In appreciation of all who have bought items from me in the classified helping fund my upcoming Brown bear hunt I would like to share my 2010 New Mexico Gila Wilderness elk with you. Some of you may have already read this story, but I know most haven't. I hope you enjoy it.
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmpacksm.jpg)
This will probably take a few days to complete. Hope you don't mind.;^)
Anyway, after a dry spell on drawing any good western big game tags, I drew a New Mexico "Gila Wilderness" tag for September 11th-18th. The Gila is a designated wilderness area and motor vehicles are prohibited. Your choices are either horses, or hike in. Horses are evil, so I chose to hike in.
I'll save you all the details on the fitness, but will just say that many, many, nights prior to this hunt I'd fall into bed "wrestling sore", and that being in good condition made all the difference in the world!
I chose to hunt with my Laclair Shrew "lil favorite" recurve. It is a 60#@26", 54", 2-piece takedown with lots of pretty wood that I couldn't even start to tell you what the heck it is. It just shoots really, really good, and because it's only 54" makes me look bigger! I used some carbon shafts that I cut in half to make take-down arrows, and tipped them with 275gr Grizzly single-bev broadheads. (190gr head w/steel adapters) I forgot my quiver, so I made one out of one of my arrows, a piece of foam, a piece of an old kwickee quiver, and some tent cord.
I planned for a 10 day trip which would be a 7 day hunt with a couple days on the front for scouting, and a day on the tail end for getting out. My pack was about 45-50 lbs. (I honestly believe I can get it lighter.) A tent, sleeping bag, air mattress, food, clothes, and various whatnot.
I flew into El Paso, Texas, rented a car, and drove up through New Mexico to the trailhead on the noth side of the unit. I parked the car, talked to a few other hunters rigging their horses and mules, and headed back in.
Here's a picture of me loaded up and ready to go. Notice how clean-shaven and respectable I look, if you would
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmcouple.jpg)
Some don't believe horses are evil and use them to get in deep. I met this couple on the way in.
I think they have the right idea on how to access the wilderness!
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmarrowsm.jpg)
At the trailhead I found this wood arrow stuck in a stump. Seems another traditional hunter also hunted the wilderness in the first season!
How do you make takedown arrows?
My first day was pretty much just getting in as far as I could to the spots I researched. I figured I put on 12-15 miles the first day and set up camp on a desolate shelf overlooking a deep canyon. I was about 1/4 of a mile from water, and 3/4 of a mile from a set of finger ridges and a killer saddle that I found on my map.
While watering that evening I found this in the sofft mud by the spring. A gentle little reminder that there are other big carnivores besides man who roam these hills.
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmtracksm.jpg)
The first night I had elk coming out of the finger ridges and filtering through camp, bugling all night long. There was no need to scout much because it was obvious where they were coming from. I spent the next day setting up my gear studying maps and stump shooting.
This year I tried some takedown arrows I made out of some heritage 250's with AFC inserts for the male ferule. The takedowns allowed me to carry all 8 arrows in a 2"x17" tube that would slide down inside my pack maintaining a low profile. They were a perfect match for my takedown bow, neither needing a tool to assemble. Four broadheaded arrows and one judo went into my quiver.
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmarrws.jpg)
Just what I needed with 3 long months until September!! :campfire:
QuoteOriginally posted by DarkTimber:
Just what I needed with 3 long months until September!! :campfire:
Too TRUE!!! We suffer in relative silence here...
:campfire:
More... MORE... MORE PLEASE>>>
I need a fix while the clock ticks!!!
Pieces slipped together like a graphite flyrod.
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmarw1.jpg)
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmarw2.jpg)
Perfect pack bow.
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmbowsm1.jpg)
Thats sweet! just about 3 months for us here!
Love the take down arrows Ive always wondered who used them and how hey flew, assuming of course that there would be a very stiff spot in the middle..let us know! Thanks
:campfire: :campfire: :campfire:
Thats sweet! just about 3 months for us here!
Love the take down arrows Ive always wondered who used them and how hey flew, assuming of course that there would be a very stiff spot in the middle..let us know! Thanks
The arrows do fly just a little stiff, but not much. I had to bump the weight of my heads up a few grains and went to a longer head and that had them flying great.
First morning hunting had me on a heard bull not 1/4 mile from camp. I heard him while I got dressed. I heard him while I ate. And I heard him while I chased him but never saw him. :^) Actually he was a herd bull with a handfull of cows, but wasn't the biggest bull around so he was not interested in confronting another bull which made locating him difficult once you got within 100 yards. He would answer a bugle with a bugle, wouldn't bugle to a cow call, and if you even so much as thought of grunting at him would gather his cows and flee. I hunted him for three mornings before actually seeing him and could see why he didn't want to fight. He was a relatively young 300" 6x6 that wouldn't stand much of a chance against a mature bull. Don't get me wrong, I would have shot him in a heartbeat, but as skitterish as he was made hunting him hard.
