My 2013 Archery Bull
- Thread starter hunt1
- Start date
cosmic_cowboy
Very Active Member
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- 1,010
Very nice Bull...Great front end and the 3ds are exceptional.Congrats.
Jack
Jack
toklat
Active Member
- Messages
- 561
Great bull. Story line would be nice. Have been wondering about the Muley herd on the Lincoln. Would you know anything about or thoughts on the areas around Ancho, Jack's Peak or Red Cloud regarding Muleys? Thinking if worthwhile to apply for that area next year.
hunt1
Active Member
- Messages
- 353
After 13 long years, I finally drew my preferred resident New Mexico archery elk tag. On top of that it was for the second archery hunt. With high expectations for this tag and the fact I was getting married only a week before the hunt, I was ecstatic. With tag in hand and new wife joining the adventure, we set forth with camper in tow to continue the second part of our honeymoon.
Having the entirety of the hunt (September 13-22) to seek out my bull, I began my quest for my bull in drenching weather. We were soon informed by our local friends that it had been raining non-stop for the previous 3 days and would continue on for the next 5 days. With rain gear in tow, I set out the first day alone as my wife had chosen the warmth of a semi-comfy camper bed. The bulls weren't talking and I found myself back at camp within only a few hours of the drenching rain and uncooperative elk. Being familiar with the unit, I had no doubts I would find a bull, but the rain prevented me from my first choice of camp/hunting location due to the mud and slickness of the roads.
Entering fairly new hunting grounds, I found the elk were talking very little and had to catch them within 30 minutes of the sun rising or sun setting to hear those September bugles. My strategy continued to alter to fight the rain and lack of rut activity. Being from southeastern New Mexico, we hunt sandhill muleys through spot and stock as well as still hunting. Turns out this strategy put me in bulls every day, though I was never presented a shot opportunity despite being within 40 yards of several unsuspecting silent bulls.
I was gracious to the fact my new wife Laura got the opportunity to join me on several hiking trips and close calls. She is working on her Doctorate in Business and was spending a lot of time behind a laptop as I hiked the hills chasing elk. It was September 18 and I wanted to steal her away for another trip up the mountain. On a side note, I typically hunt solo, so when I do have a hunting partner I tend to forget my voice only has one volume (thankfully Laura reminds me of this with a few ?shhhh?s?). It wasn?t long before I started narrating the hunt to her about bulls I'd seen the day before and how this ?still hunting? will result in us finding a bull. Then 5 seconds later we find ourselves busting a 6x6 as he happened to be walking right towards us within 50 yards. On we went to a high vantage point while walking much slower after having busted the bull previously.
We glassed the canyon below and I had spotted a muley buck wandering through the juniper and pinons when Laura says she sees some elk. I'm so proud she beat me to it and it turned out to be about a 300 class bull standing in the canyon below. Before I know it, she says there's another and this one is much bigger. Upon observing the second bull, I could tell he was well over 340 and he was exercising his rack on an unfortunate pinon tree. We shot down into the canyon and got to the area where the bulls had been standing, only to find they were gone and with the sun fading fast we walked out in the dark.
Fast forward to the evening of September 20, I had spent the day chasing bulls that I just couldn't close the distance on and I started to feel the pressure of harvesting an elk. With the encouragement of Laura lighting a fire under me to ?get it done? I set out to tag out whether it be a cow, spike, or whopper!
It was now the eve of the final day of the hunt and I set out with the mindset of getting it done. Unfortunately, the full moon had more than likely kept the elk out eating all night and there was nothing but silence as the sun rose that morning. The sun began to shine and it felt like the temperature might reach into the 70s. After a couple hours of hiking, I sat for a few minutes to rest my eyes and body as the week?s hunt had begun to catch up on me. Upon opening my eyes, I found a fog had rolled in and clouds had completely blocked out the sun. Out of the fog I could faintly hear a bull growl once and figured I had nothing to lose to head after it. Another 30 minutes had past and out of nowhere I hear another growl and realize I have closed the distance to this unseen bull. I trekked through the pinons and juniper that had seemed to provide no more than 40 yards shooting lanes over the last week and to my surprise they began to open up and allow more visibility.
Two growls from a bull had gotten me this far and now if was a different sound. The sound was that of a 15 foot high juniper being thrashed by a bull that was dead set on seeing if he could remove all of its branches. I found myself 80 yards from the bull at this point and knew I had to cut the distance. Getting down to within 60 yards felt like an eternity and with my pack, binoculars, elk calls, and rangefinder working with me in all attempts to remain silent I drew back upon my bow. The release was smooth and I was confident my arrow met its mark, but there is always a little doubt when you don't see the arrow hit. The shot was downhill and the bull flinched before he took a few staggered steps. He began to walk away down to the ravine below him and up to the other side. It was maybe 60 yards that he covered before he disappeared before my eyes.
