2014 DIY New Mexico Elk Hunt - The Land of Enchantment

[ozzie]

Awesome hunt and again thanks for taking the time to share the experience with us!!

[Coach1310]

Wow! What an adventure. Thanks for taking the time to share. It is amazing how many encounters you had and better yet you got to spend it with your cousin and Dad. You are the master of the cliffhanger and have a knack for keeping us on the edge of our seats. I can't wait to hear about your next adventure!

[mrklean]

Great story one of the best I have read on here

[Fishalittle]

Truly great adventure! Thanks for sharing!

The closest thing I can think of to what you got to experience in the wild was a trip during the rut to Yellowstone before the herd plummeted and that is not the same at all.

In your stories it seemed you had all the right tactics and gave it 100% even in rain and bad weather. A great thing for an elk hunter to have persistence. It didn't pay off this time but it will.

One question I do have is the last couple encounters you said once you called to the elk when in that 100 yard range they took off away. Do you think the hunting pressure had them to the point they ran away from unknown elk (you the caller)? After this would you have approached those final days in a different way or chose a different tactic?

This was your first trip to New Mexico, correct? Did someone give you insight to this area or did you just get real lucky on picking an elk paradise?

[totally_addicted]

Thanks for sharing!! Now we need Scoot to start his today so we all have something good to read for the rest of the week!

[NoWiser]

Truly great adventure! Thanks for sharing!

The closest thing I can think of to what you got to experience in the wild was a trip during the rut to Yellowstone before the herd plummeted and that is not the same at all.

In your stories it seemed you had all the right tactics and gave it 100% even in rain and bad weather. A great thing for an elk hunter to have persistence. It didn't pay off this time but it will.

One question I do have is the last couple encounters you said once you called to the elk when in that 100 yard range they took off away. Do you think the hunting pressure had them to the point they ran away from unknown elk (you the caller)? After this would you have approached those final days in a different way or chose a different tactic?

This was your first trip to New Mexico, correct? Did someone give you insight to this area or did you just get real lucky on picking an elk paradise?

fishalittle,

I don't know why the elk were responding to the calling like they did, but it wasn't from hunting pressure. We were camped near a guide who was taking a hunter into an adjacent unit. He said in the 15 years he has guided that area, he has never seen a poorer second season. He was having the same troubles that we were in that pretty much no matter what you tried as far as calling, they'd head the other way. We talked to about 8 other hunters leaving the unit at the end of the hunt and none of them, nor anybody from their parties, had gotten an elk. It was the first time one of the guys had NOT tagged out in something like 7 trips to the unit (he was a resident and can draw a tag much easier.) Now, I'm not trying to make excuses because I had my opportunities, but the elk definitely were not acting like they should that time of the year.

As far as picking a unit, this one was always at the top of my list. I had a few discussions with Scoot last spring about an application strategy for NM and we pretty much agreed that this would be a very good 1st choice. Once I drew the tag the research started. I talked to about a dozen people who had hunted this unit and only one had any experience with this area, and he had a great hunt. It was attractive to me because the rest didn't know a thing about it and I knew that meant hunting pressure would be relatively low there. That information, in addition to our 4 scouting days, put us right in elk paradise.

[NoWiser]

Thanks for sharing!! Now we need Scoot to start his today so we all have something good to read for the rest of the week!

Agreed

[Monkster]

Great story, thanks for sharing! Some day...

[Sifty]

Great story thanks for bringing us along.

[Scoot]

Now we need Scoot to start his today so we all have something good to read for the rest of the week!

Sorry, you'll have to sit on Jim's story for a little while. I'm not done writing mine, I don't have any pics uploaded yet, I'm getting crushed at work, I've got company coming this weekend, and I have a conference out of town next week (which I'm totally unprepared for). I'll get to it as soon as I can, but I'll make no promises as to when that'll be.

[sticknstring]

That was a nail-biter... sooooo darn close right til the end! Awesome hunt - thanks for sharing it with us all!

[huntnfish]

Awesome story, Nowiser! I was on the edge of my seat. I forced myself no to check the story until the end and it was worth it. I know that dejected feeling you had. It takes all you can to get back up and get after it. You had an experience that 99% of hunters will never experience.

[HooknHorns]

Great hunt in my book. I'm sure there are hunters out the that have been doing this for years and never witnessed what you did. The battle over a herd of cows would've been awesome to see.

You did right by holding out for a bull. When elk get educated they're tough. The OTC spot that I hunted got pounded by hunters and the other guys in the group that stayed later never saw an elk the rest of the trip.

Your odds of getting drawn has gone done drastically by starting this thread. Good job well put together.

[monstermoose78]

Sounds like you had fun and it is always a win when you do hunting with your day. Thank you for the awesome write up.

[BLACKJACK]

Wow!!!! When you got to the part where the two bulls were fighting.... It had to be incredible to witness!! And to think that the survivor still had enough instinct to recognize danger!!

Thanks for taking the time to write this up!!!

[Powerstroke]

What an amazing story Jim! Certainly a hunt of a lifetime.

I remember your story from last year and the advice that Scoot and others had passed on and it seems you were much more aggressive this year and it almost always worked in your favor. These are important lessons for a new elk hunter.

[NoWiser]

I remember your story from last year and the advice that Scoot and others had passed on and it seems you were much more aggressive this year and it almost always worked in your favor. These are important lessons for a new elk hunter.

