Unit 52 NM

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outtabreath

Guest
Well, I better just tell my story so I can get on with life. We headed up two days early to scout a bit. My buddies saw a few elk, but I did not see a thing. I have done all the scouting for our group this year. This didn't look too good. Opening morning came and went. My buddy was watching a 5x5 that got dusted at legal shooting minute. My wife ended up being the one that wanted to pack in, so off we went. Of course, a beautiful afternoon ended abruptly with a sudden onslaught of storm clouds and lightning. Our tent was struck earlier this summer, so needless to say, we were a little worried. Atleast the rain was knocking down our scent. Atleast the wind, rain, and thunder were covering any sounds we were making. I was trying to look on the bright side. We made it through the night and I struck out at first light for a point about a 1/4 mile away. I had heard a bull bugling there a day before. Saw nothing. Heard nothing. Walking back to the tent I saw a spike. That was the first elk I had seen. I went up the ridge aways and saw alot of fresh sign, but no elk. When I arrived I found my wife crouched in the trees in front of the tent. After putting down my gun and pack, I realized she was still in the crouch position. Her pants were up though. I asked," what are you doing?". She said, did you see those does and the buck? I asked." Elk or Deer?" She said elk. I said its "cows and bulls", honey. Ok, so now my wife has seen more than I have. The clouds began to gather and we left to the sounds of oncoming thunder. We hiked back to the truck and returned to camp. Noone else had gottten anything either. We got snow that night and I could hardly sleep. All I could think of was how many fresh tracks would be on the ground in the morning. Well, morning came and we set out to cover as much ground as possible. After hours of hiking, none of us had cut a single elk track. I did have two muleys practically run over me, but no elk. We were bewildered. Where are the elk?
You get tired. Frustrated. And then you second guess your gut. That is the really hard part of elk hunting. You know they are there, but you can't get on 'em.
Day 4 ( next to last day)
We get to our spot late, but its really cloudy and snowing a bit, so its still pretty dark. The three of us split up. I set off down the same ravine my wife and I had camped in. I got maybe 1/10th of a mile from the truck when I stopped to glass an open ridge top( later to be nicknamed the KNOB). I thought I saw elk, but looked and decided they were bushes. I walked a little further and the skies cleared just a little bit. I glassed again and this time I saw a little brown and tan. I couldn't make out any details at all. I didn't know if there was a bull there or not, but considering how the previous days had been I decided to give it a shot. The 3/4 mile stalk was on. Down into the ravine, across the open hill on the other side. The wind was perfect, but the snow was damp and was really loud. There was never a place to stop and glass that spot again. I wasn't going to know until the last moment if the elk were even still there. Just as a got close to the open peninsula ( the knob) some mule deer stared coming right at me. Thats when it hit me. There were no elk. It was only deer that I had seen. And they were piling out as I was getting there. My first encounter was with a fawn and a doe. They popped out about ten yards from me. I didn't want them to completely freak out, so I just wiggled my finger at the fawn. Mama didn't seee that, only her fawn hopping off in a different direction. She changed course and followed her. Then a buck came past. He never saw me. Then another buck. He was a bit farther back in the trees and I never got a good look at him. After the deer passed by, I quietly stepped about fifteen more yards. I finally had a view of the knob. Just a partial view, but there at the end was a bull. I side stepped and got my gun rested on a branch. he looked up for a second, but then went back to eating. I didn't see any other elk and he looked like he was on his way out shortly. It was hard to determine the distance, but I guessed a little more than 200 yards. He was quite a bit down hilll from me at this point, so I figured I better aim a little low. I pulled the trigger and that bull just hit the dirt. Now the heart was pumping. I caught a little movement and noticed a huge mule deer buck standing right on top of the ridge. He was probably a hundred yards. He just stood there and looked at me then ran over to where I had hit the bull. The bull had slid about 150 yards down the hill. The muley ran right down there to check it out and then he hopped off. Mule deer are funny creatures. It took us all day to get him out. We were all tired, but thankful for that part of the hunting experience. The next day I returned to the knob to take some pictures and glass. Well, of course, last day and three or four bulls bugling like crazy. Watched twenty cows and a nice bull run through a big meadow. Got alot of that on video. My buddies never connected, but had a great time nontheless. Being in the mountains for awhile will change you. I am thankful for the privelege of hunting. There is nothing quite like it.
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Great job Trey, and a good story to go along with it. Did you get some hunters for the Nebraska ranch? Man I wish I could make it over there this year.

Anyways, sounds like a tough, but fun elk hunt.
 
outtabreath,
Thanks for the story, and great job! sometimes you really got to hang in there and work for "payday". BTW how did you base camp tent/frame setup work out? Sounds like a wall tent with good stove was a welcome home a way from home with the weather you describe.
 
The wall tent and stove worked great. The only hitch was that I cut the poles a little too long. (even though I used the measurements that Montana Canvas gave me ). One of my buddies drove all the way to Taos to get a hacksaw, which took up alot of time, but solved the problem. Those things look huge until you start filling them up with gear, food and hunters. It was really a perfect size ( 16x20). I had a blast. I may have been looking for some good antlers for the first two days, but then I started to think about my empty freezer.
The bull I got was actually pretty neat looking and will fit in the house better than a 6x6 like DonV's. Atleast thats what I keep telling myself! haha.
 
Awesome, funny when your wife said buck and does!

Trey for your camp consider buying a 16x16 pool tarp and stringing a line between trees to hold up the center, then use bungi cords/ropes to hold the edges out - to form a "V" roof. We use a 20x20 - HUGE, takes up a lot of room and not neccessary (to big).

Under this tarp we keep gear, a table, stove (cooking) etc. It is also warn enough when I have been there that cooking/eating outside is not a problem. Never even set my stove up.

My dad bought our 20x20 pool tarp for $60 or so, cheap IMO. They are tough and should last forever unless abused.

I made a table with 3/4" plywood and folding legs(tough to find the legs), sealed the wood so it will last. Also use it with a table cloth during parties. Made it jsut the size to fit between my wheel wells, takes up 2" of room at the bottom of my truck, I also added a lower board that fits into the legs, to hold gear off the ground in case of rain. Again this whole thing is a little heavy but takes up very little room in my truck, table is plenty strong enough to stand on. Nive to have a lot of elevated storage space. I also bought a folding picnic table, occupies about 3'X18"X2", small but has seats etc. Between these 2 and the pool tarp we have a ton of sheltered room to cook, relax, eat and go through gear etc. Tent is just for clothes and sleeping - leave a lot of room, if you do this your tent will have TONS of room for 4 guys, even 5.

Will try to post a pic or email you

Gimmie a call, we gotta talk about some elk apps for next year. Make sure you contact WY to get their regs, they come out in Dec, apps are due end of jan or feb, starting pnts this year so you definetly should apply.

Next year you will get the big one and I will stick some 2x3, you'll see!
 
Pics to big, some on bowsite under my elk hunt pics, under elk main forum, about a week old
 
Schmalts-

Check out muzzy forum. Don V smacked a good one. I have that pic on my frig at home. Sweet bull for 52.
 

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