During the afternoon I scouted a bit and studiied the maps until about 3:00pm. I found a nice saddle that was worth investigating and worked my way up the ridge towards it. There was plenty of elk sign, but none of it looked huntworthy-fresh. One of the best pieces of advice I got from a great elk hunter was "that you need to hunt the elk where they are, not where they were. Learn what THAT sign looks like and you'll be in elk!" The easiest sign is the droppings. If they are still "greasy" to the touch then they are no more than 8 hours old. If they are not greasy but still moist and stink then they are a couple days old. Dry and hard are old and just mean that and elk was once there.
As I neared the saddle I began to find fresh sign and then "smelled" elk! I slipped up over the lower peak of one side of the saddle and saw four elk backs feeding in the ferns. I dropped down on all fours and watched until they raised their heads. They did, and all four were raghorn bulls. They were 45 yards away and I deemed them all too small to pursue any further. After a couple minutes I decided that maybe they weren't that small, and if I could stalk within my shot range that maybe I'd shoot one.
Within 1/2 hour I managed to get within 20 yards of all of them. Two sparred with each other and two fed the whole time. Once within range I looked for the biggest of the group. One I stretched to be about a 230" 5x6 and decided that when he gave me the shot, I take it.
It was right then that I realized the potential of the unit was in, and what a BIG elk was! While I was tightening my fingers on the string, a huge bugle came down the high side of the saddle and within seconds a huge 360+" 6x7 appeared. He came straight into the other bulls, who all just moved out of his way and let him pass, stopped 20 yards in front of me, and then bugled right directly at me. I nearly crapped myself. He then moved off to my left slightly and at 15 yards I meant to give him a cow call to stop him, but for some reason turkey-putted at him. Instantly I realized what I did and panicked. The bull didn't. He stopped and looked for a turkey. I was expecting him to turn himself inside out escaping and found myself raising up off my knees, half drawing the bow, and then realising he was still there. It was enouugh of a hesitation that he figured out I wasn't a harmless turkey, but a shook up, unprepared dangerous kind of turkey that he wanteed no part of.
All the bulls ran off and I was left in the middle of that saddle dumbfounded! With all the preparations I made for this hunt the one thing I didn't do was mentally prepare for "the moment" and promptly failed with the first test.
It was a long 1.5 mile hike back to camp in the dark.
In the picture you can see what my breakfast was every morning. A 1400 calorie concoction of instant oatmeal, pecans, dried fruit, and protein powder. They were all premixed and individually bagged. All I had to do was pour hot water in the bag, zip it closed, mix it, cut off a corner and drink the mix. Quite the efficient little system!
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmbreak.jpg)
:campfire:
:coffee:
Shoot straight, Shinken
:archer2:
This is great - don't cheat us backcountry hunters out of the smallest details, like your pack, tent, sleeping bag, food, water filter, stove, boots, clothes, etc. We have plenty of time!
Will do Jeff!
This hunt is a few years old and I have changed a few things, but some things just worked great and I still use them.
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Here is a view just outside of camp looking op the drainage I was hunting. Every night the bulls would come from my right side, up the drainage and bugle as they would work their way down it to the parks and springs below. I would fall asleep every night listening to dozens of bulls bugling all around me, and occasionally be awoken by one within 100yards of my tent.
The nearest road to where I was is on the far side of that hill in the background. It was about 7 miles as the crow flies, and about a 12-15mile hike.
The unit I was hunting had a good population of black bears in it and occasionally you would find signs of them. I found this little gem between me and my watering hole. It wasn't fresh, but still did a fine job of keeping me mindful that they were around.
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmbearpoopsm.jpg)
One night I woke up to the sound of slow breaking timber and then crash-thudding on the ground. I listened to this for about 15 minutes and then went back to sleep. There would be this slow cr-r-r-raack, some light crashing followed by a loud thud. It would be quiet for a minute or two and then repeat itself again. I decided I'd check it out after my morning hunt. Sounded like it was about 200 yards or so down hill from camp.
After my morning hunt chasing the "heard bull" again. I went down to where I heard the sound and found this.
It was a dead tree with all the bark freshly ripped off it. I had seen a number of these around but none were fresh. During the night a bear had climbed the tree and peeled the bark to get to beetles, grubs, and termites that infested the layer just below the bark. Some of the pieces were at least 4' long and the peeled section of the tree went up at least 30'
Pucker-factor was now raised to level "yellow"!
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmbeartree1.jpg)
Now, mind you I am not afraid of being attacked by a bear. Fear of a bear attack is right up there with fear of being wooed by a love-struck Sasquatch. However, a bear coming into camp and destroying my tent and gear looking for a pizza-pie while I'm out hunting, ultimately sending me back to civilization to re-gear, and cutting my hunt short? Now that's something to worry about!
Here's another picture of the tree from a different angle. I peeled a piece of bark off another tree just to see what lies beneath it and was amazed at how many beetle larvae there were. I reckon a fella could live off them for a while if he were so inclined or in the situation ever arose where he needed to. Like, say, if a bear were to find his food cache and eat all his daily rations. ;^) Of course said bear might find himself on the menu rather than me eating bugs or having to leave the wilderness!
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmbeartree2.jpg)
Great story telling so far...!
