Valles Caldera Elk Pictures Please

J

JFBNORTHERNHUNTER

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I drew a Valles Caldera Bull Elk Hunt with the muzzleloader and just want to see some pictures of the elk taken out of there over the years and hear some stories.
 
LAST EDITED ON May-05-14 AT 09:10PM (MST)[p]One of the best public land elk hunts there is IMO.

You are up for a treat.







 
Letting the numbers speak for themselves: Harvest rates for cow hunts are lower than for bull hunts.

Not many other places in the country where elk get to behave like the prairie animals that they really are.

Before Tommy took his elderly 300-inch 6x6 at 200 yrds, he says "It looks kind-a schmall!" Tommy is a Korean war vet, so we didn't make him carry the whole thing out himself.
 
Here's my 2009 Bull. I love that place. I hope to get back in there again someday! Congrats on your tag, you'll have a blast!


729409090858.jpg
 
Here is my bull from last year. The best advice I can give you it to be patient. I passed over 30 bulls (not exaggerating) before I killed this one. This was truly a great experience and I hope to go back some day.

9866elk2.jpg


7581elk3.jpg
 
LAST EDITED ON May-06-14 AT 05:42PM (MST)[p]Heaven on earth for an elk hunter. You have a PRIME time hunt. Take your time! I had 2nd rifle hunt & killed this one the 1st evening. Sometimes the right one shows up early. I wondered if I shot too soon, but ended up with the 3rd best bull of the hunt. Nothing like some of the previous bulls ,but he sure made me happy. I told myself get a 300 bull at least or that was my goal. I made it & everytime I look at him I think of how lucky I was. GOOD LUCK!!




 
A bunch of great bulls , living down the hill from there is great 40 minute drive and get to witness the most amazing rut...
 
I've heard there aren't any elk left in the Caldera , I'm not sure I would even go . Just kiddin your gona have an awesome hunt . Good luck
9688cimg0728.jpg
 
Hey Tailgunner why would you shoot such a dink bull! Ha Ha Just kidding, seeing that picture brought back a bunch of good memories! Let's repeat this year in the Gila! Great Bull by the way!
 
LAST EDITED ON May-07-14 AT 05:03PM (MST)[p]Yea , I guess he was caught and ear tagged as a yearling . They told me he was 9 1/2 years old and tagged in bandelier .There are a number of elk with ear tags and collars on the Caldera that are fair game if you draw a tag .
 
Hey tail gunner how did you talk Frank into letting you kill one of his pricy bulls. Lmao. Just a fair warning sometimes these elk end up under your truck and you get high centered. Oops that's another story. Thanks for the pics my son has the ML tag in his pocket as well. Live just down the hill and have only glassed it from the road.
 
I am sure they forgot all about high centering on an elk. :)

Would be worth the drive to go to the Orientation.
 
My brother has a VC muzzie tag also lucky bugger! We were there in 06 so it is awesome to get to come back to elk heaven on earth. I have some good memories and could tell a few stories on tailgunner and "showtime jones" haha from filming them in 08. Great bulls guys. For those of you that have had the muzzie tag what is the average shot distance that you had or would expect to have?
 
Hey Scott tell Jeff congrats , you gota send me the film of this hunt . Depending on your Muzzlerloader I would go 0 - 300 yards . Showtime put a bull down at 270 yards in the VC a couple years ago .
 
Never drawn a tag but looked a lot from the outside with my boys. Here are some "last day" caliber bulls.
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4916vc_005.jpg

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7320vc_015.jpg

8481vc_025.jpg

5180vc_024.jpg


Some good ones...
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36151242dsc_0100b.jpg

8458265dsc_0067b.jpg

7799photo_1vc.jpg

986photo_2vc.jpg

5192photo_3vc.jpg


Hope I get a tag before they shut the hunting down!
 
thanks everyone for the Pictures they got my blood going... On a side Note looking into getting a new muzzleloader any ideas of what is best.. thinking of TC encore or prohunter
 
You can't go wrong with tc they shoot really well. I have been looking at the Remington 700 ultimate muzzle it shoots magnum loads that can really help when hunting elk and extend your effective range!it's a bit pricy but if that's what your weapon of choice is every year it will pay off in the long run IMO.Good luck and post up some pics.
 
