NMPaul
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Well, some of you knew we had 2 elk hunts this last weekend. My wife won a raffle to the Valle Caldera National Preserve and my niece drew a youth rifle bull tag in my home unit (rifle in the rut hunt).
These hunts were the exact same dates and there was no way I could be on both. I took my wife to the VC and Zach was head outfitter and bottle washer for my Brother and his daughter.
I will give the rundown on my wife's VC hunt first. The VC in my opinion is the best elk hunt there is if you exclude Reservations and if you do not need to have the potential to kill 400" bulls. As I have said many times before, it is the Jurrasic park of elk.
With the Fed Govt. shutdown this hunt almost did not happen. It was done on a shoe string. The orientation on Thurs was cancelled and the scouting day on Friday was limited to the evening after we met to sign paperwork. No units were assigned and we were given the combination to the main gate, but, no access to any of the other staging areas. The other thing is that they had recieved 7" of rain in a 24 hour period and some of the roads were just gone. There was one road in unit 2 that was blown out about 8' deep and 10' wide. To get that road fixed is gonna require a lot of material.
Much of this played into our favor since I have been there a few times and have a good feel for the Preserve.
A couple days before the hunt I got a call from a hunter that I have a lot of respect for from this forum. He had a friend that had patterned a huge bull on the preserve. This friend is a hard core hunter and meeting with him I could tell he knew his business. I was humbled that they had considered us with this awesome opportunity. A typical 7x7 frame with kickers on each side making him an 8x8. This is a legit bull that would be in the 390" range. Basically a bull of a lifetime. We met up the day before the hunt and he gave us the run down on how to hunt him. Basically, there was an ambush point between the feeding and bedding area and we would have to sit tight and wait for him. They had been fired up and bugling before we got there. However, that Friday night the temperatures dropped big time. We sat in the ambush spot the next morning and never heard a bugle or saw an elk. We waited till 9:00. We had hiked in about 1.25 miles an hour before dark and sat waiting. That afternoon we still hunted old logging roads just walking quietly into the wind and looking. We passed on a huge 5x5 that would have gone 320-330"+ and later would regret not having Kim kill that bull. We were about 60 yards from this bull for at least 5 minutes and he did not know we were there. Later that night we passed on a 2 other bulls between 300-320.
It was a cool feeling to know that we had a real chance at a bull pushing that 400" mark. My wife had told me she would rather not kill a bull that was not at least bigger than her last VC bull that was 325" That made it tough.
Next morning again we waited at the ambush spot again. Again no bugles and no animals at all.
That after noon, we still hunted towards a meadow that was about 1200 yards one way and 800 yards across. This meadow was normally accessible, but, now was over 1.5 miles as a crow flies. My wife did not want to hike out in the dark because the terrain, so we made the hour long drive back to the main gate at dusk. We saw several more bulls driving out and 2 more over 300" that were doable shots.
That night we spoke to our new friend and we all decided that the cold weather had broken the pattern and we decided to find some elk that were still bugling. Next morning we got into some bugling bulls. There was one of the raspiest oldest sounding bulls I ever heard, however he had at least 4-5 satellite bulls following him. We could never get in front of him, but, we did get in front of the satellite bulls. We had a 300" 6x6 walk to within about 8' of us as we hid behind a log. Wifey said nope.
From there we went back to the destroyed road that we had seen the big 5x5 hoping to see him again. We hiked into the big meadow, and I convinced my wife to wait there all day and wait for dark to see what came in.
We waited all day. Right at dark on the far side a small bull fed out. Then in another part 2 more. Then right before dark a big bull came out. With the distance I could only see that he was wide, long and heavy. He had a 350" frame for sure. I could not see all of his tines, but, had the feeling that he may have had a broken tine or two. He came out at about 800 yards away. He started to work his way across the meadow towards us. He got to 330 yards when there just was no more shooting light. Max distance on the Muzzle loaders we had was 250 yards. It was a long and discouraging walk in the dark out of there that night.
