Sorry, but this is long...
For those of you who have been around the NM forum for a while, you might remember that my moniker "luckless" has been reenforced more than once. My first elk hunt (back in 2008 w/ smokepole) went a bit different, though. I was able to get a second "shot" after my muzzleloader primer hang-fired (dull pop without boom is not what one wants to hear having just walked up on a 300" 6x7 bull in dark timber. Back then, I was able to re-prime (with a dry, non-rained on 209) and drop the bull in his tracks. This year, not so much!
I drew archery deer and ES elk tags this year and flew home to NM from Italy with my family of 6 in order to attend my sister-in-law's wedding and my hunts. My buddy Jerry (Pray2Hunt), the most equipped and prepared individual I have ever met, agreed to accompany me up to my cabin (hunting shack) by Sacramento. He had everything we needed that was not already up there, so I owe him many thanks.
Upon arrival (after dark on opening day) we set up a plan for my first hunting day the next morning. We would spend it up on top of the adjacent ridge, waiting out a large heard. The plan worked after 10 hours of waiting on one point. The heard fed in within 40 yards of us. I almost went ahead and dropped a fat cow, but decided to wait for the heard bull to appear. He never did.
Day 2 of the hunt was more of the waiting game (although on top of a different ridge), but without the elk.
Day 3 of the hunt greeted us with drizzling rain and thick fog. Unlike many hunters, I L-O-V-E rain. It like to still hunt and cover ground, so the rain allows me to maneuver more stealthily than dry conditions. After two days of sitting on my hind-end, I needed to stretch my legs. We hiked to the top of the same nasty ridge from Day 1. We put ourselves in a few great glassing positions, but the fog rendered that skill useless. I was loving it, so we just kept covering more ground. Jerry found a nice six-point shed in a wonderful meadow we were not previously privy to (tucked away with a bottleneck entrance), so we decided to shed-hunt for a while since the animals seemed to be nowhere to be found. When we reached the top of the adjoining ridge I found a bedding area I named "Hotel" in my GPS. We decided that there just might be some hunting-worthy time left in the day. Looking at the GPS, I saw that we were on the point next to the highest point within miles. I decided we should hunt to the highest peak just to see what it looked like. As we arrived, I was thinking in my head "I should kill a bull from up here and name him High Mountain"... just then, there he was. I went to a knee and said "BULL!". Jerry, who was following me, but admiring the third lightning-struck tree on what we later deemed to be "Lightning Ridge" dropped in behind my kneeling position. We could se the bull was only a 5x5, but he was tall and far higher than my minimum standards. I could see a bigger bull behind him, but didn't have a shot on him, so I decided to draw and hold for a 50-yard, slightly downhill angled shot while his head was turned behind a tree. My mental pattern that followed went something like this: Release on string loop, finger behind trigger, commense draw... schwack... stars... pain... face on ground... taste of blood... did I just prematurely release an arrow at a bull and punch myself in the mouth?... is Jerry saying the bull is still there and the bigger one in shootable?... Am I going to repeat my crazy luck from 2008 and harvest a bull on the second "shot"?... Release on string loop... Finger behind trigger... Commense draw... schwack... stars... pain... face on ground... taste of blood... did I just prematurely release an arrow at a bull and punch myself in the mouth again?... No, this was not me bumping the trigger... Jerry is telling me arrow one centerpunched a tree at 15 yards and arrow 2 skittered in at the elks' feet and they flushed to the right... Dang this blood in my mouth is flowing, but I have to figure out what is wrong with my release... I wonder if it has to do with the wear and tear I have put on my string loop while carrying my bow with an arrow knocked for 2.5 days already?... Let's try again since the elk are gone... schwack... stars... pain... face on ground... taste of blood... did I just prematurely release an arrow at a bull and punch myself in the mouth a third time?... Yes, the diameter of my string loop has just reduced to a hair less than that of my release caliper... Dang that sucks, but thank you Lord for that experience!
The rest of Day 3 and the first half of Day 4 (we had to leave by 5PM) consisted of bumping bulls out of their beds and investigating the dead bloated cow elk and arrow shaft we found the day prior.
Needless to say, I'll be writing a chapter in my lifetime hunting book over this one, but I have solidified my moniker for decades to come. Oh yeah, the one inch cut in my upper lip felt OK until the first beer on Evening 3, but after 3 or 4 the burn was gone.