Had a TC Encore for about 10 years... never failed me... GREAT ML and accurate too. There is probably better one out there now but love my Encore... you can also get different barrels for it.
Jack
 
I too drew a muzzle tag. I can't wait after seeing these pictures and the success everyone has had. BOOOYAH!!!
 
Love those first pictures, it really shows how nice the grass is in there, If you want great elk country take a page out their book.
Great bull pictures from all.
Those who drew good luck on your hunts, hope to see some great pictures.

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
>[Font][Font color = "green"]Life member of
>the MM green signature club.[font/]
 
I was up in LA this week for a leadership course and part of our program was a guided tour of VC. We were parked at the old Otero cabins at 1:15 PM and bulls were screaming just beyond us in the timber and never slowed down the whole time we stood there and TRIED listening to the geologist. As we were heading back to the main gate around 3:30 I saw an absolute legit 370 bull push about 12-15 cows out of the timber and into the valle grande no more than a half mile from the visitors center. He ran around his cows, back to a few horses, and back to his cows several times bugling the entire time we watched him from about 150 yards. Truly incredible, that is why I keep throwing my money in the lotto.

One ranger said they did in fact lose money on the elk hunts this year after switching to limiting the amount of tickets you can purchase. He said be cause it is ran by a fairly liberal board that they will likely continue with this model because it is "fair." The VC is tasked with making itself self sufficient yet they continue to make poor decisions such as this. Such a shame.


Hunt Hard. Shoot Straight. Kill Clean. Apologize to No One.
 
>I was up in LA this
>week for a leadership course
>and part of our program
>was a guided tour of
>VC. We were parked at
>the old Otero cabins at
>1:15 PM and bulls were
>screaming just beyond us in
>the timber and never slowed
>down the whole time we
>stood there and TRIED listening
>to the geologist. As we
>were heading back to the
>main gate around 3:30 I
>saw an absolute legit 370
>bull push about 12-15 cows
>out of the timber and
>into the valle grande no
>more than a half mile
>from the visitors center. He
>ran around his cows, back
>to a few horses, and
>back to his cows several
>times bugling the entire time
>we watched him from about
>150 yards. Truly incredible, that
>is why I keep throwing
>my money in the lotto.
>
>
>One ranger said they did in
>fact lose money on the
>elk hunts this year after
>switching to limiting the amount
>of tickets you can purchase.
>He said be cause it
>is ran by a fairly
>liberal board that they will
>likely continue with this model
>because it is "fair." The
>VC is tasked with making
>itself self sufficient yet they
>continue to make poor decisions
>such as this. Such a
>shame.
>
>
>Hunt Hard. Shoot Straight. Kill Clean.
>Apologize to No One.

Great place, and I bet you really enjoyed seeing it.

Unfortunately, the VC being self sufficient is not any type of priority.

I know they think it is more "fair", but, nobody has better odds, only worse odds, and less money coming in.
They actually achieved a lose/lose situation. You got to work hard to accomplish that.
 
Have to agree with you on all of your post Paul except that going back to the original lottery where you express no-one has better odds than anyone else is not quite true.

Players with large wallets and big bank rolls can throw a greater amount of money at the lottery than the average working man thus bettering their odds!
 
>Have to agree with you on
>all of your post Paul
>except that going back to
>the original lottery where you
>express no-one has better odds
>than anyone else is not
>quite true.
>
>Players with large wallets and big
>bank rolls can throw a
>greater amount of money at
>the lottery than the average
>working man thus bettering their
>odds!

Toklat, I will stand by what I said.

I said nobody has better odds now. Tell me how the average guy now has better odds. He most likely has worse odds because more people will buy 1 ticket.

The difference is that prior, a guy could improve his odds by buying more tickets.

Now, everyone has horrible odds. I guess that makes some people happy.

