saw about half that many and monday i saw 2 elk as they ran away! We also saw 6 really nice mule deer bucks, the smallest of which was a decent 3x2 and the largest a 5x4 that was probably a 160-170 calss buck, why didnt i shoot it you may be asking, because i didnt have one of the Camp Navajo deer permits (they issued 24 this year). I may try again this weekend but if not i will definately be down in 36C chasing mulies with the bow. I did manage a couple of pictures of one little bull and three of the mule deer although the deer pictures are from a distance and hard to make out the racks, i will post htem when i get home from work this evening.

Well at long last it begins anew, hunting season has all but arrived and i begin my quest on Monday. Myself, my older brother and his friend all have archery elk hunts up at Camp Navajo (Bellemont). They have cow tags, and I an "any elk" tag. We'll be arriving there on Saturday to do a little last minute scouting prior to opening day (Monday). I've never hunted elk with a bow and i am stoked beyond belief. After a 10 year hiatus from bowhunting i picked up a bow last year and the first day i went out was lucky enough to take a small 3x2 muley, and gentlemen thats all it took, archery has now moved to the top of my list as I know whther i draw a rifle tag or not, i can always buy an over the counter deer tag and chase muleys rutting in December, and Coues rutting in Jan and fellas, you cant beat that. Any how, wish me luck and hopefully i'll have pictures and a story by weeks end next week.

Well I personally don't think that is too many permits. For those of us who hunted 24A years ago when it was an "Any antlered deer" area still and offered well over 1000 permits and even then i dont think that it was crowded, but thats just my opinion. Get off the beaten path and get away from the road hunters and you'll find yourself all but alone if you do.

How does one find out if he/she attained one of the leftover hunt tags? Do you just wait and see if it comes in the mail? Anyone have any clues?

Nice pics! and unless my eyes are deceiving me one of the rifles pictured looks to be a Winchester Model 88? What is it chambered in? The only reason i ask is because i own one myself chambered in .308 and i love the rifle. I have killed many, many deer with it and quite a few south Texas feral hogs. A few years back I passed the gun down to my oldest son and he now shoots it. The gun was originally owned by my Grandfather who passed it on to my father, who in turn passed it down to me, and now my son owns it and I hope he passes it down to his son as well. Anyhow, great pics!