Find the arrow and confirm the hit is what I thought as I stood on the elk?s tracks before I realized there was a faint blood trail. Ten minutes is all I could stand before I began to trail the bull. I walked step for step on the bull?s tracks and discovered quickly why I had lost sight of the bull. The majestic beast was down where I last saw him. The shot was perfect and found the bull?s heart at 60 yards. I thanked the Lord for my wife, my friends, and for the blessing as I stood over my trophy of my lifetime.
Having the entirety of the hunt (September 13-22) to seek out my bull, I began my quest for my bull in drenching weather. We were soon informed by our local friends that it had been raining non-stop for the previous 3 days and would continue on for the next 5 days. With rain gear in tow, I set out the first day alone as my wife had chosen the warmth of a semi-comfy camper bed. The bulls weren't talking and I found myself back at camp within only a few hours of the drenching rain and uncooperative elk. Being familiar with the unit, I had no doubts I would find a bull, but the rain prevented me from my first choice of camp/hunting location due to the mud and slickness of the roads.
Entering fairly new hunting grounds, I found the elk were talking very little and had to catch them within 30 minutes of the sun rising or sun setting to hear those September bugles. My strategy continued to alter to fight the rain and lack of rut activity. Being from southeastern New Mexico, we hunt sandhill muleys through spot and stock as well as still hunting. Turns out this strategy put me in bulls every day, though I was never presented a shot opportunity despite being within 40 yards of several unsuspecting silent bulls.
I was gracious to the fact my new wife Laura got the opportunity to join me on several hiking trips and close calls. She is working on her Doctorate in Business and was spending a lot of time behind a laptop as I hiked the hills chasing elk. It was September 18 and I wanted to steal her away for another trip up the mountain. On a side note, I typically hunt solo, so when I do have a hunting partner I tend to forget my voice only has one volume (thankfully Laura reminds me of this with a few ?shhhh?s?). It wasn?t long before I started narrating the hunt to her about bulls I'd seen the day before and how this ?still hunting? will result in us finding a bull. Then 5 seconds later we find ourselves busting a 6x6 as he happened to be walking right towards us within 50 yards. On we went to a high vantage point while walking much slower after having busted the bull previously.
We glassed the canyon below and I had spotted a muley buck wandering through the juniper and pinons when Laura says she sees some elk. I'm so proud she beat me to it and it turned out to be about a 300 class bull standing in the canyon below. Before I know it, she says there's another and this one is much bigger. Upon observing the second bull, I could tell he was well over 340 and he was exercising his rack on an unfortunate pinon tree. We shot down into the canyon and got to the area where the bulls had been standing, only to find they were gone and with the sun fading fast we walked out in the dark.
Fast forward to the evening of September 20, I had spent the day chasing bulls that I just couldn't close the distance on and I started to feel the pressure of harvesting an elk. With the encouragement of Laura lighting a fire under me to ?get it done? I set out to tag out whether it be a cow, spike, or whopper!
It was now the eve of the final day of the hunt and I set out with the mindset of getting it done. Unfortunately, the full moon had more than likely kept the elk out eating all night and there was nothing but silence as the sun rose that morning. The sun began to shine and it felt like the temperature might reach into the 70s. After a couple hours of hiking, I sat for a few minutes to rest my eyes and body as the week?s hunt had begun to catch up on me. Upon opening my eyes, I found a fog had rolled in and clouds had completely blocked out the sun. Out of the fog I could faintly hear a bull growl once and figured I had nothing to lose to head after it. Another 30 minutes had past and out of nowhere I hear another growl and realize I have closed the distance to this unseen bull. I trekked through the pinons and juniper that had seemed to provide no more than 40 yards shooting lanes over the last week and to my surprise they began to open up and allow more visibility.
Two growls from a bull had gotten me this far and now if was a different sound. The sound was that of a 15 foot high juniper being thrashed by a bull that was dead set on seeing if he could remove all of its branches. I found myself 80 yards from the bull at this point and knew I had to cut the distance. Getting down to within 60 yards felt like an eternity and with my pack, binoculars, elk calls, and rangefinder working with me in all attempts to remain silent I drew back upon my bow. The release was smooth and I was confident my arrow met its mark, but there is always a little doubt when you don't see the arrow hit. The shot was downhill and the bull flinched before he took a few staggered steps. He began to walk away down to the ravine below him and up to the other side. It was maybe 60 yards that he covered before he disappeared before my eyes.
Find the arrow and confirm the hit is what I thought as I stood on the elk?s tracks before I realized there was a faint blood trail. Ten minutes is all I could stand before I began to trail the bull. I walked step for step on the bull?s tracks and discovered quickly why I had lost sight of the bull. The majestic beast was down where I last saw him. The shot was perfect and found the bull?s heart at 60 yards. I thanked the Lord for my wife, my friends, and for the blessing as I stood over my trophy of my lifetime.
tailgunner
Active Member
- Messages
- 486
That's a dandy . Congrats
BurnHunter
Member
- Messages
- 81
Great bull. Nice to see a big bull come from the part of the state I'm in.
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