You are right on the money. I knew I'd have a lot of encounters on this hunt so right off the bat I wanted to try to get a feel for what I could get away with. I knew if I bumped them I'd have plenty more opportunities. As mentioned previously in this thread, the wind is the deal breaker. You can get away with noise and some movement, but if they smell you they are gone. Unfortunately, "finicky" is an understatement when it comes to describing the wind in the mountains. Aggressive is great, but watch that wind!!

[Scoot]

... it seems you were much more aggressive this year and it almost always worked in your favor. These are important lessons for a new elk hunter.

[NoWiser]

If the wind is completley bad, and like NoWiser said- it is more than not, there's little you can do. However, aggressive bugling (and I really mean aggressive bugling, not just uninformed bugling or locator calls) takes a lot less time than cow calling in most cases. So, when you get fickle wind and it's semi-cooperative, but not entirely cooperative, being aggressive as heck will hugely work to your advantage most often because it's fast. You go in screaming your fool head off and it'll either work, or it won't, and you'll know in a matter of seconds which is the case.

Most often with cow calling it'll take a lot longer to play out. With cow calling, if the wind swirls once in the 15 minutes you're doing it, you're done for. Odds are much better that the wind won't swirl in the 30 seconds the scenerio unfolds when you charge in screaming aggressive bugles. There's lots to the how and when piece of aggressive bugling, but it's one way to try combat swirling winds.

Great point, and advice!! I just wish it would have worked even once for us on this trip We tried it multiple times and were within 100 yards of the bull every time, but it just wouldn't work! I suspect it's because the big bulls were sharing cows during our season (which seemed very odd) and really couldn't have cared less if another joined the party. The cows did care, and would hightail it out of there pulling the bulls with them. The guide across from our camp was also perplexed as he observed the exact same behavior.

The bulls attitudes towards each other started to change drastically the 2nd to last day of our hunt, and I bet if we would have had a few more days it would have turned into a deadly technique.

[sticknstring]

Quote:

I bet if we would have had a few more days...

Seems like I'm saying that after the end of every out-of-state hunt! By the time you get 'em figured out, it's time to head home!

[Scoot]

The bulls attitudes towards each other started to change drastically the 2nd to last day of our hunt, and I bet if we would have had a few more days it would have turned into a deadly technique.

I'd be shocked if that weren't the case. When the cows start to go into estrus and are really ready to go, the bulls quit playing nice and will tear the head off any newbie bull coming to take their receptive cows.

The advice of most is to just cow call and don't bugle, other than an occasional locator bugle. That's not how I've killed most of the bulls I've killed and not how most of the bulls I've called in were called to. Look up a guy named Danny Moore- he's killed a ton of huge bulls and all of them have been bugled in. ...even though most locals out West I've ever talked to will tell you that you can only cow call them in. This will be relevant in the story I tell (when I get to it) and is reflected in a conversation I had with a very knowledgable elk hunting local. Interesting stuff and definitely shows there's more than one way to skin a cat (or a bull).

[NoWiser]

Scoot,

Keeping Danny Moore in mind, I made a point to ask every hunter or guide that I met out there whether they use cow calls or bugles when they get in on elk. All but one said that they pretty much stick to cow calls. But, I couldn't help but notice the eyes light up on the guide who said he bugles them in. You could tell by his body language that he got excited just thinking about it. Much more so than the cow callers. The key, according to him, is to get within 100 yards. Within 65 yards is best. Of course, you already knew that, but I thought it worth mentioning that he stressed getting close. He was a believer in raking trees first and, if that didn't work, screaming a bugle at the elk. Without a doubt I believe that guy killed more and bigger bulls than everyone else. He was a wealth of knowledge and happy to share it with us. Even he, though, was struggling to pull bulls into archery range for his hunter. He did end up helping his client get a 320ish bull eventually.

On a side note I'm staying in touch with this guy. He lives in Arizona and seems very knowledgeable about the elk there, though he won't guide in the state because "the people there are a bunch of jerks." He could be a valuable asset when we draw our respective AZ tags one day!

[Scoot]

That guide sounds like he and I could be split at birth regarding our calling technique! I don't always rake to start with, but I often incorporate it into my calling sets. I can be deadly. It can be really effective all by itself too. No doubt getting in the bull's living room is super important. Between 50 and 100 yards is key.

One last thing- I can absolutely understand why that guide got all excited thinking about calling in bulls by aggressive bugling. Calling in elk with cow calls is cool- watching the bull work his way in, hearing/seeing him calling the "cow" to him, watching him decide where to go and how far to pursue the "cow" is all cool. However, in terms of excitement that can't hold a candle to aggressively bugling in a bull. It's fast paced, high adrenaline stuff for sure! There's nothing like a bull coming screaming in looking for a fight! Note: this may, or may not, be relevant to my story when I get it posted!

[CodyDawg]

Does this tactic work as well on satellite bulls or is this more of a thing to try with herd bulls only? I haven't tried this yet, but will be doing it next year on my WY hunt.

[Fishalittle]

So what is a good bugle call for a beginner to start with? I have my favorite cow calls and have successfully called in a 6X6 and had some interactions with other bulls at a greater distance answering but not coming in. So now I think it is time to take it to the next level....but I don't want to have to try 5 different bugle calls to get a good one. So what do you guys recommend for a beginner bugler? Prefer something not overly bulky either but will compromise if it is easier to learn and more forgiving.