Looking forward to the rest of the story.. :thumbsup:
This is fantastic! I can almost smell the mountains through your words.
This is good.
Bill,
Thanks for sharing the story and pics. Looking forward to the rest. I know about that "wrestling sore" your mentioned in your first post. Have a great brown bear hunt.
you've got guts sir to even think about shooting an elk 12 miles back in by your self....... yikes!
Getting me excited to go
Great story! :campfire:
Thanks everyone. I'm glad you're enjoying the tale.
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmweed.jpg)
Anyway around the fourth day I couldn't stand the smell of myself any longer and bathed. Bathing was done just downstream a couple yards from where I was watering. It is neither a pretty sight, sound, nor experience, truth be told. The water that comes out of those springs is really cold, and it physically hurts to pour it over yourself. I'm always paranoid when doing it that someone is recording the experience on video and that it is going to make it's way to Youtube.
The weed pictured above made for a great soap and cover scent. I had found it while watering on the hike in and noticed that it had a powerful pleasant scent that stuck with you for a long time. I sampled some of it by rubbing it on the underside of my forearm to make sure it was safe, and then increased the area when it showed no ill-effects. When it was deemed safe I crushed a bunch of it up and used it as an additive to my soap strips I packed in. Then when I was done bathing and dried off I made a poulstice of the stuff and wiped down with it. The smell stuck with me for a couple more days, and as I said it was pleasant.
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmfeet.jpg)
Every step you take out here is either up and down, or sidehill, and your feet take a beating. One of the best things I have found is to soak your feet in a spring when you can until they ache. Somehow seems to rejuvinate the whole body. Might also want to do this downstream from where you water, or at least wait til after you're done drinking before soaking.
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmscenesm.jpg)
By the fourth day of hunting I was ready to move camp. I had elk encounters every morning and every evening and had a few shot opportunities, but I had two major factors to contend with: One was the fact that if I were to kill an elk this far back in that I would be pressed to get the elk out and still make my flight, and the second was that I had educated all the elk around me and needed to find some new "dumb" ones.
I broke camp and moved a couple miles up higher, and back toward the trail head. I was up close to 10'000ft and started to find some new fresh elk sign. I set up camp on the peak and prepared for an evening hunt.
Here is a picture close to that camp. My previous camp was in the cloudd-shaded area in the background
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmpeaksm.jpg)
New campsite. Doesn't look like much but was pretty darn comfy for something brought in on your back. I'm pretty well convinced I have compiled about the lightest, most compact solo system there is........almost.;^)
The tent is a Big Agnes "Flycreek UL2" It weighs in at 2lb 10ozs. On this hunt I could have gotten by with a lighter tarp type shelter, but in the past "wilderness" weather has always made me thankful for a fully enclosed tent.
Good story so far Bill.. Enjoying every step of it.
Excellent read and pictures!
Enjoying your hunt, thanks for sharing.
Perfect early summer read! Thanks.
Really digging the story. A tarptent contrail would save you a little more then 8 ounces...
Very Interesting! Thanks. Good talking to ya the other day. We will have to do that Beer thing as the Summer heats up.........
That small plant you mentioned is yarrow. A very good astrigent and stimulant. Rub it in cut or scrapes, pack it in your lip for a pick me up or , my personal favorite, brush your teeth with it. One of my favorite little plants.
:campfire: Okay, I caught up with my reading and drooling over the great pictures and I am ready for more.
Great thread, gets the blood boiling for this September.
Well, after setting camp I went out for an evening hunt. I worked my way along the main ridgline looking for sign and listening for elk. About 1/2 mile from camp I came upon a deep, nasty looking little draw and gave a few chuckles down it. Immediately I got a screaming bugle followed by some hard grunting back!
Game on! This guy wanted to fight! The hard grunts following a bugle is the turkey equivelant of "the second gobble" to turkey hunting. This was an animal that was game to play.
I checked the wind, -good. Moved closer to the edge and returned his challenge with my own bugle-hard grunting-bugle response. He fired back! I moved lower to get to his level and started breaking some brush with a big stick. He came unglued and started moving my way bugling, grunting, and busting some brush of his own. I spotted him at about 75 yards and started to come unglued myself! I was looking at a world class 6X6 with palmated fourths that each had a 6" sticker facing back on them. He had tremendous mass, and main beams that appeared to "melt" in the back they were so long. This was a good 375-385" bull!
I regained my composure, and when he disappeared behind a small cluster of pines I hit him with some more grunts. He fired a bugle back, but before he could finish I cut him off with my own bugle-hard grunt sequence.
I'm not exactly sure what it does to a bull who is up for a fight to cut his bugle off, but I'd assume it is akin to spitting in someones face, or insulting ones beloved mother. The bull came straight for me, bugling and grunting the whole way in. I nocked an arrow and turned my left shoulder to where he would come in, about 15-20yds broadside. He did just that, and at 20yards turned his head towards me and fired off one last challenge.
I picked a spot, came to full draw and loosed my arrow.
I hope some pictures are on there way.
