Given some of the posts about Kyle Bell / Folsom Outfitters this past year, I thought I would provide a recap of my experience hunting elk with him this last week in northeastern New Mexico.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I had no business being on this hunt. I originally booked the hunt for 2017 and had to cancel late because of a recently diagnosed hip condition that made it difficult to watch much less prepare. Had hip replacement surgery on one hip in April 2018 and thought I would be good to go for a Sept archery hunt. Wrong. Other hip was almost as bad and between the rehab and remaining bad hip I was in miserable shape. About a week before my scheduled hunt, I decided I couldn’t make it and I wrote Kyle a check for the remaining hunt fee (after deposit) and called / e-mail that I wasn’t coming but I was sending payment for the full hunt fee balance. We soon spoke and he convinced me that if I was paying for the hunt, to get on down there and we’d figure it out. So I did and we did hunt. I did not get an elk but I didn’t deserve to either. But we saw a lot of them.
I arrived the afternoon before the hunt started and met LeVonne, Kyle’s wife. She briefed me on the non-hunt specific details from the bunkhouse, food/snacks and dining. The bunkhouse was awesome – comfortable and well stocked. Rustic but with two TV’s and satellite. Nightly dining was in Kyle’s home with he, his wife and son. Very comfortable. About an hour after I was settled in, Kyle came over and introduced himself and shared hunt details and logistics. I had no idea what to expect and was more than a little bit nervous given some of the stuff on TBH.com from last season. He gave a pretty self-deprecating description of himself and it became obvious early on that he had read every word that was written about him on TBH.com. He made it a point to tell me he didn’t wear a watch and while he will set times to be ready, actual conditions will dictate when we actually go out. I took that to mean if he says be ready to go at 5:30 AM, don’t fret if we don’t leave till 6 or even 6:30. This turned out be very true.
We primarily hunted 2 properties and saw a lot of elk and never came close to covering the entire property. But the conditions for hunting were poor. It was extremely hot and windy, reaching the mid 80’s every day. The elk were virtually silent, too. We could see them and were on elk most hunts. We just couldn’t get in bow range and we couldn’t coax them in for a shot. A couple of times we were in position for a nice ambush only to have those swirling winds reveal our scent. Of all the bulls we saw, I don’t recall any of them spooking and running off. They mostly just sauntered off out of range and unwilling to be coaxed back in.
Besides the elk, there was a lot of wildlife. Mule deer, whitetails and countless wild turkey. One big black bear with a cool cinnamon streak. A bald eagle and a golden eagle. The hunting areas we were in supported a lot of game and didn’t appear to be heavily pressured. Most everything we saw that saw us just moved off in a different direction. I don’t recall a single time being on elk where they actually spooked and took off.
Kyle’s hunting style was different than what I had experienced elsewhere. I had to ask a few questions before I understood it but it all ended up making sense. He does stop and glass a lot, including off his property which I thought was odd. When asked, he explained that this meadow way off in the distance was on the back part of his property and he pointed out several small groups of elk and noted the direction they were headed. We hopped back in the truck, drove I don’t how many miles before turning into a large pasture and driving what seemed like more miles back into the wilderness. We parked, took a short hike up to an elevated area and found those elk and took off. The very first we were on one of those groups of elk within 30 minutes of parking. Maybe he wouldn’t have been so dependent on that approach if the elk were bugling. But they were silent so I learned to appreciate those delays to stop and glass.
As I had some reservations about following through with this hunt after reading of others’ experiences last season, I feel compelled to share a couple of observations about Kyle/Folsom Outfitters. Not to refute or question anyone else’s experience, but because I came into this hunt with some prejudgments based on what I had read and which turned out to be different at least for me. Kyle Bell is authentic a human being as I have ever met and quite a character with a storied history. His outfitter model is someone unique in that he is both the outfitter and guide and he doesn’t switch those hats very easily. He’s thinking about nothing but getting you in front of an elk or whatever game hunting and maybe doesn’t do such a good job communicating all the details about when and where you’ll hunt. If it is 85 degrees and wind conditions are out of control, he is not going to take you out there and march you through the woods knowing the swirling winds will make it all but impossible to do anything but spook elk. Instead, he will take a more strategic approach as described above. Same with those mornings with heavy fog and low visibility. We had two mornings like that where we wouldn’t have been able to see an elk standing in the wide open 15 yards away. So we waited.
His model is also different in the properties he hunts and his pricing – which is a bargain when compared to others offering private land hunts and tags. Some of his units of land be smaller by comparison to others, but the benefit is how well he knows the properties, conditions and movement of the game. So combined with his personality and his focus on getting you in front of an elk, there isn’t a lot of room for opining on what you might think you should do instead or challenging what he is doing or did. I think that may be the reason he put the “Kyle Says” statement on his website.
