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Jicarilla Elk Hunt Last Day Success (long read)

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    Jicarilla Elk Hunt Last Day Success (long read)

    I started elk hunting the Jicarilla Apache Reservation in 1998 and this was my 9th trip here in 20 years. To say I love this place is an understatement. I truly have come to love the land and the people there. Totaling over 850,000 acres, it is a hunter’s dream.

    The 5 day hunt started out decent but as many elk hunters on here had complained days prior to my hunt, the full moon, hot weather and drought has the elk really screwed up. Our typical hunt is to run and gun all day. We go until they lose us, we catch and release or ultimately kill a bull. Then we head to the truck, get water, a snack and a breather then head down the road and chase after some others. It was much slower this year. We had some bulls early morning on day one but nothing worth letting an arrow fly, the afternoon had a little action right at dark. The second morning we got into the bulls pretty good and I had shots on 3 small to medium 5x5’s but I wasn’t ready. The evening was very quiet. The third day had a few bugles in the morning and we got on a couple but never really got close. The fourth day it was going full tilt. We were in bulls all day and at 12:45pm we got in with a herd and followed them for over an hour and witnessed a knock down drag out fight. As soon as we got caught up to them, they split and one of them, an old, wide and heavy 5x5, came down a ravine towards us. He had no clue we were there and as he hit my shooting lane, I was whispering to my guide for the yardage. I thought it was 20-25 but it was thick and I wanted to confirm. (I had missed a whopper bull last year by not confirming yardage and I wasn’t going to make that mistake again.) Yes I have a range finder but it was happening so fast, I was locked on my loop and ready to draw. He stopped but by the time my guide confirmed the distance, the bull saw us and bolted. It was not my guides fault and really I was upset with myself for missing that opportunity on a solid 300” bull. In hindsight, I should have put my 20 pin on his vitals and touched off. The positive was that we were in some very remote and rough country and it would have been a heck of a pack job getting him back to the truck. We chased some great bulls the rest of the day and in total I had 7 bulls that came in or I had encounters with. The biggest was in the 330’s. Day 5 , the last day, was shoot or eat tag soup. I was truly fine with either as we had many great experiences, seen some great country and had some good encounters on numerous bulls. We immediately got into the bulls as the sun was rising. We found one really good bull that was answering really well and headed our way. As he came in, we positioned over to some trees and that spooked some cattle that ran his way and blew him out. He was a whopper bull. We saw him a few minutes later but could never get on him. We then had a few bulls come in but no shooters. We got back in the truck and repositioned a few miles down the road and started calling, we immediately had a bull respond and he was on the run to us. He hit the tree line before we could and he caught us in the middle of the meadow. We froze and he stared at us but didn’t spook. He eventually walked back into the trees and we got hidden and started calling. He came running but started to circle down wind and eventually got my wind and blew out at 80 yards. This was a great 7x5 with 3’s that were 22” long. We walked back to the truck and repositioned again a few miles down the road. We call and immediately have bulls respond. We take off after them, the wind is right and blowing pretty strong at this point. We end up calling in several small bulls out of this herd but see a huge 6x6 and the big 7x5 we had been on just a few moments before. He had covered a few miles in no time and was starting to fight some of the other bulls. We were with this herd for a few hours just moving with them in the elk whirlpool that they were. Bulls, cows, calves all created this mayhem of fighting, chasing, running, bugling, calling it was a blast. We just hung with them waiting for one of the bulls to make a mistake. We saw the big 7x5 cut through the trees numerous time and heard him start fighting another bull so we took off running towards it. Cows and small bulls were blowing out but with all the chaos, nothing really spooked. As we get to the fight, they broke up and we froze just out of sight but probably 40 yds away. They must have been resting or posturing for a few minutes but then immediately locked up again and we moved in closer. They stopped and my guide gave a little cow call and he sees a bull coming. I see the tips of his antlers coming our way and draw back. He paused then starts walking again and as soon as he hits my shooting lane I settle on his shoulder and touch off at 20 or so yards. I thought I had smoked him and immediately turned to my guide to high five and he says that he thought I hit him in the guts???? I didn’t anticipate his walking and I made a mistake. So we wait a bit and start looking for my arrow and blood. In hindsight, we should have just backed out altogether and let him lay down and die. We ended up finding my arrow and it was a full pass through and covered with blood and guts. We ended up jumping him twice but couldn’t get shot on him. We backed out and went to town for lunch and returned 4 hours later. We trailed him by his foot pints for several hours and were also finding blood and entrails but eventually ran out of sign and light. We thought he was either dead or soon to be and I just prayed he would be found the next day. The next morning the rifle season opened and one of the other guides and his hunter found him about 500 yds from where we last saw sign. I was pumped to have recovered him. He had a broken G-4 and with that point, he would have been a 7x5 although not the big 7x5 he had been fighting right before I shot him. He was an old bull with his teeth really worn or missing.

    At the end of 5 days my guide called in 27 bulls to either shot opportunity or close encounters, we hiked over 48 miles (not one step was on flat ground) and we harvested a mature bull with a bow at point blank range. Oh, and my guide took his rifle hunter in the same area the and shot the big 7x5 by 7:30am the next morning.

    Amazing hunt and amazing folks.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    #2
    Outstanding, congrats!

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      #3
      sorry the pics are so big!! how do I correct that?

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        #4
        Congratulations on an awesome hunt Lance!

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          #5
          sounds like an action packed hunt! Congrats

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            #6
            Congrats again Lance! Heck of a bull and hunt. Well done!

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              #7
              Congrats on the Elk!!!

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                #8
                Congrats on the bull. Thanks for sharing with us.

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                  #9
                  Great story and pictures! Congrats on closing the deal!

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                    #10
                    Luv it!!! I need to hunt that place.....time to step up!

                    Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

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                      #11
                      The only elk hunt I have ever been on was on a small place next door to the Jicarilla and it was an awesome hunt. Would LOVE to go back again. Congrats on a great hunt

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                        #12
                        Great story, thanks for sharing.
                        And congrats on a great hunt.

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                          #13
                          Great story and ending.

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                            #14
                            Congrats Lance. Great write up.

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                              #15
                              Congrats!

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