ELK=It's About Tip Off Time!

[highmountian]

Well the game is about to start tomorrow when I leave for New Mexico on my elk hunt. I will be leaving around noon and try to get to Moab Utah. This will put me out about 8 hours from my unit. I will pull into camp sunday late afternoon and will set up camp in hope's to get out to do some glassing of the country that evening. I will be lucky enough to have all week to scout for a bigger bull. I am looking forward to getting to know the unit very well before my hunt open's up on the next Sunday. I will try and do quarterly updates on the hunt and also will try to post pictures as I go. I will be videoing everything for the first week n hope to post some good pictures of the scouting and maybe the hunt!

I hope to have cell service most of the time so I will see what the game brings. I hope it doesn't go down to the fourth quarter and I have to pull out all the tricks. Looking forward to the hunt n will do my best to keep the game updates coming. Hope all have success on there own hunts and can't wait to see HT when I get back! Good luck to all and shoot straight and kill big.

I Will let you know when game over for sure!!!!

 

[Oak]

Good luck down there, and be careful by yourself. Solo hunts are always more mentally draining, so you might want to check in here once in a while for a little boost. I'm looking forward to seeing what you can come up with on that hunt.

 

[Sytes]

Good luck with your scouting / hunt! Look forward to following your adventure.

Best of success!

 

[highmountian]

Well the game is over! Will try and update you all soon! I need to down load pictures and video! I had a great trip! Successfull too!

 

[highmountian]

My Trip

Well, I camp on the west side of the unit and the nearest cell service was 37 miles away! Sorry for not having any updates but there just wasn't any cell service. trip was long to say the least driving 26 hours to get to camp. I did this in 2 days and arrived in camp on the Sunday evening. I hurried up and set camp to get out for some scouting. by the time I drove 9 mile farther in to the end of the raod it was getting dark. I meet 4 guys coming down off the mounitan and talk with them till dark! They had heard some bulls and had me fired up! I let them off and sat in the dark looking at the map and decided to get out and bugle for the fun of it! Man did the canyon light up! I actually heard to biggest hardest bugle I have ever heard! Boy he sounded good. I just dotted the map and drove towards camp. I drove down the canyon about 4 miles which was about half way to camp and stopped the truck again to look at the map! With my window down and just enjoying being out in elk country with the truck idleing a bull just screamed at me out my window. I shut off the truck and got out the video camera. In the dark I let out a bugle and the whole canyon lit up! 5 bugles from bothside of the raod. I swear one of the bulls come right down the main road towords me. I stopped the video after about 20 minutes of none stop action in the dark. They were going crazy! Man, It felt go to listen to screaming bulls. The action was awesome for the first 3 days and the temp started to raise. With the temp hitting the 90's plus it stopped to shut off the bugling, but man I was still having fun scout for the big bulls of New Mexico!
It was now wesdneday and I haven't seen anything over 350! That afternoon it hit a new area and was bumming around some differnent country when I got a look at a bull and a cow. This bull was a long way off but looked good! As I got closer to him for a better look I could see he was a 315 to 320 bull and not the big boy! He had a satelite bull by him also but he was really small 4x5! I started to bugle at the bigger bull and he would respond t every call! so would the little bull. After about 30 minutes a bull bugled between us, about 200 yards away. At first I thought it was a hunter but evey once in a while the bull would cut loose and I knew it wasn't. Man to my surprise when he stepped out. WOW was he big, 350 easy! When I total him back at the camper I came up with 364. He got a star by the dot on the map! This was the end of the first quarter of the game!! So far so good! Plus was in some great looking country! Second quarter to come. I have to get back to work....

 

[highmountian]

More scouting, plus pictures!!

This is great elk country.

 

[Moosie]

DUDE... keep um coming !!!

 

[highmountian]

Still Scouting

Lots and Lots of RUBS!!!!!!!

 

[highmountian]

Middle of the week! not quite half time.

