backyardbandit
FNG
OK it’s novel time..
All DIY public land. I'm sure some of you will recognize where I was, so please keep it quiet.
I drew both mule deer and elk muzzleloader tags for NM this year, my first year entering the tag lottery. Luckily my 2nd and 3rd choices that were drawn were both muzzleloader tags and are in adjoining units so the camp move wasn’t as many hours as it could have been. My buddy(inexperienced hunter, especially out west) and I went out scouting the completely new to us state over Labor Day, so we were coming in with a plan for the hunt. Showed up 3 days early for the 7 day deer hunt and got a great camping spot with a small native brook trout stream going through it.
Did a couple days of scouting around, seeing a few bucks, a million does and fawns(which there are 0 seasons for), and a surprising concentration of bears, which I had bought an otc tag for.
The deer unit is a heavy burn scar growing back with aspen thickets, so that’s where a lot of the deer were. Day 2 of the season I was able to shoot this buck not far from the trail. I was happy with him for sure because I didn’t want to wear myself out before the elk hunt. And it’s my first velvet buck.
Day 4 of the deer hunt my buddy had to fly back home for 5 days(6 calendar days) of work. As it worked out, I was able to send him home with an overweight checked luggage bag of boneless ice cold venison so I didn’t have to deal with it the next couple weeks. American didn’t charge overweight fees either which was nice.
Time for 6 days of me time!
Since elk season didn’t start for 7 days and I was holding a bear tag and had seen some, the next morning I took the 300wby out to the bear hotspot and after the fog lifted just enough to see, I spotted a color phase boar black bear at 315 yards and was able to kill(on video using my tripod) my first bear! Immediately after that the fog lowered back down. Went to camp to get my frame pack and supplies and made the uncomfortable eerie solo walk through the oakbrush in the dense fog to recover it. I got him all skinned out and deboned looking over my shoulder the whole time..
After tagging out in that unit, I had a little moment and cooked some deer inner tenderloins that night and packed up camp Monday and headed to Santa Fe to check in my bear and head to the other unit.
Rain, hail and general aggravation that day ran me out of time so I got a hotel for a couple hot showers and seeing what my work email disaster looked like. I also grabbed a little 5 cubic ft deep freezer to freeze the bear hide ,head and meat, and also have it to rotate elk meat in and out of coolers/freezer as needed running it a few hours a day with the inverter generator. Highly recommended!
Right back up into the new unit mountains the next morning to get elk camp set up, and I was able to score the exact campsite we scouted out Labor Day. Freaking gorgeous 30 yards behind the tent looking left and right. The tent was at 10,400' of elevation.
All DIY public land. I'm sure some of you will recognize where I was, so please keep it quiet.
I drew both mule deer and elk muzzleloader tags for NM this year, my first year entering the tag lottery. Luckily my 2nd and 3rd choices that were drawn were both muzzleloader tags and are in adjoining units so the camp move wasn’t as many hours as it could have been. My buddy(inexperienced hunter, especially out west) and I went out scouting the completely new to us state over Labor Day, so we were coming in with a plan for the hunt. Showed up 3 days early for the 7 day deer hunt and got a great camping spot with a small native brook trout stream going through it.
Did a couple days of scouting around, seeing a few bucks, a million does and fawns(which there are 0 seasons for), and a surprising concentration of bears, which I had bought an otc tag for.
The deer unit is a heavy burn scar growing back with aspen thickets, so that’s where a lot of the deer were. Day 2 of the season I was able to shoot this buck not far from the trail. I was happy with him for sure because I didn’t want to wear myself out before the elk hunt. And it’s my first velvet buck.
Day 4 of the deer hunt my buddy had to fly back home for 5 days(6 calendar days) of work. As it worked out, I was able to send him home with an overweight checked luggage bag of boneless ice cold venison so I didn’t have to deal with it the next couple weeks. American didn’t charge overweight fees either which was nice.
Time for 6 days of me time!
Since elk season didn’t start for 7 days and I was holding a bear tag and had seen some, the next morning I took the 300wby out to the bear hotspot and after the fog lifted just enough to see, I spotted a color phase boar black bear at 315 yards and was able to kill(on video using my tripod) my first bear! Immediately after that the fog lowered back down. Went to camp to get my frame pack and supplies and made the uncomfortable eerie solo walk through the oakbrush in the dense fog to recover it. I got him all skinned out and deboned looking over my shoulder the whole time..
After tagging out in that unit, I had a little moment and cooked some deer inner tenderloins that night and packed up camp Monday and headed to Santa Fe to check in my bear and head to the other unit.
Rain, hail and general aggravation that day ran me out of time so I got a hotel for a couple hot showers and seeing what my work email disaster looked like. I also grabbed a little 5 cubic ft deep freezer to freeze the bear hide ,head and meat, and also have it to rotate elk meat in and out of coolers/freezer as needed running it a few hours a day with the inverter generator. Highly recommended!
Right back up into the new unit mountains the next morning to get elk camp set up, and I was able to score the exact campsite we scouted out Labor Day. Freaking gorgeous 30 yards behind the tent looking left and right. The tent was at 10,400' of elevation.
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