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmsmh2o.jpg)
Water. You never really grasp how much your body needs it until you can't get it. The Gila has what many locals refer to as the Monsoon season which unfortunately is prior the elk season. This year had a tremendous wet spring and summer, but for the last few weeks, nothing. At the lower elevation around the creeks there was plenty, but there was also plenty of other hunters, hikers, and smarter elk as a result.
At the higher elevation you had less of everything, so water was where you found it. Usually you would find a spring that came out of the side of a hill in a deep draw that would flow for a few yards and then disappear back into the ground. It was clear, and you supposedly could drink right from the springs, but I wasn't going to take a chance of Ghiardia so I packed a Steripen "adventurer, a collapsible bottle, and a camelback bladder with me when I would set out in the morning hunting.
When water was found I would fill the bottle, hit it with the UV light from the pen, and render any invertebrate barren. It doesn't kill them, it just makes them unable to breed once they enter your lower digestive tract thus keeping your stool very "bear-like," as opposed to "goose-like!" ;) Then I would fill the bladder, drink a bottle, and fill it once more for the pack for morning breakfast and coffee.
Oh man, your good ! :banghead:
People often ask me why I prefer to hunt with traditional equipment and flyfish over compounds and spinning gear. I wish I had some proseful, philosophical response, but I just tell them it's because I love to swear. And cry. Not just a "shoot!" or to shed a small tear, but to rattle off entire paragraphs of profanity as if speaking the dark language of Mordor, and to cry rivers of inconsolable saddness.
Well now I have something to think/dream about tonight as to where that arrow is going.......
That being said I will only discuss what happened next over a cold beer and campfire with those willing to console me and wipe the tears away. :(
Maybe this picture will give you an idea of what happened.
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmmiss.jpg)
That took some work to get a grizzly to do that!
heartbroken... and just about ready to cry myself.
Sorry man! I have a head that looks somewhat similar. But, thanks for the story. It is getting me even more stoked for September.
G
SOB %$#!Q*(&^%$%@^% !!!!!!!!
that SUCKS! lol
great story though~
L.R.
Sorry man! I have a head that looks somewhat similar. But, thanks for the story. It is getting me even more stoked for September.
G
Sorry for double post- got impatient.
darn!
:( :banghead:
Man that sucks!!!
Are you going to be able to compose your self
so we can here the rest of the story?
I cant imagine your frustration!!!!!
Heres for wanting more :campfire: !!!!!
Oh, this story is definately not over! More tonight!
nice story !!
when is it night .. here it's not the same time as you ... and i'm waiting for the rest of the tale ....
This story just went from the stuff dreams are made of to one of nightmares!! :scared:
I know the feeling... :clapper:
Loving this!! Keep it coming.
:campfire: :campfire: :campfire: :campfire: :campfire:
Man...you got me on a string like that big bull.
Great story telling and awesome pictures. I know it take allot more effort to take quality pictures when you're hunting by yourself but it absolutely makes the story...thanks for taking the time!!!
:campfire:
NM is notorious for it's iron elk. :eek:
Fastest five pages I've read in quite sometime. Well done...Glad I caught this.
:thumbsup:
Great time year for a great story! Thanks for taking the time to do it! Love It!
:campfire:
Emotional roller coaster. Like being there!
Bill,
Man I am still right there with ya' on that emotional roller coaster..... the adrenalin pumpin' high ...to the gut wrenching loww...
again, great story telling...
Thanks everyone! It was a roller coaster to say the least.
Mornings I was up at 4:00am most times by elk bugling close to camp. I would sit drinking my coffee looking at my watch every 30 seconds in anticipation of sunrise to go chase the elk only to have them go silent at pink-light.
Everyday there were opportunities that ended with me on my knees, banging my head on the ground. Near exhaustion, dehydration, and an occasional encounter with a yellow jacket hive only added to the flavor of this hunt.
However the occasional moments like standing in a meadow well after dark staring upwards at the most spectacular display of stars while elk bugle in the distance has a way of giving you just enough to say "tomorrow will be the day!
"tomorrow will be the day"
:readit:
:bigsmyl:
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmdrinksm.jpg)
After a day of hunting from my new camp I began to locate a whole lot of elk sign about 2 miles away and downhill towards the trailhead. I broke camp again and moved for a new bench closer to the elk. I had located a big heard but couldn't tell how big the heard was or what kind of bulls were in it. But hey, this is the Gila. There had to be big bulls in it!
The hike was down hill but by now I was beginning to feel fatigued and was aware that I had lost a good deal of weight while out here. I was also, once again feeling as if I were pushing dehydration and needed to water. And bathe.
I found a spring close to where I wanted to set camp and watered. Water never tasted so good!
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmbumsm.jpg)
After watering, and bathing I found a good flat spot and pitched a new camp. By now I was getting pretty good at it and it only took about 15 minutes to set up.
I ate lunch and was touching up my broadheads when I heard this short off-sounding bugle. I stood up, grabbed my bow, quiver, and calls and listened. Within minutes I coould hear something busting through the brush and heading up along side the finger ridge I was on. Within seconds a cow elk ran by me at about 60 yards. Adding the facts that I just heard a bugle of sorts, and that the rut was advancing and few cows roamed alone, I took off running towards the spot she came from.
