With my Alamo Precision Rifles 6.5 PRC shooting Dallas Reload's 139 gr Lapua Scenar.
I recently returned from NE New Mexico near Capulin Volcano National Monument. I was hunting on almost 30,000 acres of private land with an outfitter out of Colorado. I arrived on Friday the 30th of October to meet one of the guides at the lodge. The other hunters, guides and outfitter showed up a little later and we went to another piece of property to verify zero on our rifles. The other 3 hunters in camp had flown in from Northern California and were huge Trump supporters so we got along great. After everyone checked zero we returned to camp to have a few beers before dinner. We headed out Saturday morning to see what a beautiful ranch we were hunting.
No one saw a shooter the first morning but everyone saw deer and was pumped about the hunt. My guide and I were glassing on one of the flat top mesa's and decided to move to another location. I spotted a doe about 150 yards away and signaled to Greg. We decided to see how close we could get and see if any bucks were with her. No shooter bucks, but as we got closer.....we started seeing the rest of the deer that were with her. At least 15-16 deer total with a couple being small bucks.
We left the mesa and went to a couple other places on the ranch without finding any shooters, so we decided to head in for lunch. After lunch around 2 o'clock we headed back out. We went to a different part of the ranch and started seeing doe immediately. Still no shooter bucks, so off to another area. We parked up on a high spot and Greg spotted deer on another flat top mesa about 2 miles away. We drove as close as we could, but being flat we could only close the distance to around a mile. He pulled out the spotting scope and seen that it was 4 bucks and at least 2 of them were worth a closer look. We set off on foot trying to close the distance, but being almost flat and very few Junipers.....it was a slow go. We had to drop off the side of the mesa multiple times because there wasn't any trees to hide behind but after about 50 minutes we made it to a Juniper at about 300 yards. After looking the bucks over I decided that I'd like to take the best one but the wind was blowing steady over 20 mph and gusting to 25 or so. We continued to stalk closer, dropping off the mesa as needed and made it to another Juniper at 142 yards. I got set up on the shooting sticks and waited for a shot. They were feeding and had no idea we were there. Finally got a shot and made it count.
This is a bad azz ranch that it full of game. We seen hundreds of deer, elk and antelope and one of the guys saw a bear cub. The place also has mountain lion and takes several every year. The other guys from California all shot great bucks and were very pleased with the outfitter, guides and the hunt overall. I had a blast and can't wait to go back!
I recently returned from NE New Mexico near Capulin Volcano National Monument. I was hunting on almost 30,000 acres of private land with an outfitter out of Colorado. I arrived on Friday the 30th of October to meet one of the guides at the lodge. The other hunters, guides and outfitter showed up a little later and we went to another piece of property to verify zero on our rifles. The other 3 hunters in camp had flown in from Northern California and were huge Trump supporters so we got along great. After everyone checked zero we returned to camp to have a few beers before dinner. We headed out Saturday morning to see what a beautiful ranch we were hunting.
No one saw a shooter the first morning but everyone saw deer and was pumped about the hunt. My guide and I were glassing on one of the flat top mesa's and decided to move to another location. I spotted a doe about 150 yards away and signaled to Greg. We decided to see how close we could get and see if any bucks were with her. No shooter bucks, but as we got closer.....we started seeing the rest of the deer that were with her. At least 15-16 deer total with a couple being small bucks.
We left the mesa and went to a couple other places on the ranch without finding any shooters, so we decided to head in for lunch. After lunch around 2 o'clock we headed back out. We went to a different part of the ranch and started seeing doe immediately. Still no shooter bucks, so off to another area. We parked up on a high spot and Greg spotted deer on another flat top mesa about 2 miles away. We drove as close as we could, but being flat we could only close the distance to around a mile. He pulled out the spotting scope and seen that it was 4 bucks and at least 2 of them were worth a closer look. We set off on foot trying to close the distance, but being almost flat and very few Junipers.....it was a slow go. We had to drop off the side of the mesa multiple times because there wasn't any trees to hide behind but after about 50 minutes we made it to a Juniper at about 300 yards. After looking the bucks over I decided that I'd like to take the best one but the wind was blowing steady over 20 mph and gusting to 25 or so. We continued to stalk closer, dropping off the mesa as needed and made it to another Juniper at 142 yards. I got set up on the shooting sticks and waited for a shot. They were feeding and had no idea we were there. Finally got a shot and made it count.
This is a bad azz ranch that it full of game. We seen hundreds of deer, elk and antelope and one of the guys saw a bear cub. The place also has mountain lion and takes several every year. The other guys from California all shot great bucks and were very pleased with the outfitter, guides and the hunt overall. I had a blast and can't wait to go back!
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