Northern New Mexico Elk Hunt

[littlemac]

I have hunted in New Mexico since the 2003 season and have only missed two years in the last 11 years, one year couldn't get a tag and the other due to a felony theft at my business which I became aware of two days before my hunt travel day that caused me to burn my tag.

The two years since then have been great though since I have been able to hunt with my son in 2013 and this year with my brother, hunts in which we put four elk on the ground.  I should mention that in 2012 when I missed out my son and brother hunted and both got their elk as well.

The final hunt prep was left to the day prior to our travel with a stop at The Plantation range in Whatcom county, really only needed to confirm our Weatherby 300's were still zero at 300yds.  All good there and we were set.

Our first morning out we met up with our guide and another hunter from South Dakota, he mostly hunted archery and took an elk a couple of years back in the neighboring GMU.  Good guy and as we would find a great guy to have in camp.

The weather was changing from light rain the past two days and now the wind was down and the sun out, around high 20's when we leave camp around 6:00.  Shooting light at 6:30, sunrise at 7:00.

My brother split off to cruise the woods from the top, 10,000 foot level and working down the mountain to meet up late morning.  I worked the bench on top and then circled down from the east where I'd meet up with him.  Our guide took Dakota and stayed up on the bench and worked toward a 350,000 acre area that neighbors our GMU separated by a four wire fence.  Great, weather great camp, great hike......no elk.  Not a peep, not even the chipmunks were talking.  Oh well, met my brother and talked over our hikes.

When we met up with Dakota he had that look of ah crap.  We don't get much other than it was a 340-360 class bull raking a fir through some small trees 60 yds, with only small windows to shoot.

Later from the guide, Striker, we learn they saw the rack and the golden fir of the mid body to hind quarter but couldn't get a shoulder as it faced them raking like mad obscured by tree branches until he left, offering only a shot from the rear, for 50 to 75 yards.  Possibly a bull of a lifetime and Dakota hadn't taken a rest or had his scope on him but for two quick looks and then just watching with his rifle down at his waist.  Hunters choice, but Striker was clearly not pleased having felt opportunity lost.

Back to camp for lunch and a snooze before the afternoon. 

We set out in the afternoon and found high wind and tough hunting in the afternoon, at least some coyotes got something as they yelped up a storm for 30 minutes or so, the sun set on our first day and having come from sea level and hunting from 8 to 11,000 feet, we found our nights sleep very welcome.  Day one down.

[CoryTDF]

and then.......................??

[littlemac]

Day two we arose to wind and again headed out by 6:00.  The rain had at least left soft, quiet conditions for stalking but with the wind up and not a single bugle for day one, it's beginning to look like a repeat.  Great weather, 25 degrees at daybreak and four hours in the mountains, life is good.  If only for a mew or whistle.

Back in camp we shoot the breeze and plan our afternoon.

I worked the high bench and my brother set up on a small levy that controls the spring runoff leving a great meadow of grass we know the elk like to feed in in the late day.

Dakota has found laid claim the past two sessions on a meadow area that we usually hunt once and leave for a session or two.

Dakota and I strike out without seeing or hearing a thing as the wind is still up and nothing seems to be moving.

Late in the day, 10 minutes before legal shooting time a cow snaps a twig and stops 25 feet behind my brother in the woods.  A minute or two later she walks parallel to him up the hill.  He has a view of her as she works to come along side and slide into the meadow with the wind swirling, she's followed by a yearling calf and he sees the light gold of a third elk in the dense trees following both of the cows.

Busted, she winds him, wheels and in the snap of your fingers their gone.  He never saw the third elk to know for sure it was a bull.  Day two closes with some concern we aren't seeing more elk, their just hold up somewhere deep and dark.

[Bean Counter]

I'll subscribe to this one   

[littlemac]

Again the weather has changed as we rise to frost on the ground and a bluebird day.  The wind is down and the sun will rise shortly as we head out.  We make our way in our truck to glass a low area that is closed to hunting.  At daybreak we see two groups of elk, one with a couple of decent Bulls and 10 cows, the Bulls are moving the cows around a bit and occasionally bugling.  But the larger herd we looked for isn't around.  As we head back to the top we see another group with three Bulls and 40 or so cows and they are heading out of the lowland back up the mountain.

Felling good the elk haven't totally gone dark we scramble back up to near camp and head out.

Dakota won't give up on what he thinks to be his honey hole and my brother and I head to the east bench.

Striker and I decide to go east and work up the fence and then west along the bench.  My brother heads down the mountain as I did day one.

Shortly later I hear my first bugle of the hunt, session five looks promising even though the bull and now a second are far off to the east, it's 8:15 and the fun has begun. We work our way back into fairly thick woods on the shadow side of the bench toward the fence.  We've thrown a few cow calls and seemingly are getting response from two Bulls who are back and forth among themselves as well and working closer.  We get to an area with some decent shooting lanes and begin aggressively cow calling, throwing in a bugle or two after five to ten minutes of calling, getting good response from the approaching bulls the entire time.

We know we don't stand a chance if we can't call them to our GMU and we've been on them for 30 minutes now.  The wind has been perfect and as the Bulls approach we work back from the fence and try to keep a slight breeze from blowing our stalk.  The elk are now sounding off to our left and damn close to our area, if not already over the fence.  We hold our position with the bugles now withing a few hundred yards at best guess.

