Unit 24 is the strip between Silver City and Deming that locals call the gateway to the Gila—the northern third is real mountain country bumping into the Gila Wilderness and the Mimbres drainage, and the southern two-thirds flattens out into desert grassland with isolated peaks like the Cookes Range standing up out of the flats. It runs from about 4,300 feet down low to better than 9,000 up north around Tadpole Ridge, so the high end has ponderosa, Gambel oak, and Douglas fir on the cold slopes while the bottom is yucca and brush. NM 15 north of Silver City reaches the top edge and NM 35 swings past Lake Roberts toward Mimbres and Emory Pass, but most of the unit you work off interior dirt that ranges from graded gravel to washed-out two-track. Cell dies fast once you leave the highway corridor, and the Cookes Range in particular is a tough, dry climb that rewards anyone willing to walk a mile off the road and get above the crowd. Honestly this one's a grinder more than a glory unit. It's about 62 percent public—Gila NF up high, BLM and state lower—but the deer density is thin and the lower elevations are mostly empty unless you've got private access, so you're either hiking into the rough northern canyons or learning the Cookes the hard way. The draw here is trophy-class Coues deer for the guy who'll put in the boot leather; elk numbers are low and most of the antelope sit on private. Silver City and Deming bracket the unit for fuel, food, and a bed, and the dirt up north turns slick when it rains or snows in October so a 4WD isnt optional. What sets 24 apart from the Burro country next door in 23 is that its more of a transition unit—half desert, half Gila edge—and it gets pounded harder during rifle and muzzleloader seasons because its an easy drive from town. Bring water, bring patience, and dont expect the deer to be standing in the open.