It was good hunting and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting and getting to know Kyle. I would hunt with him again in a heartbeat and probably will. As I said before, I’m not posting this to detract from, much less question or challenge anyone else’s experience. I’m doing it because I enjoyed my hunt,, I liked Kyle and his family, and I hope it benefits him by sharing my recent experience.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I had no business being on this hunt. I originally booked the hunt for 2017 and had to cancel late because of a recently diagnosed hip condition that made it difficult to watch much less prepare. Had hip replacement surgery on one hip in April 2018 and thought I would be good to go for a Sept archery hunt. Wrong. Other hip was almost as bad and between the rehab and remaining bad hip I was in miserable shape. About a week before my scheduled hunt, I decided I couldn’t make it and I wrote Kyle a check for the remaining hunt fee (after deposit) and called / e-mail that I wasn’t coming but I was sending payment for the full hunt fee balance. We soon spoke and he convinced me that if I was paying for the hunt, to get on down there and we’d figure it out. So I did and we did hunt. I did not get an elk but I didn’t deserve to either. But we saw a lot of them.
I arrived the afternoon before the hunt started and met LeVonne, Kyle’s wife. She briefed me on the non-hunt specific details from the bunkhouse, food/snacks and dining. The bunkhouse was awesome – comfortable and well stocked. Rustic but with two TV’s and satellite. Nightly dining was in Kyle’s home with he, his wife and son. Very comfortable. About an hour after I was settled in, Kyle came over and introduced himself and shared hunt details and logistics. I had no idea what to expect and was more than a little bit nervous given some of the stuff on TBH.com from last season. He gave a pretty self-deprecating description of himself and it became obvious early on that he had read every word that was written about him on TBH.com. He made it a point to tell me he didn’t wear a watch and while he will set times to be ready, actual conditions will dictate when we actually go out. I took that to mean if he says be ready to go at 5:30 AM, don’t fret if we don’t leave till 6 or even 6:30. This turned out be very true.
We primarily hunted 2 properties and saw a lot of elk and never came close to covering the entire property. But the conditions for hunting were poor. It was extremely hot and windy, reaching the mid 80’s every day. The elk were virtually silent, too. We could see them and were on elk most hunts. We just couldn’t get in bow range and we couldn’t coax them in for a shot. A couple of times we were in position for a nice ambush only to have those swirling winds reveal our scent. Of all the bulls we saw, I don’t recall any of them spooking and running off. They mostly just sauntered off out of range and unwilling to be coaxed back in.
Besides the elk, there was a lot of wildlife. Mule deer, whitetails and countless wild turkey. One big black bear with a cool cinnamon streak. A bald eagle and a golden eagle. The hunting areas we were in supported a lot of game and didn’t appear to be heavily pressured. Most everything we saw that saw us just moved off in a different direction. I don’t recall a single time being on elk where they actually spooked and took off.
Kyle’s hunting style was different than what I had experienced elsewhere. I had to ask a few questions before I understood it but it all ended up making sense. He does stop and glass a lot, including off his property which I thought was odd. When asked, he explained that this meadow way off in the distance was on the back part of his property and he pointed out several small groups of elk and noted the direction they were headed. We hopped back in the truck, drove I don’t how many miles before turning into a large pasture and driving what seemed like more miles back into the wilderness. We parked, took a short hike up to an elevated area and found those elk and took off. The very first we were on one of those groups of elk within 30 minutes of parking. Maybe he wouldn’t have been so dependent on that approach if the elk were bugling. But they were silent so I learned to appreciate those delays to stop and glass.
As I had some reservations about following through with this hunt after reading of others’ experiences last season, I feel compelled to share a couple of observations about Kyle/Folsom Outfitters. Not to refute or question anyone else’s experience, but because I came into this hunt with some prejudgments based on what I had read and which turned out to be different at least for me. Kyle Bell is authentic a human being as I have ever met and quite a character with a storied history. His outfitter model is someone unique in that he is both the outfitter and guide and he doesn’t switch those hats very easily. He’s thinking about nothing but getting you in front of an elk or whatever game hunting and maybe doesn’t do such a good job communicating all the details about when and where you’ll hunt. If it is 85 degrees and wind conditions are out of control, he is not going to take you out there and march you through the woods knowing the swirling winds will make it all but impossible to do anything but spook elk. Instead, he will take a more strategic approach as described above. Same with those mornings with heavy fog and low visibility. We had two mornings like that where we wouldn’t have been able to see an elk standing in the wide open 15 yards away. So we waited.
His model is also different in the properties he hunts and his pricing – which is a bargain when compared to others offering private land hunts and tags. Some of his units of land be smaller by comparison to others, but the benefit is how well he knows the properties, conditions and movement of the game. So combined with his personality and his focus on getting you in front of an elk, there isn’t a lot of room for opining on what you might think you should do instead or challenging what he is doing or did. I think that may be the reason he put the “Kyle Says” statement on his website.
It was good hunting and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting and getting to know Kyle. I would hunt with him again in a heartbeat and probably will. As I said before, I’m not posting this to detract from, much less question or challenge anyone else’s experience. I’m doing it because I enjoyed my hunt,, I liked Kyle and his family, and I hope it benefits him by sharing my recent experience.
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