Well scouting was going really good. I had been way up high and also down low. Everywhere in between. This Unit has it all. Steep n Deep and low with flat rolly hills.
Iwas due to rain today for the first time and man was I excited. It had been 90 plus degrees everyday and the bugling was starting to let up. I had just got back to camp and n the trailor when the skies opened up! WOW, did it rain. in about 2 hours it flat put down. For as dry as country is that is, there was water running everywhere. I had camped by a dry creek bed and in about 3 hours it was a nice running creek. It had actually woke me up from my nap. I thought it was the wind but the trailer wasn't moving or shaking. As I stepped outside I could not beleive that there was ragging water coming down the creek. It was my first experience with that much rain.
Well the rain had stopped so it was off to scout n look for elk.:hump::hump:

 

[Buschy]

Don't pull a Khunter and leave us hangin' here. I am waiting for the next installment!

 

[noharleyyet]

I need more pics to escape this office...keep em coming!

 

[Ridge Runner]

Keep it coming you tease!

 

[highmountian]

Well it is half time!!

Well half the game is over and everything is looking good. Seen some bulls in the 300's and the bugling is still ok. At this point in the game I have only seen 1 bull over 350. he was a really nice bull. I guessed him at 363 to 365! He was a great bull to put a dot on the map.. He had a star by his name for sure! I headed to a place that alot of people told me about for some afternoon scouting! Knowing the elk would be in there beds I was just looking for track and wallows! I knew this pond had water so I was going to check it out. I drove up in my truck and jumped out to look around. The elk had been tearing this place up! Man did it look good. Rubs and water. Fresh wallows, muddy! running water. what more could I ask for, I let a bugle for the fun of it just to say I will be back.
I ran back to the truck and jumped in, spun the truck around and right in front of me there are 2 hunters with one big dead elk!!! Naturally I throhg it in park and jumped back out!! Wow there was a monster bull laying dead in front of me at one of my best elk spots so far! I was very happy for the hunter that shot the elk because it was his first and first year hunting elk with a bow!!! Gary good job!! It couldn't of happened to nicer people! Joe, I hope you get yours!! So I took some pictures and some video like anybody would do my photo album and drove back to camp a little bummed for that big elk was taken out of the books. But that hunt'n. Off to find another one!
I headed into town for some gas and ice. I drove placed the gas station and just to find another monster bull in the back of a mega cab dodge! So yes I jumped out and went to drowll some more! As luck would have it, it wasn't killed in my unit. The bull was easily 360 plus. It tops were awesome but just needed better bottom's. 1's 2's n 3's were a little short! Another first time hunter with a bow!
Well half time is almost over so will post more later!! Enjoy these to bulls with more to come!

 

[Moosie]

It tops were awesome but just needed better bottom's.

Dude... my WIFE is exactly backwards ....

 

[Dinkshooter]

I swear, I better draw another NM tag in my life. Cripes that thing is a pig.

 

[Oak]

And....????

 

[highmountian]

3rd quarter!

Well, scouting had been good and I been hearing and seeing some bulls. I am now going on a week by myself and was wishing I could be sharing my excitement with family and friends. The problem was being 37 miles from cell service and 67 from town! This was kinda hard to do. There was only one camp that was by mine so I jumped on the 4 wheeler to see how they were doing! This camp had 3 elk tags and 1 deer tag! We started to swap stories and there were getting into elk but counldn't get close enough! I asked if I could tag along and try to help. This camp was a great group of guy's, but they didn't know how to bugle. All they were using was a cow call. That night we split up into 2 group's. James and I were in one group and the other 3 wanted to hunt lower on the mountian. Long story short, I called in a really nice 6x6 for james that he shot a 22 yards, all on video! We had a great time. Will try and get a picture off the video if I can. Sorry, I forgot too!
More scouting and calling was in order so the next day I was back at it. Covering country while calling and glassing. I would like to know how big you guy's think these 2 bulls are? Sorry for the bad quality, I took my cell phone and just took pictures of the video on the TV. Let me know what you think about these bulls. Very interested in your thoughts! If I everget the video down loaded I will try n share some.
The 3rd quarter is coming to a close and it sure gets fun in the fourth!

 

[Bwana]

I would guess then to be roughly....shooters!

 

[highmountian]

Sorry, work keeps getting in the way of posts!! Yet another rub in an area that there was supposed to be a great big bull! I kid in the picutre saw him but I never did. 370 plus! I think this might be one of his rubs though! James is about 6.3" and there was quite a rub line down this canyon! I wish I would of got a look at him!

 

[highmountian]

Rub!!

There were quite a few trees like this one!!!