I would be fine if they improved or maintained their revenue stream.
Elk hunting was the premier money maker at the VC. Are they trying to bring elk hunting down to the level of midnight cross country skiing?? rodent watching?? the gift shop?? bird watchers?
I would assume that elk hunting held some prominence being the heavy hitter. There are enough people against hunting, why bring it down more.
 
NM Paul, as I said I agreed with your post. My choice of words was in error and should have said intimated instead of expressed. You have to agree that going back to the original lottery system is skewed towards those with heavy wallets albeit does generate significantly more income the Calderas desperately requires if they are to sustain self-sustainability.

In any event, we are on the same page when it comes to the viability of the Valles The current system of being "fair" will only hurt The Caldera economically in the long run.
 
NM Paul. Please read the latest clip by the NMWF of NM regarding the Valles Caldera regarding proposed lottery fees and "fairness"!

I stand on what I said.
 
I posted the board decision on the thread "VC board decision". There is a difference between making money and being fair.
 
Hi!!

I drew a VC archery hunt (September 12-16th) and would love to hear about your experience. That is a beauty of an Elk I mostly shoot rifle but, got into bow a couple years ago and this is my first archery Elk hunt. Am I allowed to scout? Camp inside the preserve??

Thanks for sharing your experience.

-Brad from Rio Rancho, NM
 
Hi!!

I drew a VC archery hunt (September 12-16th) and would love to hear about your experience. That is a beauty of an Elk I mostly shoot rifle but, got into bow a couple years ago and this is my first archery Elk hunt. Am I allowed to scout? Camp inside the preserve??

Thanks for sharing your experience.

-Brad from Rio Rancho, NM
 
Hi!!

I drew a VC archery hunt (September 12-16th) and would love to hear about your experience. That is a beauty of an Elk! I mostly shoot rifle but, got into bow a couple years ago and this is my first archery Elk hunt. Am I allowed to scout? Camp inside the preserve??

Thanks for sharing your experience.

-Brad from Rio Rancho, NM
 
You aren't allowed to camp on the Caldera. There are nearby campgrounds between the Caldera and Jemez Springs to camp. You can scout on the Friday before your hunt starts. You have a meeting with all the hunters to go over the rules then they let you lose to do some scouting.
 
>Hi!!
>
>I drew a VC archery hunt
>(September 12-16th) and would love
>to hear about your experience.
>That is a beauty of
>an Elk I mostly shoot
>rifle but, got into bow
>a couple years ago and
>this is my first archery
>Elk hunt. Am I allowed
>to scout? Camp inside the
>preserve??
>
>Thanks for sharing your experience.
>
>-Brad from Rio Rancho, NM

Brad, my son has the same tag. We will be there also. In the past you could only scout the friday before the hunt. No camping inside the preserve, but, there are campgrounds close. We always stay at a motel in Jemez. Cheaper in the long run.
 
Your son has got to be on cloud 9!!!! I will have to look out for you guys!! Congrats.

Brad
 
That is a beauty of a bull... What was the experience like? I drew SEPT 16-22 this year and it's sinking in how lucky we are!! If you would oblige me with a few questions. So... Can you scout/ put up game cameras Can you hunt the whole unit? Did you see a lot of Bulls???

Thanks!!! Great bull!!

Brad - Rio Rancho, Nm
 
Congrats on a great hunt. I killed this bull for the muzzleloader hunt and on the first day of the hunt. Passed up 12 bulls which were all 6x6 from 310-330 class and when I saw this one I had to take it. So as I am sure you already know you are going to have to attend a Orientation on the Thursday before the hunt starts. Your scout day is Friday before the hunt or day before the hunt starts and yes you can set up game cameras but remember once you kill your hunt is over and your visitor pass is pulled. So keep that in mind. There is no camping on the VCNP but there is national forest near by to camp. That's about it if you need anything else shoot me a PM.
 
12 bulls... 6x6 310-320!! The first day??? Oh my gosh. My wife was against a possible elk mount, but now has agreed to let me. I bet the rut will be different... But, gosh dang thanks for sharing.
 

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