Netherman's 2024 Western Hunt Recap

[Netherman]

Gonna keep posting these until someone tells me to stop. I'm building up quite a file now that I plan to give the kids one day. Probably not until they're at least out of high school so they don't know all the mistakes dear old dad has made over the years.

2024
Big time tag this year. I drew a NM archery elk tag just outside the Gila that my friend will be tagging along for. After that I’ll be headed to CO for a first rifle elk hunt where my friend and brother both have tags. I should have had enough points to draw as well, but the 5 day season had me worried about getting three tags filled. So I’ll just be “guiding” my brother on that one.

NM Archery Elk

Day 0/1

Packed and got rolling after work. It was a 24+ hour drive and it sucked as bad as it sounds. Leaving in the evening was nice as we hit Chicago at a non-busy time. The 2-5am period was as awful as expected and then the following evening was equally rough. Hopefully we’ll be able to leave a bit earlier for the CO trip. After an eternity in a truck, we arrived with two full days to scout. That’s going to be new for us and hopefully worth the vacation days.

Day 2

Up dark and early we headed to the glassing point I had e-scouted. As usual I underestimated the steepness. As we switchbacked our way up to the bench we bumped a group of mule deer bucks in the gray light. Up on top we got our first real look at the state of NM. It was some cool looking country with lots of new growth as the area had a significant burn in the last 5 years. We heard a few bugles early in the lower elevations, but not a ton of talking and it all petered out before the sun was fully over the hillside. At least we know they exist…

The rest of the morning had us melting in the sun-up high where there was only 2-4’ new growth gamble oak. We wrapped around the mountain side glassing and occasionally throwing out a location bugle. They either weren’t there, weren’t talking, or liking my calls. About two miles in we got to a sweet overlook and got our first response a mile down a canyon. Marking the spot, we continued our hike into the OnX spring. It did exist but didn’t have much flowing out of it. Certainly not enough to support a heard of elk. We took a break and ate a snack and discussed whether we’d continue to the deeper spring or wrap back to the truck and go into a different part of the unit. With the heat we assumed we’d get the best talking in the morning and this spot had elk, but maybe limited due to the water situation.

As we were getting set to leave, we spotted a funny looking woodchuck where the piped spring exited. Upon further review it was a black bear cub (the tiniest one you’d ever seen). Knowing that momma wouldn’t be far behind we pulled the handguns out and began telling the cub it was time to leave. After a moment of curiosity, the cub realized what was going on and turned around. I spotted mom over a rise covering the cubs retreat before joining it. She was tiny as well. I’d guess her at 70lb and made me re-think pulling the gun as I probably would have been fine with a pocketknife or nothing at all.

The hike back to the truck was uneventful beyond two elk sheds we found. The heat was soul sucking and I don’t blame any elk that didn’t move or respond midday. Back at the truck we drove to another part of the unit with more “tanks” and did a little evening listening without a peep. Hoping for better luck in the morning…

Lessons Learned: The bears seem tiny, maybe due to limited water. Both were a cinnamon red color that I’ve heard is more common in dryer areas (better blending?). Water is the source of life and packing in doesn’t seem feasible unless you bring your water with you.

Questions: What is the best/optimal scouting plan for elk? We tried to position ourselves high to glass and hear early and then hiked into likely areas looking for sign. Not sure there’s much better, but I’m always interested in increasing my efficiency.

 

[Netherman]

Day 3

Hiking in the darkness again. We found two decomposed whitetail sheds and my friend literally stepped on a big elk shed. Seems like we’re finding the wintering grounds… We got to our planned listening and glassing point ahead of schedule, so we sat down. As we dried our sweat, we got cold and began adding layers (funny how you can be cold when the highs are in the 80s). As the black turned gray we realized we didn’t have near the glassing opportunity that dr. google had predicted. We did a location bugle with no response and then began working our way down a long ridge that fell to a water tank. The area looked “elky” or at least closer to the areas we have found elk in MT or CO with big darker pines and a cooler feeling in the bottom. We saw some weeks old rubs (bright, but needles were brown, and sap was hardened). When we got to the tank, we realized why the locals call them “dirt tanks” as it was dry and full of dirt.

Not loving the lack of water or bugles we decided our best opening day option would be to go after the late morning bugle in the way back canyon. Looking at the map it looked like we could get in there quicker from a different road. So we packed up and took another long drive across the unit. On the way out we bumped into a local who had the adjacent unit first season. He said they quit talking three days ago which really threw our minds for a loop. “Should we stay here, should we go where we were heard some closer to the road the first morning?”. After the internal and external back and forth we decided to stick with the deep canyon plan. No water ruled out the current spot, and the transitioning elk early morning made the first morning spot feel like a gamble. The canyon bugle seemed like it was bedded so at least one elk was spending time in that area.

Lessons Learned: N/A

Questions: How do more experienced hunters scout and assess areas? Seems like food, bedding, and water are the things to look for with focus on the limiting factor (water in our case).