Folks, I had a phenomenal hunt in Northeastern NM.
This was a private land low fence guided hunt. The guides were to brothers in their 20’s that grew up on this ranch.
Day 1
AM had a good bit of action with a couple elk in range but no shooters until....
We had heard a couple bugles on the backside of the mountain we were on, about 10am Jared (guide) said “come on” and we went on a fast hike around the base gaining elevation all the way, we came to the mouth of a big brushy bowl and he blew a bugle to locate the bull. To our surprise the bull cut him off with a return bugle from ~80yards, we looked around for a set up but he crested the hill almost immediately so we just tucked into a cedar bush together.
The big 6x6 came on a string with head down straight to us, at 12 yards he paused to scream in our face and then to 8 yards where he stood slobbering out of the sides of his mouth and grunting pizzed off! It was intense Y’all!
No shot op but he was a first day shooter no doubt.
Day one evening we set up on a ridge glassing, didn’t take long to find a target bull and Jared and I bailed straight down a cliff to set up and call while the other guide stayed on the glass and radioed updates. We got close but no shot.
Day two. AM
We started in a different area but were on elk pretty quick, we located a couple bulls below us by calling, both Jared and my buddy got a look at one good one while I was getting in my pack and declared him a shooter so we set off to intercept him. We were above them and he and his herd were headed uphill to our north, we headed that way and got busted by the lead cows, we froze, they didn’t freak out but just trotted off so I set up in range of the trail they were on while Jerod backed up 50-60 yards to call. I had 6 more cows, a 5x5 and a rag horn none typical come out on that trail all offering a perfect 25 yard shots but the big bull and 2 cows decided to cut the trail short and went 20 yards behind me. I never saw them but Jared did....
Day two PM was uneventful, lots of glassing but no pursuits.
Day 3 AM.
I’m not sure if Jared woke up in a mood or if he had figured out our abilities or if he figured out the elk but he made a 180* change in tactics going from extremely cautious of boogering the elk to super aggressive.
We got into position earlier than normal, same area as day one, as we get there we are surrounded by mature bugles.
The first bull that responded was a shooter, he hung up at 100 yards unwilling to leave his hot cow as there was a 5x5 that tried moving in each time the bull came our way.
This is where the change in tactic hit me! As soon as it became obvious that the bull wasn’t coming in Jared said “get your stuff, we’re going after him”!
Sure enough we low jogged bush to bush to within 70 yards, set up and the call then brought him in on a string. My buddy got it on video, he was behind me and to my left so while the video shows the bull in plain view all I could see at full draw was his nose.
My Quiverlizer got me busted. Me & my bow were completely covered by the cedar but the end of the quivalizer stuck out and got me busted....
After this we worked another bull, in so doing I came really close to screwing up and shooting a rag horn that came busting in right where I was expecting the bull....
While we working that bull Jared’s higher position allowed him to see another bull come into the area that he was familiar with and we immediately went after him.
I was in front in a full Indian sneak. Every 40-50 yards Jared called to locate, the bull was locked up with a hot cow and would not move but we intended to get into his living room.
This continued until we were within 60-70 yards of him, I had a lane 10’ wide and 38 yards long to look down, Jared bugled and the bull came crashing through the brush! He popped out at the end of my lane but immediately spooked and jumped, Jared hit a cow call which stopped him, he was almost out of the lane but I got a look at vitals and put an arrow through the back of both lungs. The shot appeared back so we backed out for 2 hours even though Jared and I thought it was OK.
Bull went 60 yards and did the chin skid stopping on his belly with his legs behind him.
He was an old bull with great mass but lacking in tine and main beam length but he was more than I ever hoped for on an archery hunt!! Rough scored at 320.
What’s ironic is that the one picture the guide sent us before the hunt was of the bull I ended up killing
After we got done packing my bull out we went up and glassed a bull that the other team had watched bed. We found him in the glass and a stalk plan was made. I had the pleasure of watching the whole thing unfold perfectly through a spotting scope as they set up within 70 yards of the bull and called and the bull came on a string!
We watched the bulls death run and then he stopped in some brush where we thought he died. 20 minutes later he walks out of the back of that brush.....
We spent that whole afternoon, and the next day looking but never found that bull. The shooter is a solid shot with many animals under his belt, he knew the hit was up and forward but thought it was “good”. The consensus from the rest of us is he hit the shoulder blade. He got about 7” of penetration and hit solid bone based on the sound of the arrow impact.
Saturday we slept in and went and made one more walk of the area where the bull went with nothing.
We then got a full tour of the 18,000 acre ranch which included an old Indian cave loaded with artifacts.