That night we decided the next morning would be last hunt even though we would have 1.5 more days. I had work problems and Kim wanted to be home before Zach's birthday on Thursday. Yea she was homesick.
Next morning we tried a new area and we found rutting paradise. There were bulls bugling everywhere. I bet there were 10 bulls talking. We found a solid 330+ bull with heavy dark horns raking a tree with his horns and bugling. There was bugle just over the hill that sounded huge, but, the winds were very fickle and we made the call to take the bird in the hand rather than the big one in the bush.
Kim got set up on the bog pod at 130 yards and shot. The smoke cleared and the bull was just walking like nothing happened. I reloaded for her. The bugling never stopped. We sat and waited and I was sure she had missed just by the way the bull acted. We hiked over there. About 20 minutes had gone by. We got over to where we had seen the bull and saw nothing. Then in the burned out trees above us I saw a bull walking away. Not sure if it was her bull or not I told her not to shoot. We went up to where we saw the bull and there was a good trail of blood.
This is the bitter part. We had a good blood trail the first 1/8 mile. It was muscle blood (maybe neck, rump, shoulder??). The next 1/8 mile it was pin pricks of blood on grass or occasional rock. After that we gridded the area with the gps. We spent 4 hours looking and found nothing. There were fresh tracks everywhere.
We decided to stick to our original plan and call the hunt. VC has been very good to us, and neither of us felt good about her shooting another elk. Wife thinks this may be her last hunt. Says she is getting to old to hike hours before daylight and sit in the cold. I hope she changes her mind, but, can live with it either way.
Meanwhile, my son had a great hunt with my bro and niece.
We had several game plans that involved them starting at the top of a mountain and hunting down to either a mountain bike or truck placed strategically to keep them from burning out.
Zach told me about all of the mishaps of the hunt and my side was aching from laughing so much. Your really got to know my bro to appreciate it.
Anyhow, first morning he takes him to a mountain ridge we had scouted the week before. About 1/4 mile in following the ridge they hear bugles below them. Down they go chasing bugles. They lost all their elevation in the one spot Zach did not have a truck or a bike stashed. They ended up on the bottom next to a camp. I guess my brother was turning red he was so mad. Zach should have ran up and got the truck, but, he made my bro and neice hike back up there.
Plan B.
I had Zach and his buddy pack in a couple of walmart tents and several gallons of water and other camping supplies the week before to a spot we like. They loaded Zachs pack with rifle, sleep bags, pads, food, and several plastic water bottles filled with margaritas and frozen. Hey, my bro likes to be comfortable. sign:
They got to the top and put up the tents. That night they glassed up a big 340" bull, but, at 800 yards this bull had seen them and was out of there. No bugles.
He got them going at daylight and within and hour or so they spotted a small bull almost 1000 yards away. Zach started calling and that bull came in on a string. Zach said everytime he screwed up on the cow call my bro would get all red and yell at him. At 350 yards the bull hung up. He was direcly below in the bottom. They got my niece set up on the bog pod and she made a perfect double lung.
Zach went down there and got a couple pics and gutted his first elk all by himself.
He then packed them out, and got ahold of one of his buddies to help him go pack it out. They hiked back in with no water, no string, a couple of my worse knives and a stupid pack for his buddy. They got there and found out they had nothing to secure the hind quarter to his buddies pack. Zack took a hind quarter and a shoulder himself and his buddy had to carry a hind quarter in his arms. :smiley_10sign: When they got to the truck he could not lift his hands past his shoulders. They went back for a second load and hand a better pack, water, and decent knives.
Overall Zach had a blast. he was in charge without me calling the shots. he got it done and my bro later told me on the phone he was blown away how mature and capable Zach was and the great condition he is in. My bro is not ready with the compliments, but, he did not tell me anything I did not know. Zach is an exceptional kid for 15yrs old and nobody I would rather hunt with.
By the way, I know this is lengthy. This exercise of writing it all down, helps me with my memory, because it is scary how quick I forget the details. Blog? Journal?? Don't know, but, it helps me to keep it all in order.
