- Joined
- Aug 4, 2016
- Messages
- 972
Average Joe's 2019
- Thread starter Lostinthewoods
- Start date
sn.outdoors
Well-known member
I'm definitely not in eastern New Mexico anymore.
LCH
Well-known member
Beautiful buck!
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2016
- Messages
- 972
Thank you! I am still on cloud 9 because of him!
bowhuntmontana
Well-known member
Great buck! Looks like he has some really heavy bases. Congrats.
sn.outdoors
Well-known member
Found a decent starting point today.
I spent most of the day driving around, checking roads and water tanks. I spent the evening near water and glassing a mountain while looking directly into the setting sun (obviously not effectively.)
Despite being blinded by the sun, about 45 minutes before dark, 3 cows, a calf and a spike walked in front of me at about 40 yards as they headed to the water tank. I honestly wasn't expecting them to come so close, since I was basically sitting in open on a wide open hillside and about 150 yards away from the water. They never saw me or winded me, so they splashed around for a few minutes then left.
Pretty decent start to the hunt. Now I just need to find a nice bull and kill him. Simple, not easy.
I spent most of the day driving around, checking roads and water tanks. I spent the evening near water and glassing a mountain while looking directly into the setting sun (obviously not effectively.)
Despite being blinded by the sun, about 45 minutes before dark, 3 cows, a calf and a spike walked in front of me at about 40 yards as they headed to the water tank. I honestly wasn't expecting them to come so close, since I was basically sitting in open on a wide open hillside and about 150 yards away from the water. They never saw me or winded me, so they splashed around for a few minutes then left.
Pretty decent start to the hunt. Now I just need to find a nice bull and kill him. Simple, not easy.
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2016
- Messages
- 972
Thank you!
I was super pleased with his mass!
He was just tad over 40” of mass which is something I’ve always wanted to hit!
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2016
- Messages
- 972
I had the pleasure of hitting Harvey and Butler county this trip!
They were both good to me!
I must also admit.... I love spangles ice cream!
Super
Freddy's Frozen Custard (multiple locations) and Andy's (21st/Webb) await your tasting the next visit.
sn.outdoors
Well-known member
Glassed up a few bulls this morning. None of them were quite what I'm looking for, so I'm gonna hike to the other side of the mountain to see what I can see.
sn.outdoors
Well-known member
Didn't have any close encounters last night. I did find another herd of bulls in a canyon adjacent to the one I glassed yesterday morning. The first batch of elk to come out were all smaller than I'm willing to hike for.
I did see a big bull at last light. I wasn't able to get a pic of him through the spotter, but he was a huge 5 point. Definitely a shooter. Gameplan for the morning would be to get to the saddle I saw them use. Hopefully they'd bed in the same place.
----
This morning started at 0330, and the hike started around 430. The bright moon helped make the walk slightly less difficult.
I made it to my pre-ambush spot as the sun was rising.
Not surprisingly, the elk were still in the canyon... Only problem was that they were 500ft higher than I thought they would be. I needed to get to the next bench before they did.
Well I made it, but not quite fast enough. I got pinned down behind a few pine trees. The elk were feeding up from my right, and when they got to the top of the ridge (behind the pine trees) they turned directly up the ridge and never have me a shot....
Well... Several decent bulls did present shot opportunities, but this guy was in the back.
The bull was at 110yds in that photo. The only other 'chance' I had at him would have been a 97yd shot. Just a bit too far considering the other 8 bulls passed by me within 70. As luck would have it, the big one never gave me a shot.
I don't regret passing on the other bulls. I do, however, regret leaving my nice camera out of reach. I could've had a ton of awesome pics, but such is life.
Unfortunately the wind switched after the bulls passed by me. I'm pretty certain they winded me when they were 150-200yds away, but they didn't spoke off too bad.
Right now I'm sitting with my feet up, enjoying the warm sun while I have it, and debating my next move.
Is climbing 2000 vertical feet, getting within 100yds of 9 bulls, and not getting a shot off fun? Sure doesn't feel like fun right now.
I did see a big bull at last light. I wasn't able to get a pic of him through the spotter, but he was a huge 5 point. Definitely a shooter. Gameplan for the morning would be to get to the saddle I saw them use. Hopefully they'd bed in the same place.