We let him get past us to keep the wind and when they sound off again to our right and out in front of us we move.  Sea level lungs sucking what little air they can find at 10,500 I work hard to stay with a nearly now sprinting Striker.  We whoa up in a small clearing feeling we have closed the distance and must be on top of them.  Just then the squeakier bull lights up withing 50 yards. 

Uh oh, busted, a cow saunters into view, we stand as still as a 100 foot pine as she slowly passes followed closely by a second outlying cow, safe we thought.  The first cow now out of sight runs back, nose in the air, stops....the second cow nearly piles into her arse and of they go back east, slowly. Crap, the bigger sounding bull heads west bugling his head off unaware of the events in front of us and just then a bull shows me his head behind the cows.

He stops in front of us it the brush, 50 yards and a shooting window the size of a bathroom window.  At least a six by and the only elk I've seen in 5 sessions.  It only takes seconds to decide I have a good bull and a solid neck shot with the 300.  Breath, hold,squeeze. The bull drops like a sack of taters, doesn't even take a step.  Elk down, sweet, now the work begins.

[littlemac]

We're about a mile from where we can get the truck to and fortunately Dakota has a 4 wheeler we can get.  With some logging and a bit of luck we might get the 4 wheeler in to drag the elk out.  I rally up my brother and after allowing time for Dakota to finish his morning sessions we get back to the camp, truck, chainsaw, and the four of us we head back to get my elk.

The elk is cooling well as the temp is in the 50's and he's been down since 9:10, now around 10:30.  We head back down a very old logging road over grown with Christmas size trees and the occasional windfall of 25-35 inch trees, three of which we need to section to get the 4 wheeler back to.

All the logging done we strap in the elk and head out.

We're in camp, skinned out and having lunch by 1:00.  Life is good!  Dakota and my brother hadn't seen or heard a thing.

[cooltimber]

 

[jackelope]

Keep it coming!!!!

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2

[littlemac]

Striker, Dakota and my brother are heading out with me in tow for the afternoon of day three.  The darn wind is up and we are starting to hear some whining about where we are setting up for the evening, nothing more than concern with the wind and still shortage of what has been normal in past years seeing elk virtually each session.

I'm spotting an good area from a half mile away, Dakota is set up on part of it and my brother is back at the levy.

The sun sets on day three with only Dakota's spotting three elk that he can't be sure held a bull or not.

Day four opens with 23 degree temps and frost again.  All four of us are going to check the area Dakota saw the three elk, working some area on the way to where we think we may spot some.  We get to a few hundred yards and Striker and I stay back as the two guns work out to view the lane ahead of us with a steep down hill grade.  Striker is going on about something, occasionally revisiting the monster they lost (in his opinion) the first day.  As he rambles on one of the guns explodes sending a 180 Nosler down the hill to its target some 500 plus yards down range. 

We break into a sprint toward the hunters. Wham reports the 300 again which only hastens our pace, a third, what will we find?  Dakota stands there in amazement as my brother had dropped a bull from a sitting rest at over 500 yards.  When we finally get to the 5x5 bull that honestly looked like a prairie dog to us from the hilltop, and my brother described cranking the Leupold to 8X and seeing the entire bull facing up hill in the scope head slightly to the right he had held roughly on the head to get a frontal shot and the elk being very small as he placed the crosshairs and squeezed.

The first round had broken his back just behind his shoulders as he dropped his head to feed just as the 300 broke the silence of the morning.  Paralyzed in the hind quarters he dropped on his butt and allowed a clean kill shot.

My brother and I made our way to the elk as Striker and Dakota made it back to camp to get the truck.  An hour later Striker and us two had him dressed out and in the truck, while Dakota hunted a draw the need at the levy.

[littlemac]

As my brother dropped his elk at 6:50, we have him down where we skinned mine and hung it the day before.  We go to work and are all done by 9:30 or so.  Striker collects Dakota who relates his great morning in the draw and how he looks forward to the afternoon hunt.

Striker, my brother and I bemoan the fact we will miss our catnap as we head out on a 3 hour trip to the processor to get the elk in the cooler as temps are running near 70 in the afternoons.

Back to camp to drop Striker off for the afternoon with Dakota, we stay and enjoy the spoils of our hunt.

We have a great dinner and hear about Dakota and the cows he was in but no bull sightings up on the bench near where we had left the big bull two days prior.  We changed our Alaska flight back to Seattle from Albuquerque and said our good byes to Striker and thanked Dakota for being a great camp partner for our hunt. 

Day five now and on our way to ABQ.  No word on Dakota's morning yet.

Thanks to all who read this. Wordy as I am.

Pic one below is bro left me right

Pic two with Striker

Pic three my bro and Striker

[littlemac]

As we left to drive to ABQ we got in touch with Striker he and Dakota worked back to camp.  They had returned to the draw above the levy can and got a look at a 6x6 and a few cows.  Good odds it was the bunch my brother had seen.

Not able to get a shot but backed out and plan to head back there for Dakota's final hours of hunting.

They should be out as I write this on our flight to SEA-TAC.

Good times, already can't wait for next year, good memories.

[elkoholic1]

 

[10Key]

Great narrative Rog!

[littlemac]

Thanks, I was going to send you a link, but thought you might find it.  Great hunt and time with little bro.

[jackelope]

Good stuff Roger. Always look forward to this annual thread.