Q
QUALITYHUNTCONSULTANTS
Guest
..."GOD IN THE GILA"............ Back in 1995 I was fortunate enough to draw an archery elk tag in the Gila forest near Reserve New Mexico. 16A This is one of the best trophy areas for elk in the world. The chance of drawing the tag is like 2%. So I was very fortunate. I tryed to persuade my grandfather ( Valton Bearfield) to come along for the fun. He had been my hunting mentor since I was big enough to hold a gun. But he was complaining of old age and health issues. I took him to the doctor to have him checked out and the doc. said he was in good shape for all the abuse he had put himself thru,( Camel no filters and cheap beer!) but he still would not go. So I ended up going without him. The season was 16 days long and I was there 18 days, and lost 22 pounds. I would leave camp every day one hour before daylight on foot with only a fanny pack, and chase bugleing elk all day long. The first day I saw the biggest bull I have ever seen till then and ever since! A huge monster with a drop horn the size of your arm that would of made me famous in the hunting industry! Probably scored 420+ !!! So I would not settle for anything less than that bull. It was crazy! Big bulls running everywhere screaming in rut everyday, all day long. I was as pure inside as could be after 5 days of this running and climbing all day everyday. no alcohol, ciggerettes or nothing. Just high on life and the nature around me. On the morning of the sixth day I approched a beautiful meadow right at day light and set down on the edge of the timber watching the sun come up into the valley. Out in the middle of the meadow was a small brook, water babbling thru it and a really cool fog or steam coming off of it! The most sureal scene you could imagine. As the daylight came on I could hear a bull on the other side of the meadow coming down off the mountian. As he came across the meadow towards me he would bugle and just make the hair stand up on my neck as his piercing scream echoed thru the canyon. He probably scored 350. He came straight at me from across the brook. Everytime he would bugle I could see the steam shoot out of his mouth into the foggy thick air. I was stunded to say the least. What a majestic monarch of the woods in the most beautiful setting I had ever seen. He stepped right up to the edge of the stream not 30 yards from me, Looked me strait in the eye and let out the most bone chilling bugle I had ever heard. Then slowly turned away and walk back into the timber. I set there shaking all over and begain to shake and cry for no appparent reason. I ended up on my side just balling like a baby. After I gathered myself, it dawned on me that I had never even concidered shooting this beast from God. He was only 30 yards away and would of been an easy shot, but it never even crossed my mind! ( im crying now by the way...again!) So anyway long story short I continued to hunt for the big 450 bull. I had saw on the first day, and did see him several more times but never got a shot at him and went home empty handed, but proud of not settleing on something less and sticking to my commitment to shoot the big one. After the long drive back home I was eager to share my stories with my granddad but instead was slammed to find out that my grandfather had laid down on the floor of the ranch house and took his own life with a shot to the head, on the exact same day his wife had died 15 years before, and on the same morning at the exact same time that the big bull bugled at me from across that meadow........ So it dawned on me that I HAD SAW GOD IN THE GILA THAT DAY! he came and said "Thanks for spending quailty hunting time with me" and then said "GOODBY".......... valton stewart
