By Brendon Rosales

This season, our New Mexico archery elk hunting was a bit of an odd one – but what else would we expect in 2020?! Fortunately, COVID didn’t put a damper on our hunts. In fact, our guides and hunters were thrilled to be out in the field for some elk hunting!

This year was a bit unique in terms of the elk rut and overall elk movement. The archery season opened at the beginning of September and got off to a slow start with abnormally hot and dry weather – even for New Mexico – and that’s saying something. There was very little rutting activity during that first part of the season.

Photo: Jonathan Adams

However, when conditions hand us lemons, our guides are experts at making lemonade. This warm and dry early season weather made for excellent water hole hunting. Our hunters were able to capitalize on these opportunities.

Beginning around the middle of September, we began to see some rutting activity – but still not what we’re used to seeing on a typical year. Throughout the southwest, it seems that it was a slow rut. However, our hunters and guides worked hard and took some awesome bulls during the second half of the season! We had close encounters with some true giants.

Despite the tough start and the unusual conditions, we finished the season strong. A big thanks goes to our hunters who worked hard to make it happen this season. And we couldn’t do it without our outstanding team of hunting guides.

If you’d like to know more about our guided bow hunts for elk in New Mexico, please take a few minutes to check out our Elk Hunting Page and the rest of the info here on the website. Register with New Mexico Game and Fish For availability or any specifics, please don’t hesitate to send us a message. You can also call Jerry directly at 315-374-8209.

Photo: Jonathan Adams