I made it to New Mexico.
I've had a decently eventful day so far. I was laying down to to take a nap around 10, after not hearing any bugles around sunrise, when my attempt to get some shut eye was rudely interrupted by 4 bulls bugling all around me.
The wind was swirling really bad, and I think they were just trying to get bedded down for the day, but I tried to make a move on the one with the most favorable wind... It didn't work out. He barked a few times, I barked back, then they all grouped up an moved away while bugling up a storm.
I followed them and ended up bumping into this cow in her bed. I ranged her at 41yds, debated whether or not I wanted to end the hunt, decided not to, and pulled out the camera before she even knew I was there.
After she busted out, another bull started bugling, so I chased it until I lost it.
I'm currently sitting above where I have seen bulls bed many times in the past, but I'm a little concerned this year. I had A LOT of hunters on my trail cams from the first season. I normally don't have any.
I'm not going to be too aggressive, I think this spot needs to settle down a bit. The elk are still in here (as was evident this morning), so I'm feeling pretty good, just dead tired. Put in a lot of hours at work last week and I'm feeling it.
I'll for sure be back to 100% tomorrow. There's no better medicine for a tired body than sleeping on a 6" memory foam mattress in the elk mountains.
This place is special to me. It's where I killed my first elk ever, a week after a rough deployment. I also killed my first elk with a bow here, 3 years ago. It feels so good to be back.
***Also, Dan's helping a guy pack out an elk***
Things are looking good!