Border
I hunted from Nogalas to the east about a hundred miles or so in a weeks amount of time. My dogs ran into mexico a couple times as all that separated the border was a run down, 3 string wire fence and the rail road ties that had recently been placed to prevent motor vehicles coming across. When we were down that way, there were a lot of border fence workers, welders, machines etc. that were close to Nogalas. I suspect a lot of the routes were changed due to all the activity on the US side. The further we got from all the activity the more activity/signs of people in the area were present. We never ran into to people while we hunting but found lots of fresh campsites, trash, fresh foot prints, etc. It can kind of get a little un-nerving knowing that the people are probably there watching us. After the first day nobody really wanted to venture off without a partner. We didn't have anything stolen from our vehicles but realized after the first day we needed to leave as much of the valuable stuff we could in town and not temp anybody. We had a few conversations with the border patrol and they warned us that in the area the illegals only move at night and hide under the oak tress during the day and move as little as possible, its harder to detect them and it is cooler weather. Although we never saw anybody while hunting, we did notice many times there would be 4-5 guys walking down the paved highways all day long walking in the direction of mexico, almost reverse of what you would expect. We asked a local about it and he told it was the illegals that had made it across with whatever they were bringing and they were wanting border patrol to pick them up. He told us there isn't much to the process, they get detained, fed burger king and transported back to the border on a bus. The amount of trash was alarming. A lot of plastic bottles that we assumed carried water, cloths, wrappers, etc. We did encounter a fair number of border patrol agents in vehicles, most of the time they were speeding down the dirt roads in a hurry to get somewhere. We did notice numerous radar towers that were in the middle of nowhere. I had a blimp hone in on me and came fairly close to the ground and follow for a few minutes then floated off. As mentioned somewhere in the thread, I found it strange that all the road side check points seemed to be a long way from the border, approx. 60+ miles or so. Either way, this was one of the funnest hunts I have ever been on. The country is not what I expected at all. Mostly rolling hills with tall grass and oak tress on the north side of all the slopes. Mearns quail is an awesome bird to hunt and from my expieriance hold tighter than any other game bird I have hunted. Numerous times on covey flushes I would have birds hitting my pant legs. I am not saying whether or not a person should go but if you do, be prepared, be aware and always have a buddy but most of all enjoy it.
I hunted from Nogalas to the east about a hundred miles or so in a weeks amount of time. My dogs ran into mexico a couple times as all that separated the border was a run down, 3 string wire fence and the rail road ties that had recently been placed to prevent motor vehicles coming across. When we were down that way, there were a lot of border fence workers, welders, machines etc. that were close to Nogalas. I suspect a lot of the routes were changed due to all the activity on the US side. The further we got from all the activity the more activity/signs of people in the area were present. We never ran into to people while we hunting but found lots of fresh campsites, trash, fresh foot prints, etc. It can kind of get a little un-nerving knowing that the people are probably there watching us. After the first day nobody really wanted to venture off without a partner. We didn't have anything stolen from our vehicles but realized after the first day we needed to leave as much of the valuable stuff we could in town and not temp anybody. We had a few conversations with the border patrol and they warned us that in the area the illegals only move at night and hide under the oak tress during the day and move as little as possible, its harder to detect them and it is cooler weather. Although we never saw anybody while hunting, we did notice many times there would be 4-5 guys walking down the paved highways all day long walking in the direction of mexico, almost reverse of what you would expect. We asked a local about it and he told it was the illegals that had made it across with whatever they were bringing and they were wanting border patrol to pick them up. He told us there isn't much to the process, they get detained, fed burger king and transported back to the border on a bus. The amount of trash was alarming. A lot of plastic bottles that we assumed carried water, cloths, wrappers, etc. We did encounter a fair number of border patrol agents in vehicles, most of the time they were speeding down the dirt roads in a hurry to get somewhere. We did notice numerous radar towers that were in the middle of nowhere. I had a blimp hone in on me and came fairly close to the ground and follow for a few minutes then floated off. As mentioned somewhere in the thread, I found it strange that all the road side check points seemed to be a long way from the border, approx. 60+ miles or so. Either way, this was one of the funnest hunts I have ever been on. The country is not what I expected at all. Mostly rolling hills with tall grass and oak tress on the north side of all the slopes. Mearns quail is an awesome bird to hunt and from my expieriance hold tighter than any other game bird I have hunted. Numerous times on covey flushes I would have birds hitting my pant legs. I am not saying whether or not a person should go but if you do, be prepared, be aware and always have a buddy but most of all enjoy it.