I had made it about 10 yards, when another cow popped out, and then another, another, another, and finally a 310" 5X5 pulling up the rear. There was plenty of brush screening me from them, and the fact that they were moving so I kept running on an angle towards them. I had cut the distance down to about 25-30 yards and was now running parallel to them when I realized I might actually get a shot! I was nocking an arrow as I ran, and was looking in front of me so as to not trip, when out of my peripheral vision I noticed there were no more elk. I came to a screeching halt and looked back. There they were standing still watching me with a "what-the-hey" look on their faces. In an instant they melted into the drainage and I was alone. I had to laugh though. I felt like I was some kind of tribesman chasing plains game in Africa or the likes.
I went back to camp, gathered my gear and went out for an evening hunt.
On my way out to hunt I ran into a guide and his client on horseback. These were the first humans I have seen in 8 days out here and I didn't know how to act. I didn't know if I should hide, shoo them away with a stick, or talk to them. There were two of them, and they saw me so I chose to talk to them.
We exchanged some information on what we had been seeing and talked about the herd I was after. The guide had been on the herd on and off for the last two weeks and was trying to get his last client "anything!" From the look on the clients face, I think he'd of been happy with nothing but a soft bed and a hot meal. They were working back to the trailhead and wrapping up their hunt.
The guide pulled me aside and told me that the herd I was moving in on had a huge herdbull that would probably score around 425"! I'm always reluctant when people tell me of 200" whitetails, 400" elk, and 500lb blackbears, so I politely listened and hld my tongue. The guide could tell I wasn't buying it so he broke out his iphone and started showing me some of the bulls they had killed this year. With each he gave the measure and I was convinced he knew his measure. The last picture he showed was of a 427" a rifle client killed last year and he said, "THIS is the kind of bull holding that herd.
We parted and now I was intrigued!
Here is a picture of self I took that day. It is not a homeless bum looking for a bowl of soup.
:campfire:
Keep it comin'!
Shoot straight, Shinken
:archer2:
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmhomesm.jpg)
That evening found me looking for the herd, but encountering a respectable bull wandering through. He was a good 280-290" 6x6, and I was able to call him within 15 yards but could not get a clear shot on him. I worked him in a second time to about 15 yards again but all he gave me was a head on shot so I passed. He then tried to circle down wind of me, but I was able to circle around him and got him in a third time to about 30 yards but he was nervous now and only gave me a quartering to shot. He eventually decided something wasn't right and trotted off.
Darkness came quick and walked a good mile in the dark back to camp. Along the way the elk really turned on and I could hear bugling the whole way back.
I was lulled to sleep by bugling elk, and slept like a stone until about 2:30 and then woke with a start. 50 yards from my tent it sounded as if an adolescent youth was being ripped limb for limb. The ungodly racket had me startled and confused until it dawned on me what the noise was. A Barred owl had found my food cashe in the trees and must have thought it was another owl or something that warranted some threatening behavior. The food cashe was kept in a lime green sil-nylon bag and suspended 15 feet up between two trees with spectre cord. It must have appeared to be floating to the bird and thoroughly pissed him off.
Satisfied I wasn't going to find a dismembered body I instantly fell back to sleep.
Picture: Home sweet home!
A few things about my sleep set up,
First the bag you see in a Montbell 35 degree down bag. I chose down becuase it is the lightest most comprssionable insulation out there. Most nights got into the mid to upper 30's but there were a couple that went below freezing. I also used a silk bag liner, wwhich only weighs a couple ounces but adds 10 degrees of warmth to your set up. I also slept in my base layers seeing as after a couple days you can't stand the feeling of your dirty oily skin in contact with other skin. For a pillow I stuffed my insulating layer tops and two vests rolled together into my insulating bottoms. You could then tie the legs together and it wouln't come undone during the night.
I used a Neo Air air matress which rolls up to about the size of a nalgene bottle and weighs about 9 oz while giving you 2.5" of cushion.
4:30am came quick and I had a herd of elk within 150 yards of my tent!
I dressed and ate quietly with a minimal amount of light. I heated some water, made a double cup of coffee, and waited for some light.
It was not hard figuring what was going on in the herd. Occasionally you could hear some some mewing from the cows and calves, but the bulls told the story. One mature deep bugle would resonate from the center of the herd from one direction to the next answering lesser satellites who bugled from safe distances away. All the bugles were straight bugles without challenge with the exception of one. One deep, throaty bugle woould on occasion call out with a series of grunts that followed. The big bull would move towards him bugling but then would return to the same spot.
At daybreak I was off. I didn't know what to even attempt to try so I just played the wind and snuck in toward the herd. I was somewhere in between the challenging bull and some smaller sounding bulls when I started hearing cows to my left and behind me. I was in the herd. I gave a whine and some nonthreatening chuckles and got a blast from the herd bull. As luck would have it the challenger was also moving my way and I could just barely make him out as he was working my was. At about 70 to 80 yards I could see him. He was a good 380" 6X6 with tremendous fronts, great thirds and tops, and had great mass. He was dark racked with ivory tipped points. The picture perfect bull elk!
