>I'm wondering what happened on this
>hunt? Some helpful & really
>good info up above.
>Would like to hear from
>you.
Well, this is a strange story. I'll start off by saying I did not tag an elk. On the way to the area, the trailer I was towing to haul the two quads we had, blew a tire near reserve at about 2AM. We stayed the night at a nearby camping area and were able to get and close matching sized tire for the trailer in Reserve.
At the start of the hunt, I saw a couple groups of bulls and cows the 1st day of the hunt, but they were about 1500 yards or further. Pushing them were several small groups of hunters that seemed to total about 7 or 8 hunters. My group decided there would be no way we could get into the elk they were chasing, before they got to them, so we went a different way. That's where the hunt basically ended. We finished off the day walking about 10 miles and never again seeing elk.
On day two, two guys from the group decided to take their quads to the insertion point we used the first day. The idea was the same, they'd take the quads, and myself and another friend would drive the Jeep Cherokee. Once near the insertion point, we used the quads to escorts us up the mountain then continue on foot. That plan worked well day one, but day two took a drastic turn. On the way to the insertion area, one of the quads caught fire. It was towed to the insertion point by the other quads while we followed laughing. Once at the insertion area, the guy with the quad that caught fire was escorted up the mountain by the other guy with the working quad. The quad returned and picked me up and dropped me off successfully. On the way back down the mountain to get the last man, the battery fell out of the battery area and sheared off the terminals. We proceeded to use paracord to magically tie the terminals down enough to have decent contact and about 30 minutes later, off goes the quad. Roughly 15 minutes after that we observed the Jeep rock climbing up the mountain as the quad had died again and the battery from the other quad was a different size and would not swap out.
So with everyone up the mountain, we proceeded to walk yet another 10 miles without success. Upon day's end, we return to camp and get my truck with the trailer for the quads. As we are about 1/2 to the quads, my rear driver's side tire blew out. A quick spare swap and away we went. We got to the quads and the guy with the fiery quad decided to start the quad and try to load it before it could get too hot and burst into flames again except that would be too easy. No, instead the quad caught fire again and proceeded to start a small grass fire. Luckily, I had not yet unloaded a 5-gallon water jug from the truck and I was able to use that to put out the grass fire and the quad. So after a few tense moments both quads were eventually loaded and we were on our way back to camp (about 10 miles away). As luck would have it, my rear passenger side tire blew out as well. This time I had no spare left. I hobbled it back to camp and ruined my rim.
Day 3, myself and the Jeep owner drove 4 hours to Socorro in search of two used tires for my truck and 2 new trailer tires. After searching 3 different tire shops we finally got the tires we needed and burned the rest of the day driving another 4 hours back to camp.
Day 4, we walked about 12 miles (total) down along a small river and we felt really good about it. We even located some blinds that were likely built and used for bow hunting. We saw, and heard NOTHING! Tired and defeated we climbed what felt like Mt Everest and got on to a trail that would take us back to the Jeep. Out of energy, out of water, and out of motivation, we wondered with our heads drooping down and little desire to continue to hunt. As luck would have it, I led us to within 200 yards of 4 elk. By the time and caught the scent and looked up, I saw all for asses galloping away. I'm not even sure if there was a bull among them, but I'd be willing to bet there was.
So I looked at my hunting partner who looked back at me with complete disappointment and asked him if he wanted to pursue them. He just shook his head and we continued to the Jeep.
We spent the rest of the evening and night drinking our sorrows away. We didn't even hunt day 5, as even my travel trailer was done and the battery was dead and the generator was out of gas.
A terribly wonderful and fun hunt that yielded only stories of terrible luck.