----
This morning started at 0330, and the hike started around 430. The bright moon helped make the walk slightly less difficult.
I made it to my pre-ambush spot as the sun was rising.
Not surprisingly, the elk were still in the canyon... Only problem was that they were 500ft higher than I thought they would be. I needed to get to the next bench before they did.
Well I made it, but not quite fast enough. I got pinned down behind a few pine trees. The elk were feeding up from my right, and when they got to the top of the ridge (behind the pine trees) they turned directly up the ridge and never have me a shot....
Well... Several decent bulls did present shot opportunities, but this guy was in the back.
The bull was at 110yds in that photo. The only other 'chance' I had at him would have been a 97yd shot. Just a bit too far considering the other 8 bulls passed by me within 70. As luck would have it, the big one never gave me a shot.
I don't regret passing on the other bulls. I do, however, regret leaving my nice camera out of reach. I could've had a ton of awesome pics, but such is life.
Unfortunately the wind switched after the bulls passed by me. I'm pretty certain they winded me when they were 150-200yds away, but they didn't spoke off too bad.
Right now I'm sitting with my feet up, enjoying the warm sun while I have it, and debating my next move.
Is climbing 2000 vertical feet, getting within 100yds of 9 bulls, and not getting a shot off fun? Sure doesn't feel like fun right now.
Crossbowguy
Well-known member
You guys are doing awesome as usual, keep up the great work! Love following along on your ventures!
sn.outdoors
Well-known member
Found a dinosaur toof.
Also jumped 5 small bulls on top of the mountain. Looked like the herd I saw yesterday morning. No shortage of bulls up here. Just need to get a shot off.
Also jumped 5 small bulls on top of the mountain. Looked like the herd I saw yesterday morning. No shortage of bulls up here. Just need to get a shot off.
sn.outdoors
Well-known member
Well, the last few days were all together uneventful. I spent the last 2 days mostly scouting the rest of the roads and access points around the base of the mountain. I saw 3 decent bulls first thing in the morning Tuesday, and they headed to the same place the other bulls went Monday. So I'm pretty confident I know where at least one bedroom is. It's just a matter of coming at it with a good wind... Which I haven't had.
I had the close encounter Monday where the 'X' is. The elk walked left from there and onto the dense hillside.
It was a wet rain/snow mix all day yesterday, which made for some miserable hiking. The winds were terribly inconsistent, so hiking around seemed even more like a waste of my time. The clouds were low, therefore glassing was impossible. All in all yesterday equated to a ton of energy expended for very little gain.
After an exhausting day and a forecast calling for continued precipitation, I decided the best move for my morale would be to sleep in this morning.
And boy, I feel great after a solid 9hrs. Also, the forecast is looking promising for this afternoon and should be sunny again tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to the snow melting and raining off the trees, but I imagine the be bulls will be up and feeding in full force starting today. Hopefully the snow doesn't push them off the mountain entirely. I guess we'll just have to find out.
I had the close encounter Monday where the 'X' is. The elk walked left from there and onto the dense hillside.
It was a wet rain/snow mix all day yesterday, which made for some miserable hiking. The winds were terribly inconsistent, so hiking around seemed even more like a waste of my time. The clouds were low, therefore glassing was impossible. All in all yesterday equated to a ton of energy expended for very little gain.
After an exhausting day and a forecast calling for continued precipitation, I decided the best move for my morale would be to sleep in this morning.
And boy, I feel great after a solid 9hrs. Also, the forecast is looking promising for this afternoon and should be sunny again tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to the snow melting and raining off the trees, but I imagine the be bulls will be up and feeding in full force starting today. Hopefully the snow doesn't push them off the mountain entirely. I guess we'll just have to find out.
sn.outdoors
Well-known member
Today was fun, but I did not kill an elk. I guess I'm going to get my money's worth out of the tag.
Crossbowguy
Well-known member
Hope you packed your snow camo!
sn.outdoors
Well-known member
What's camo?
Crossbowguy
Well-known member
Give um hell fella!
sn.outdoors
Well-known member
Long night tonight...