Here are a couple pics.
These hunts were the exact same dates and there was no way I could be on both. I took my wife to the VC and Zach was head outfitter and bottle washer for my Brother and his daughter.
I will give the rundown on my wife's VC hunt first. The VC in my opinion is the best elk hunt there is if you exclude Reservations and if you do not need to have the potential to kill 400" bulls. As I have said many times before, it is the Jurrasic park of elk.
With the Fed Govt. shutdown this hunt almost did not happen. It was done on a shoe string. The orientation on Thurs was cancelled and the scouting day on Friday was limited to the evening after we met to sign paperwork. No units were assigned and we were given the combination to the main gate, but, no access to any of the other staging areas. The other thing is that they had recieved 7" of rain in a 24 hour period and some of the roads were just gone. There was one road in unit 2 that was blown out about 8' deep and 10' wide. To get that road fixed is gonna require a lot of material.
Much of this played into our favor since I have been there a few times and have a good feel for the Preserve.
A couple days before the hunt I got a call from a hunter that I have a lot of respect for from this forum. He had a friend that had patterned a huge bull on the preserve. This friend is a hard core hunter and meeting with him I could tell he knew his business. I was humbled that they had considered us with this awesome opportunity. A typical 7x7 frame with kickers on each side making him an 8x8. This is a legit bull that would be in the 390" range. Basically a bull of a lifetime. We met up the day before the hunt and he gave us the run down on how to hunt him. Basically, there was an ambush point between the feeding and bedding area and we would have to sit tight and wait for him. They had been fired up and bugling before we got there. However, that Friday night the temperatures dropped big time. We sat in the ambush spot the next morning and never heard a bugle or saw an elk. We waited till 9:00. We had hiked in about 1.25 miles an hour before dark and sat waiting. That afternoon we still hunted old logging roads just walking quietly into the wind and looking. We passed on a huge 5x5 that would have gone 320-330"+ and later would regret not having Kim kill that bull. We were about 60 yards from this bull for at least 5 minutes and he did not know we were there. Later that night we passed on a 2 other bulls between 300-320.
It was a cool feeling to know that we had a real chance at a bull pushing that 400" mark. My wife had told me she would rather not kill a bull that was not at least bigger than her last VC bull that was 325" That made it tough.
Next morning again we waited at the ambush spot again. Again no bugles and no animals at all.
That after noon, we still hunted towards a meadow that was about 1200 yards one way and 800 yards across. This meadow was normally accessible, but, now was over 1.5 miles as a crow flies. My wife did not want to hike out in the dark because the terrain, so we made the hour long drive back to the main gate at dusk. We saw several more bulls driving out and 2 more over 300" that were doable shots.
That night we spoke to our new friend and we all decided that the cold weather had broken the pattern and we decided to find some elk that were still bugling. Next morning we got into some bugling bulls. There was one of the raspiest oldest sounding bulls I ever heard, however he had at least 4-5 satellite bulls following him. We could never get in front of him, but, we did get in front of the satellite bulls. We had a 300" 6x6 walk to within about 8' of us as we hid behind a log. Wifey said nope.
From there we went back to the destroyed road that we had seen the big 5x5 hoping to see him again. We hiked into the big meadow, and I convinced my wife to wait there all day and wait for dark to see what came in.
We waited all day. Right at dark on the far side a small bull fed out. Then in another part 2 more. Then right before dark a big bull came out. With the distance I could only see that he was wide, long and heavy. He had a 350" frame for sure. I could not see all of his tines, but, had the feeling that he may have had a broken tine or two. He came out at about 800 yards away. He started to work his way across the meadow towards us. He got to 330 yards when there just was no more shooting light. Max distance on the Muzzle loaders we had was 250 yards. It was a long and discouraging walk in the dark out of there that night.
That night we decided the next morning would be last hunt even though we would have 1.5 more days. I had work problems and Kim wanted to be home before Zach's birthday on Thursday. Yea she was homesick.
