N
NeverStopHuntin
Guest
LAST EDITED ON Oct-21-08 AT 11:25PM (MST)[p]This hunt started for me around eleven o clock one night when my friend luke called to inform me that he had drawn a great elk tag in new mexico. Since i am hunting something every chance i get, i was pretty excited at the opportunity to tag along.
Luke, Luke's dad Sam and I left central utah early saturday morning seven days before the hunt started. We wanted to get some good scouting in and hopefully locate a trophy bull. Due to some unforseen problems it took us nearly 15 hours to reach our destination. We pulled into soccorro and met up with Chet, a friend of luke. Being a local and knowing the area very well Chet was a huge asset and we really appreciated his help.
Sunday morning we woke up to rain and fog. .
We headed out with Chet to look at the unit and try and get a feel for where we wanted to hunt. We hiked up some good canyons, got soaking wet and seen six cows with one spike. When we were headed back out we ran across a camp that had a really nice 6x7 that a youth hunter had taken. It was encouraging to see such a great bull and it made it even better that a fifteen year old kid was lucky enough to take it.
We then went and met up with Daniel. Daniel is one of Chet's friends and both of his sons had drawn youth tags for the unit. We decided to spend the evening trying to help the youth hunters connect on a bull. Right away we spotted a decent six point.
We hurried and moved into position. He was able to get ten yards from the bull but due to the thick trees he didn't have a shot. The wind shifted and off they went.
Monday morning both of the youth hunters were able to get on elk but due to a little buck fever and some less then perfect shooting they weren't able to take home an elk.
That afternoon we finished setting up our camp and decided to go check out the high country. .
Tuesday Morning me and Luke hiked up a fenceline into the wilderness area that Chet had told us about. As we were making our way up towards the peak we spotted some small grey dots in the early morning glow. They were a ways away but i think they were coues deer. We hiked into a saddle and glassed the north facing hillside. We spotted five cows and as we were moving to get a different angle i thought for a second i could see antlers sneaking through the trees but he never came into view.
Tuesday evening I hiked into an area where Daniel and his boys had seen a decent bull during the youth hunt and luke hiked into an area where we had heard a few bugles sunday evening. I glassed until dark and as it started to get dark a small five point came into view. When i met up with luke he had seen a few quail and no elk.
Although we weren't seeing the elk we had hoped for we were also hunting bears. I can't even believe all the bear sign we seen.
Wednesday morning we hiked back up the fenceline further into the wilderness area. We were lucky enough to spot a small five point with a group of cows. Although he was definately not the bull we were after we were in hopes that a bigger bull might come and take the cows. Then we hiked into a small hidden spring that Chet had told us about. Although we didn't see any elk we jumped a giant muley buck!
Wednesday evening we met up with Chet and his son in law cole and scouted a different mountain range. We got up high to glass. The country is beautiful but we didn't spot an elk all evening.
Thursday morning we headed to a new area to look at some different country. We found a bunch of bear sign, some elk sign but no elk. We found a really neat cabin and windmill. The water hole next to the cabin was loaded with small toads.
Thursday evening we went over to the other mountain range. The three of us sat different areas hoping to cover as much country as possible and hopefully get a shooter bull spotted. I had been glassing for a few hours when i noticed a dark spot moving. I could tell it was a bear so i hurried and moved the scope onto it. Since it was on top of a rockslide at about 9000 feet i was content just watching it even though i was really hoping we could connect on a bear. Unfortunately i wasn't able to spot a single elk in that canyon but i was lucky enough to photograph several antelope.
I was hoping that luke or sam had spotted something. I met up with sam and he had only seen a couple muleys. We drove down the road a ways to where we were supposed to meet Luke. He wasn't there so we waited a few minutes. It was well past dark and i noticed a small light flashing way up on the ridge Luke had hiked up to glass. He was a long ways away but i could barely hear him yell find this road. Panic instanly set in as me and sam franticly tried to locate the old mining road he was standing on. After several dead ends we were finally on the right road. We were fearing the worst that maybe he had broken his leg or been bitten by one of the many snakes in the area. We finally reached him and he appeared to be fine. He got in the truck and told us that he had accidently walked right into a rattlesnake denning area and after seeing ten snakes and one near miss he wisely decided to not continue hiking. He had seen a shooter bull but we put the bull on the back burner until the weather cooled hopefully pushing the snakes into their den.
Friday morning. It was down to the last day of scouting so we went to a promising area to glass. We spotted six bulls and no cows. The rut was very odd. We hadn't heard many bugles several of the bulls we were seeing were in bachelor groups and a few of the groups of cows didn't have any bulls.
That evening we glassed different areas. I spotted 5 small bulls and luke seen a big five point pushing close to 20 cows. Although he was acting rutty he refused to bugle.