For those of you who have been around the NM forum for a while, you might remember that my moniker "luckless" has been reenforced more than once. My first elk hunt (back in 2008 w/ smokepole) went a bit different, though. I was able to get a second "shot" after my muzzleloader primer hang-fired (dull pop without boom is not what one wants to hear having just walked up on a 300" 6x7 bull in dark timber. Back then, I was able to re-prime (with a dry, non-rained on 209) and drop the bull in his tracks. This year, not so much!
I drew archery deer and ES elk tags this year and flew home to NM from Italy with my family of 6 in order to attend my sister-in-law's wedding and my hunts. My buddy Jerry (Pray2Hunt), the most equipped and prepared individual I have ever met, agreed to accompany me up to my cabin (hunting shack) by Sacramento. He had everything we needed that was not already up there, so I owe him many thanks.
Upon arrival (after dark on opening day) we set up a plan for my first hunting day the next morning. We would spend it up on top of the adjacent ridge, waiting out a large heard. The plan worked after 10 hours of waiting on one point. The heard fed in within 40 yards of us. I almost went ahead and dropped a fat cow, but decided to wait for the heard bull to appear. He never did.
Day 2 of the hunt was more of the waiting game (although on top of a different ridge), but without the elk.
Day 3 of the hunt greeted us with drizzling rain and thick fog. Unlike many hunters, I L-O-V-E rain. It like to still hunt and cover ground, so the rain allows me to maneuver more stealthily than dry conditions. After two days of sitting on my hind-end, I needed to stretch my legs. We hiked to the top of the same nasty ridge from Day 1. We put ourselves in a few great glassing positions, but the fog rendered that skill useless. I was loving it, so we just kept covering more ground. Jerry found a nice six-point shed in a wonderful meadow we were not previously privy to (tucked away with a bottleneck entrance), so we decided to shed-hunt for a while since the animals seemed to be nowhere to be found. When we reached the top of the adjoining ridge I found a bedding area I named "Hotel" in my GPS. We decided that there just might be some hunting-worthy time left in the day. Looking at the GPS, I saw that we were on the point next to the highest point within miles. I decided we should hunt to the highest peak just to see what it looked like. As we arrived, I was thinking in my head "I should kill a bull from up here and name him High Mountain"... just then, there he was. I went to a knee and said "BULL!". Jerry, who was following me, but admiring the third lightning-struck tree on what we later deemed to be "Lightning Ridge" dropped in behind my kneeling position. We could se the bull was only a 5x5, but he was tall and far higher than my minimum standards. I could see a bigger bull behind him, but didn't have a shot on him, so I decided to draw and hold for a 50-yard, slightly downhill angled shot while his head was turned behind a tree. My mental pattern that followed went something like this: Release on string loop, finger behind trigger, commense draw... schwack... stars... pain... face on ground... taste of blood... did I just prematurely release an arrow at a bull and punch myself in the mouth?... is Jerry saying the bull is still there and the bigger one in shootable?... Am I going to repeat my crazy luck from 2008 and harvest a bull on the second "shot"?... Release on string loop... Finger behind trigger... Commense draw... schwack... stars... pain... face on ground... taste of blood... did I just prematurely release an arrow at a bull and punch myself in the mouth again?... No, this was not me bumping the trigger... Jerry is telling me arrow one centerpunched a tree at 15 yards and arrow 2 skittered in at the elks' feet and they flushed to the right... Dang this blood in my mouth is flowing, but I have to figure out what is wrong with my release... I wonder if it has to do with the wear and tear I have put on my string loop while carrying my bow with an arrow knocked for 2.5 days already?... Let's try again since the elk are gone... schwack... stars... pain... face on ground... taste of blood... did I just prematurely release an arrow at a bull and punch myself in the mouth a third time?... Yes, the diameter of my string loop has just reduced to a hair less than that of my release caliper... Dang that sucks, but thank you Lord for that experience!
The rest of Day 3 and the first half of Day 4 (we had to leave by 5PM) consisted of bumping bulls out of their beds and investigating the dead bloated cow elk and arrow shaft we found the day prior.
Needless to say, I'll be writing a chapter in my lifetime hunting book over this one, but I have solidified my moniker for decades to come. Oh yeah, the one inch cut in my upper lip felt OK until the first beer on Evening 3, but after 3 or 4 the burn was gone.
