Unit 23

The summit peaks—Canador Peak, Winchester Peak, and High Lonesome Peak—provide excellent glassing platforms and navigation anchors visible across the flats. The San Francisco Mountains and Big Burro Mountains define the western landscape and hold the most reliable timber. Lordsburg Mesa and the Potholes Country to the north offer visual reference points.

Major drainages like Mule Creek, Kemp Creek, and the West Fork Pueblo Creek are critical navigation corridors and water sources. Snare Mesa and Lightning Mesa serve as secondary landmarks. Named springs including Grapevine, Tennessee, and Cottonwood offer reliable water locations that concentrate game.

Elevations swing from desert basins near 3,700 feet to high summits approaching 9,000 feet, creating distinct habitat zones compressed into small geographic areas. Low basins support sparse desert scrub—creosote, yucca, and short grass—while benches and mesas at mid-elevation transition to juniper and scattered ponderosa. The highest ridges and ranges like the San Francisco and Burro Mountains offer denser forest where elevation permits.

Most of the unit sits in open country with brush and grass, but pockets of respectable timber occur on the north-facing slopes and ridgetops. Water availability drives habitat quality; where springs and tanks exist, vegetation responds noticeably.

Over 2,000 miles of road provide fair access throughout the unit, but most are rough dirt tracks requiring high-clearance vehicles or patient driving. US 180 and US 70 corridor traffic is predictable; most hunters access from Deming or established ranch roads. Road density is deceptive—while total mileage is significant, many routes are lightly used and go far from paved roads.

The combination of terrain complexity and limited water means pressure concentrates near known tanks and lower-elevation flats accessible by regular vehicles. Hunters willing to hike beyond road-heads into canyons and ridges find solitude. Fall hunting season brings increased activity, particularly for javelina and deer in accessible terrain.

Unit 23 is bounded by the New Mexico-Arizona state line to the west and south, with US 180 and US 70 forming the eastern and northern perimeter near Deming. The unit encompasses roughly 2,000 square miles of transition country between the bootheel and the San Francisco Mountains. Several small communities—Redrock, Whitewater, Gage, and others—sit on the periphery.

The area straddles the divide between Chihuahuan desert scrubland and the cooler mountain zones, with dramatic elevation changes concentrated in isolated ranges rather than continuous ridges. This is working ranch country interspersed with public land, characteristic of southwestern New Mexico.

Water is limited and requires hunting near known sources or developed tanks. Major perennial streams include Mule Creek and segments of Ash Creek and Pueblo Creek drainages, though flow is seasonal and unreliable in many reaches. Developed tanks—Freestone, Bull Run, Bisquit, Jones, and Bell Park—dot the basins and are critical for finding game, especially in early season when cattle congregate there.

Natural springs scattered across higher country (Park, Grapevine, Tennessee, Devil, Thanksgiving) provide backcountry water but require current knowledge of their status. Hunters must plan around water; dry camps are possible but limits flexibility. Howard Cienega and other cienegas mark springs areas worth investigating.

Unit 23 holds elk in high country (San Francisco and Burro Mountains), mule and white-tailed deer throughout, pronghorn in open basins, desert bighorn sheep on the rough mesas and peaks, and javelina in scattered brush country. Exotics including oryx and ibex also inhabit portions of the unit. Hunters should plan water-based strategy in this arid country—locate known tanks and springs, glass from high mesas at dawn and dusk, and hunt the transition zones where water and food meet.

Fall brings elk down from the peaks; work canyon drainages during rut. Deer respond to pinyon-juniper interface and canyon bottoms. Pronghorn hunt requires open-country glassing and long stalks.

Early season emphasizes high country; late season pushes game toward water and lower elevations. Scout thoroughly before season—knowing which tanks hold water is half the battle.