This was a private land low fence guided hunt. The guides were to brothers in their 20’s that grew up on this ranch.
Day 1
AM had a good bit of action with a couple elk in range but no shooters until....
We had heard a couple bugles on the backside of the mountain we were on, about 10am Jared (guide) said “come on” and we went on a fast hike around the base gaining elevation all the way, we came to the mouth of a big brushy bowl and he blew a bugle to locate the bull. To our surprise the bull cut him off with a return bugle from ~80yards, we looked around for a set up but he crested the hill almost immediately so we just tucked into a cedar bush together.
The big 6x6 came on a string with head down straight to us, at 12 yards he paused to scream in our face and then to 8 yards where he stood slobbering out of the sides of his mouth and grunting pizzed off! It was intense Y’all!
No shot op but he was a first day shooter no doubt.
Day one evening we set up on a ridge glassing, didn’t take long to find a target bull and Jared and I bailed straight down a cliff to set up and call while the other guide stayed on the glass and radioed updates. We got close but no shot.
Day two. AM
We started in a different area but were on elk pretty quick, we located a couple bulls below us by calling, both Jared and my buddy got a look at one good one while I was getting in my pack and declared him a shooter so we set off to intercept him. We were above them and he and his herd were headed uphill to our north, we headed that way and got busted by the lead cows, we froze, they didn’t freak out but just trotted off so I set up in range of the trail they were on while Jerod backed up 50-60 yards to call. I had 6 more cows, a 5x5 and a rag horn none typical come out on that trail all offering a perfect 25 yard shots but the big bull and 2 cows decided to cut the trail short and went 20 yards behind me. I never saw them but Jared did....
Day two PM was uneventful, lots of glassing but no pursuits.
Day 3 AM.
I’m not sure if Jared woke up in a mood or if he had figured out our abilities or if he figured out the elk but he made a 180* change in tactics going from extremely cautious of boogering the elk to super aggressive.
We got into position earlier than normal, same area as day one, as we get there we are surrounded by mature bugles.
The first bull that responded was a shooter, he hung up at 100 yards unwilling to leave his hot cow as there was a 5x5 that tried moving in each time the bull came our way.
This is where the change in tactic hit me! As soon as it became obvious that the bull wasn’t coming in Jared said “get your stuff, we’re going after him”!
Sure enough we low jogged bush to bush to within 70 yards, set up and the call then brought him in on a string. My buddy got it on video, he was behind me and to my left so while the video shows the bull in plain view all I could see at full draw was his nose.
My Quiverlizer got me busted. Me & my bow were completely covered by the cedar but the end of the quivalizer stuck out and got me busted....
After this we worked another bull, in so doing I came really close to screwing up and shooting a rag horn that came busting in right where I was expecting the bull....
While we working that bull Jared’s higher position allowed him to see another bull come into the area that he was familiar with and we immediately went after him.
I was in front in a full Indian sneak. Every 40-50 yards Jared called to locate, the bull was locked up with a hot cow and would not move but we intended to get into his living room.
This continued until we were within 60-70 yards of him, I had a lane 10’ wide and 38 yards long to look down, Jared bugled and the bull came crashing through the brush! He popped out at the end of my lane but immediately spooked and jumped, Jared hit a cow call which stopped him, he was almost out of the lane but I got a look at vitals and put an arrow through the back of both lungs. The shot appeared back so we backed out for 2 hours even though Jared and I thought it was OK.
Bull went 60 yards and did the chin skid stopping on his belly with his legs behind him.
He was an old bull with great mass but lacking in tine and main beam length but he was more than I ever hoped for on an archery hunt!! Rough scored at 320.
What’s ironic is that the one picture the guide sent us before the hunt was of the bull I ended up killing
After we got done packing my bull out we went up and glassed a bull that the other team had watched bed. We found him in the glass and a stalk plan was made. I had the pleasure of watching the whole thing unfold perfectly through a spotting scope as they set up within 70 yards of the bull and called and the bull came on a string!
We watched the bulls death run and then he stopped in some brush where we thought he died. 20 minutes later he walks out of the back of that brush.....
We spent that whole afternoon, and the next day looking but never found that bull. The shooter is a solid shot with many animals under his belt, he knew the hit was up and forward but thought it was “good”. The consensus from the rest of us is he hit the shoulder blade. He got about 7” of penetration and hit solid bone based on the sound of the arrow impact.
Saturday we slept in and went and made one more walk of the area where the bull went with nothing.
We then got a full tour of the 18,000 acre ranch which included an old Indian cave loaded with artifacts.
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