I focused on him and was unaware of the herd bull who was now within 50 yards of me and heading to my downwind side. You just kind of lose track of the rest of the world when you're watching an elk as big as that 6 moving in your general direction. Somewhere in between deciding what to try on him, the herdbull noticed me. With a loud bark he let everyone know something was there that shouldn't be. I slowly turned around and saw an absolute forest of antler on an enormous elk frame. Seven on the right, seven on the left and I had nothing in my elk hunting past to compare its measure to. It was there looking at me, turned away, and trotted off towards it's cows.
Then there was another bark. Yep, the 6X6 saw me, and in a heartbeat he too was gone. But I was still there! Shaking, smiling and banging my head against a tree. Once in a lifetime!
I hunted the rest of that morning, and though bumping a couple of small raghorns and a muledeer, didn't have much luck at locating any workable elk. I made it back to camp at about 11:00, ate lunch, napped, and woke up around one to thunder. By 2:30 it was raining and I was sitting in the tent pouring over the map, considering the logistics of dead elk, remaining days, and departing flights. I was 24 hours from putting this hunt in the books, and heading back to civilization. The end was in sight and it was looking like tag soup again.
:campfire:
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmtiredsm.jpg)
Within the hour the rain had stopped and I was out of the tent and heading towards a new northeast facing slope of one of the finger ridges of the canyon I was in. I was maybe 1/2 mile from camp when the sky ripped open and I found myself in a typical New Mexico afternoon deluge....without my raingear. I ran to some small pines, crawled under one and broke the lower boughs stacking them over my head on the overhanging branches making a roof of sorts. It worked!
I sat under the pine and waited out the rain. It kept me dry enough that I wouldn't have to give up the evenings hunt. Eventually it stopped and I moved on.
As I neared the NE slope I could start to make out bugles. The elk were talking! I maneuvered to get the wind in my favor and moved towards them. I was able to get within 150 yards of where I heard the big bull and started to stalk in slowly. I could still hear the herd bull, the challenger, and what sounded like some more satelites taunting him. I tried some lost cow calls and got all the bulls to bugle at me. I figured if I were outside the herd, and I could get a satelite interested, particularily the big 380" then maybe I could get a shot at one of them. It was hard to tell exactly what was going on with all the responses each time I called, but I was pretty sure I had the herdbull moving my way to check out the "lost cow."
I then had an idea. I did another lost cow sequence and then immediately ran to my right 20 yards towards where the 380" was, turned back towards where I cow called, and gave a series of chuckles. I then ran back to where I cow called and started to slowly move away from the herdbull and towards where I did the chuckle, cow calling all the way. I wanted to create the scenario that the lost cow I was immitating was moving to a satelite bull and not thee herd bull.
Everything got quiet, with the exception of some of the small bulls bugling and I got impatient. I turned from the herdbull to try the sequence again and heard an alarm bark. Just out of bow range and partially screened by small pines the 380 stood looking straight at me. I then heard some small branches breaking to my left and turned to see the herdbull slithering away. He too was just out of bow range. Pretty soon there were elk rumps everywhere trotting off to parts unknown.
They were all gone and I was alone. I shook my head and walked over to where the 380" stood. The area reaked of elk. I drew it in knowing it was probably the last chance I had. I was physically drained and finding more elk would mean moving farther from camp and a longer walk back in the dark.
I flopped down on the ground, pulled out my map and a cliff bar, and started looking at where I'd been, what I'd seen, and what I'd missed. I noticed one long flat bench that paralled the ridge I was on all the way to a huge burn about a mile away. I'd only seen the spot from a high peak a few days earlier and recalled I heard elk bugling from that general direction. What the heck, it was my last evening to hunt.
I headed toward the burn with daylight running out and only stopped from time to time to call and listen for a response. I was almost to the peak when I got two responses within 100 yards. I dropped over the side of the ridge and moved quickly. Soon I was hearing some familiar bugles and found myself almost running right into the center of the herd I was working earlier. I could hear the herd bull straight in front of me, and the 380 far down below him. I had bulls to my left and could hear cows mewing and chirping all over in front of me. I dropped to my knees and crawled a good 50 yards without being detected. The herd bull was moving around a small area bugling back at the satelites from both sides if him. At one point I could see his back and rack 40 yards in front of me. I was close!
Usually it's a breeze to the back of the neck that preludes being busted, but not this time, it was the surrounding cows closing in around me. I could hear them at first just in front of me, but soon they were on all three sides. I tried to do a lost cow call to see if I could get the big guy just 10 yards closer, but immediately I had two bugles within 30 yards to my left.
Within seconds I could see elk legs moving towards me through the underscore. A good 6X6 peered over some pines at 20 yards. A slightly smaller 5X6 flanked him. They watched me for a few minutes crouched behind a tiny fir tree and then turned away. The herdbull had moved off towards the 380 and sonded like he was about 75 yards away. I hit the lost cow again and really pput some serious urgency in it. The two bulls came back and this time got within 15 yards of me. I was on one knee with an arrow nocked and my fingers were tightening on the string. We stared each other down and he eventually turned to leave. In one fluid motion I stood when his back was turned, started to draw, and as he turned to look back he presented me with a 25 yard downhill quartering away shot. I picked my spot, found my anchor, and released. It was like shooting a whitetail from a treestand.