Sam had been talking to an outfitter who had just seen a giant bear. He said it looked like a volkswagon with hair. So the quest for the VW bear began and sam was bound and determined to get the giant bear.
Saturday morning. Opening day. .
Luke, Luke's dad Sam and I left central utah early saturday morning seven days before the hunt started. We wanted to get some good scouting in and hopefully locate a trophy bull. Due to some unforseen problems it took us nearly 15 hours to reach our destination. We pulled into soccorro and met up with Chet, a friend of luke. Being a local and knowing the area very well Chet was a huge asset and we really appreciated his help.
Sunday morning we woke up to rain and fog. .
We headed out with Chet to look at the unit and try and get a feel for where we wanted to hunt. We hiked up some good canyons, got soaking wet and seen six cows with one spike. When we were headed back out we ran across a camp that had a really nice 6x7 that a youth hunter had taken. It was encouraging to see such a great bull and it made it even better that a fifteen year old kid was lucky enough to take it.
We then went and met up with Daniel. Daniel is one of Chet's friends and both of his sons had drawn youth tags for the unit. We decided to spend the evening trying to help the youth hunters connect on a bull. Right away we spotted a decent six point.
We hurried and moved into position. He was able to get ten yards from the bull but due to the thick trees he didn't have a shot. The wind shifted and off they went.
Monday morning both of the youth hunters were able to get on elk but due to a little buck fever and some less then perfect shooting they weren't able to take home an elk.
That afternoon we finished setting up our camp and decided to go check out the high country. .
Tuesday Morning me and Luke hiked up a fenceline into the wilderness area that Chet had told us about. As we were making our way up towards the peak we spotted some small grey dots in the early morning glow. They were a ways away but i think they were coues deer. We hiked into a saddle and glassed the north facing hillside. We spotted five cows and as we were moving to get a different angle i thought for a second i could see antlers sneaking through the trees but he never came into view.
Tuesday evening I hiked into an area where Daniel and his boys had seen a decent bull during the youth hunt and luke hiked into an area where we had heard a few bugles sunday evening. I glassed until dark and as it started to get dark a small five point came into view. When i met up with luke he had seen a few quail and no elk.
Although we weren't seeing the elk we had hoped for we were also hunting bears. I can't even believe all the bear sign we seen.
Wednesday morning we hiked back up the fenceline further into the wilderness area. We were lucky enough to spot a small five point with a group of cows. Although he was definately not the bull we were after we were in hopes that a bigger bull might come and take the cows. Then we hiked into a small hidden spring that Chet had told us about. Although we didn't see any elk we jumped a giant muley buck!
Wednesday evening we met up with Chet and his son in law cole and scouted a different mountain range. We got up high to glass. The country is beautiful but we didn't spot an elk all evening.
Thursday morning we headed to a new area to look at some different country. We found a bunch of bear sign, some elk sign but no elk. We found a really neat cabin and windmill. The water hole next to the cabin was loaded with small toads.
Thursday evening we went over to the other mountain range. The three of us sat different areas hoping to cover as much country as possible and hopefully get a shooter bull spotted. I had been glassing for a few hours when i noticed a dark spot moving. I could tell it was a bear so i hurried and moved the scope onto it. Since it was on top of a rockslide at about 9000 feet i was content just watching it even though i was really hoping we could connect on a bear. Unfortunately i wasn't able to spot a single elk in that canyon but i was lucky enough to photograph several antelope.
I was hoping that luke or sam had spotted something. I met up with sam and he had only seen a couple muleys. We drove down the road a ways to where we were supposed to meet Luke. He wasn't there so we waited a few minutes. It was well past dark and i noticed a small light flashing way up on the ridge Luke had hiked up to glass. He was a long ways away but i could barely hear him yell find this road. Panic instanly set in as me and sam franticly tried to locate the old mining road he was standing on. After several dead ends we were finally on the right road. We were fearing the worst that maybe he had broken his leg or been bitten by one of the many snakes in the area. We finally reached him and he appeared to be fine. He got in the truck and told us that he had accidently walked right into a rattlesnake denning area and after seeing ten snakes and one near miss he wisely decided to not continue hiking. He had seen a shooter bull but we put the bull on the back burner until the weather cooled hopefully pushing the snakes into their den.
Friday morning. It was down to the last day of scouting so we went to a promising area to glass. We spotted six bulls and no cows. The rut was very odd. We hadn't heard many bugles several of the bulls we were seeing were in bachelor groups and a few of the groups of cows didn't have any bulls.
That evening we glassed different areas. I spotted 5 small bulls and luke seen a big five point pushing close to 20 cows. Although he was acting rutty he refused to bugle.
Sam had been talking to an outfitter who had just seen a giant bear. He said it looked like a volkswagon with hair. So the quest for the VW bear began and sam was bound and determined to get the giant bear.
Saturday morning. Opening day. .