Next morning we tried a new area and we found rutting paradise. There were bulls bugling everywhere. I bet there were 10 bulls talking. We found a solid 330+ bull with heavy dark horns raking a tree with his horns and bugling. There was bugle just over the hill that sounded huge, but, the winds were very fickle and we made the call to take the bird in the hand rather than the big one in the bush.
Kim got set up on the bog pod at 130 yards and shot. The smoke cleared and the bull was just walking like nothing happened. I reloaded for her. The bugling never stopped. We sat and waited and I was sure she had missed just by the way the bull acted. We hiked over there. About 20 minutes had gone by. We got over to where we had seen the bull and saw nothing. Then in the burned out trees above us I saw a bull walking away. Not sure if it was her bull or not I told her not to shoot. We went up to where we saw the bull and there was a good trail of blood.
This is the bitter part. We had a good blood trail the first 1/8 mile. It was muscle blood (maybe neck, rump, shoulder??). The next 1/8 mile it was pin pricks of blood on grass or occasional rock. After that we gridded the area with the gps. We spent 4 hours looking and found nothing. There were fresh tracks everywhere.
We decided to stick to our original plan and call the hunt. VC has been very good to us, and neither of us felt good about her shooting another elk. Wife thinks this may be her last hunt. Says she is getting to old to hike hours before daylight and sit in the cold. I hope she changes her mind, but, can live with it either way.
Meanwhile, my son had a great hunt with my bro and niece.
We had several game plans that involved them starting at the top of a mountain and hunting down to either a mountain bike or truck placed strategically to keep them from burning out.
Zach told me about all of the mishaps of the hunt and my side was aching from laughing so much. Your really got to know my bro to appreciate it.
Anyhow, first morning he takes him to a mountain ridge we had scouted the week before. About 1/4 mile in following the ridge they hear bugles below them. Down they go chasing bugles. They lost all their elevation in the one spot Zach did not have a truck or a bike stashed. They ended up on the bottom next to a camp. I guess my brother was turning red he was so mad. Zach should have ran up and got the truck, but, he made my bro and neice hike back up there.
Plan B.
I had Zach and his buddy pack in a couple of walmart tents and several gallons of water and other camping supplies the week before to a spot we like. They loaded Zachs pack with rifle, sleep bags, pads, food, and several plastic water bottles filled with margaritas and frozen. Hey, my bro likes to be comfortable. sign:
They got to the top and put up the tents. That night they glassed up a big 340" bull, but, at 800 yards this bull had seen them and was out of there. No bugles.
He got them going at daylight and within and hour or so they spotted a small bull almost 1000 yards away. Zach started calling and that bull came in on a string. Zach said everytime he screwed up on the cow call my bro would get all red and yell at him. At 350 yards the bull hung up. He was direcly below in the bottom. They got my niece set up on the bog pod and she made a perfect double lung.
Zach went down there and got a couple pics and gutted his first elk all by himself.
He then packed them out, and got ahold of one of his buddies to help him go pack it out. They hiked back in with no water, no string, a couple of my worse knives and a stupid pack for his buddy. They got there and found out they had nothing to secure the hind quarter to his buddies pack. Zack took a hind quarter and a shoulder himself and his buddy had to carry a hind quarter in his arms. :smiley_10sign: When they got to the truck he could not lift his hands past his shoulders. They went back for a second load and hand a better pack, water, and decent knives.
Overall Zach had a blast. he was in charge without me calling the shots. he got it done and my bro later told me on the phone he was blown away how mature and capable Zach was and the great condition he is in. My bro is not ready with the compliments, but, he did not tell me anything I did not know. Zach is an exceptional kid for 15yrs old and nobody I would rather hunt with.
By the way, I know this is lengthy. This exercise of writing it all down, helps me with my memory, because it is scary how quick I forget the details. Blog? Journal?? Don't know, but, it helps me to keep it all in order.
Here are a couple pics.
![[000138].jpg](/xf/data/xfmg/thumbnail/35/35434-a1803197f68634771afc2f218fae8846.jpg?1684979424)