With a "thunk" the arrow buried to the fletching and the bull took off with his partner in tow. He ran right back into the herd and past the herdbull. I listened for a few moments and thought I heard a hoarking sound. I marked the spot with some tape, recorded it on my GPS and slipped back out of there. I would give him time to die and look for him in the morning.
It was a long 1.5 mile hike to camp but I swear I floated the whole way back! I kept playing the encounter over and over in my mind.
I found camp, made a quick dinner and was in my sleeping bag in record time. Morning couldn't come soon enough!
Picture: Celebration dinner of high calorie potatoe goo.
excellent story!! great telling of it!
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmfoundsm.jpg)
Daybreak found me back at the shot. I could follow his tracks for abouut 15 yards and then started finding blood drolets. None were bigger than a quarter, and a good deal of time was spent on my knees following tracks and looking for possible escape paths he could have taken.
It was about 70 yards from the shot that the real blood appeared. It looked as if someone took a measuring cup full of blood and slowly spilled it as they walked and then dumped it all on the ground at once. I found another just like it 5 yards ahead and this looked like a quart spilled! I then looked up and this is what I saw. (Minus the bow, of course!)
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmbullsm.jpg)
I was at a loss for words. I knelt beside the elk and just couldn't believe the size of him. I leaned over, buried my face in his neck and inhaled until it hurt. It was a smell I never want to forget.
I gave thanks to the Lord, performed a Last bite ritual, took some photos, and then went to work making meat.
It took 4 hours to quarter and debone him, and cache the quarters in the deep cool shade. I picked out the quickest route on my map, loaded up one quarter and the neck meat, and made for the trail head. Time was of the essence.
It was exactly 4.9 miles, as the crow flies, from the kill to the trailhead. I figured that first load was close to 100lbs and it nearly killed me getting it out. At the main campground I ran into the guide I met earlier in the Wildernesss and his outfitter. They had a wrangler there who offered to pack the rest of my elk out for a small fee. I jumped at the opportunity and agreed to meet him back here at the trailhead at 7:00am.
I then made tracks back to the kill, moved the cache another 100yards away from the carcass, and by dark was ready to go back for my final night in the Gila.
I left my stinky socks and shirt just uphill from the cash, and urinated on the downhill side to keep coyotes off the meat. My shirt stunk so bad it could have repelled a starving grizzly!
I made it back to camp and collapsed without dinner in my bag that night.
This is awesome. I've been on Tradgang today about 25 times with the sole purpose of updates on this story. Loved every bit of it.
(http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/ab129/billwatts2/nmfinalsm.jpg)
5:00am found me up and breaking camp.
I made it to the cache and inspected it for coyote damage. None. I then headed for the trailhead again and had to run half the way so I wouldn't miss the wrangler.
He was there with a horse and two mules and offered me one to ride. I declined. Horses are evil!
We made it back to the cache, loaded it and hauled it out. I carried the head for asthetics, but could have put it on one of thee mules. It just seemed like the thing to do leaving such a place and bringing such an incredible hunt to a close.
We unloaded the elk at my rental car and I was off to the proccessor.
It was done! Finally after four years of trying I finally got it right. I had killed an elk; solo, in the wilderness, and with a stickbow. It may not have been the "funnest" hunt I've ever been on but it was without a doubt the most satisfying. I felt as if I were tested, and pushed to my limits. Nothing can compare to the feeling of being out there. The beauty, solitude, and tragedy and nothing can touch the soul any deeper then pursueing such an incredible animal with such a simple weapon.
It will be a long wait until next September.
Hope you guys enjoyed the story, and all have great elk hunts this year. Thanks for reading,
Watts
Very few hunts could be more rewarding than what you experienced. The highs and lows of elk hunting is what has always kept me coming back to the mountains year after year. Thanks for sharing.
Nice! Enjoying the story and pics.
WOW! Congrats! What a story! Thanks for sharing.
Bill, the story and pics are simply amazing. Getting that elk must of been the ultimate high. Elk or no elk I'd say you had a hunt that only some of us can dream of. Thanks for sharing your memories.
Helluva hunt and story. Thanks for sharing. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Great hunt that was made even better by a great story!
Nicely done Bill! :thumbsup:
Thanks for sharing, that was awesome!
One of the best elk stories I've had the pleasure of reading! For an elk hunter it just doesn't get much better than that. Great job!!
OUTSTANDING!!!
Thanks for taking the time to put the post together, great job with that as well.
What a great hunt!!!
What a ride!!!
pat is one of the all time best stories ever on Trad Gang!!
What a ride!!!
pat is one of the all time best stories ever on Trad Gang!!
Well done .... and well told...congrats all around... :thumbsup:
Thanks for the well written story. I enjoyed every bit of it. Congratulations-well done!
Thanks for your story. Well done.
Very well done! and congrats on a fine bull. Any chance of including your gear list? I just think that a trip like yours is one that most of us dream about and telling your experience and insight helps make some of ours closer to a reality.
Fantastic hunt, great story telling, enjoyed it totally. Thanks for all your efforts in sharing it and congratulations. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Fantastic story!
Congrats and great story telling! Thanks for taking the time to bring us along!
Great story,did you happened to get on the Diamond. Great place.
:thumbsup:
Wow!
Thanks for sharing!
Congrats and thank you a hundred times for taking the time to post your adventure. THIS IS WHAT TRADITIONAL BOW HUNTING IS ABOUT!!!!
Wow. What an awesome adventure. Very well described, too. Thank you for taking the time to tell it.
I want to know more about that breakfast concoction.
Fell asleep reading this last night, just shy of the end. Glad you got it done, I knew you would just by reading and how you wrote the story.
Thanks for sharing, and congratulations.
Outstanding. Great story telling...
merci , for the story !!
i'm sure you'll never forget it , even if you killed a few more .
i wish everybody to have such tale to tell to their children and grand children ....
Bill, I love the Gila and for the first time in 5 years will not be hunting it this year, but this story brought back a lot of fulfilling memories of that place for me. Awesome story thanks for sharing!
awesome reading! how did you get the "self" portraits? they came out GREAT!
L.R.
Man what a ride!!!!!! :archer:
Very well done! A tradgang classic for sure. Congrats. :clapper:
Great storytelling. This has me itching for September to get here.
Thanks for posting Bill. My first DIY Elk hunt coming up this September. This gave me additional drive and insight as to what's ahead. Your opening picture spoke volume's.
Congratulations on your beautiful bull. What an awesome story and very well told. Thank you for taking us along. This should be great motivation for this seasons upcoming elk hunters.
That was a great story...thank you!!
Thank you everyone for the kind words. When I get some time I will share last years Nevada muley and elk solo hunts I went on.
I will also post more on this thread about the equipment I used and other logistics that went into planning the hunt. I still use most of what I used in this hunt but have improved a few things that have made for better hunts.
Bill
Awesome. Best thread ever. I can not wait to hear more stories!
Great job. You really know how to tell a story.
Congrats on the bull!
Awesomely put together! Great pictures and narrative! Looked like a great shot on that bull too! Congrats!
Wow, congrats! Thanks for the story and pics! :campfire:
Best elk hunting story I remember reading. Looking forward to "the list" and your other stories. Congratulations on doing it "The hard way" all around, and being able to tell about it so well!
Looking forward to the LIST, too. and I still want to know more about that breakfast mix.
We got so tired of the MH eggs and bacon last year I could hardly even eat breakfast toward the end of our hunt.
Just read this while thread. What a great tale. Thanks for sharing!
What a fantastic experience!!! Thank you for sharing it!!
Now that is the way you tell a story!!!!
You my friend have lived a dream congrats!!!!
QuoteOriginally posted by PowDuck:
Looking forward to the LIST, too. and I still want to know more about that breakfast mix.
We got so tired of the MH eggs and bacon last year I could hardly even eat breakfast toward the end of our hunt.
Right there with ya. Most of their stuff is pretty good but nearly three years after eating those eggs on a regular basis, the thought of them still turns my stomach. I'll be taking anything BUT MH eggs this year and his breakfast concoction immediately caught my eye too.
Can't wait to see the gear list. We obsess over this stuff.
Boy am I glad I clicked on this thread! Great Story, awesome hunt! I would love to be back in the mountain air chasing the elk. Nothing like a great story to help one remember.
congrats if you don't mind whats you gear list, from the big 3 down. Food, stoves, clothes. Thanks man great story
What a great story...what a great bull.
Thanks again for the responses everyone. I had no idea this would get so many likes. But then again, it is about elk hunting! :D
I am about caught up on my jobs and the paperwork and will start a new post detailing everything I can about this hunt, and the things I've improved on.
Bill
Great tale, well told.
I like the part where you've loosed an arrow and then proceed to tell us about your water set-up.
That was an oh-oh moment for sure.
Good work!
Bill,
Nice to meet you today. So glad to run into someone who is much further down this traditional road than I am. Thanks for the tips you shared. Hope to get the chance to pick your brain some more.
I was also glad to find this thread. What an awesome story! You told it so well I couldn't help but reply so that others might get the chance to read it for themselves as well. One of the best stories I have encountered on this site... and that's saying a lot.
Not done with this story yet, but Bill I got to say something. One of the very best I've read. Luv the reference to Mordor. One of the bows I should have kept was my Helms Deep. Just because.
Update just realized I read this before. Just a testimony to what a great story you told!
Gary
Awesome story telling and great job. Missed it the first go round and perfect timing because I'm in withdrawal still from the end of deer season!
Great story and story telling. Reminds me of many elk encounters of my own that have gone south. I'm glad that it got brought back to the front page :clapper:
One of the best stories I have seen on TG,this is what makes this site great with the contribution of real hardcore traditional Bowhunters.
Thankyou for posting this story and pictures. Having experienced a few similar times, this has made my day. Thankyou, Thankyou! Looking forward to more.