NM Archery Elk Recap 2019

[ShakeDown]

So, reading the story posted by @cnelk this morning motivated me to post our 2019 New Mexico hunt story. I will try to be as succinct

Backdrop: The NM application Gods smiled on my youngest brother, selecting him for a mid tier Gila unit second archery tag his first time applying. We grew up in NM, and have hunted elk since we were young, but mostly on muzzy and rifle tags.

We knew the unit well, but never have hunted the rut before. Hit summer scouting hard and ran about 10-12 cameras. NM had a great moisture year in ‘19 and the scouting did not disappoint.

 

[ShakeDown]

September finds myself, two of my brothers, and our old man in God’s country. We were into elk from opening morning, setting up on two bulls but bad wind and poor weather led to no shot opportunity.

 

[ShakeDown]

Day 2 weather was much better. We split into pairs with my father and non-shooter brother (Noah) finding a glassing perch and tag holding brother (Zeke) and myself running a drainage we had scouted the days prior to the hunt along the unit boundary.

About an hour before first light we hear our first bugle of the day, and are able to move into a few hundred yards.

Few bulls we had seen in the days leading up to the hunt had harems yet, so I was primarily cow calling. As sunrise hits we get the wind right and set up. Using what Chris Roe would call a series of lost mews and assembly mews Mr. Lonely comes up the drainage. As the bull came into sight, it was apparent my brother should have drawn sooner. At about 20 yds Zeke gets a prehistoric roar from Mr. Lonely as he looks up the hill and sees no cow. 50 yards away I watch as Mr. Lonely realizes the jig is up and bolts.

Mr. Lonely was a very wide 6x with long mains. He was a shooter.

 

[ShakeDown]

Day 3 finds us in a new area, a few hours before daylight. Pops slept in, so it is just us 3 brothers. We are slowly making our way along a bottom, listening.

About 20 minutes before legal light I send out a light contact bugle and immediately get an answer. Then another. Then another. There are at least 6 bulls in this valley, and they are singing to each other.

I get a bit more aggressive, and immediately get cut off by the first bull, Diesel. And he is coming.

Wind is good but worried about thermals, we swing around and get side-hill. This area is much more open, and Zeke sets up about 100yd ahead. I ask my brother Noah to rake a tree, while I set about sounding like a really desirable lady elk. Diesel comes unglued. I cut him off, ratcheting it up to 100 on the tube.

Meanwhile, Zeke has cut the distance some. Diesel is coming with ill intent, and Zeke has a broadside shot at around 30yds, uphill. He makes it count.

 

[ShakeDown]

We hear the shot and a crash. Meet up with Zeke and the only thing he says (at this point I had not seen Diesel) was, “Hit a little low, good bull”.

Diesel is piled up 40 yds away.

 

[Doghed]

Nice!!!

 

[ShakeDown]

Not a bad bull for his first archery elk, eh?

 

[Doghed]

Congrats to you guys.
Good Gila bull.

 

[ShakeDown]

All the action was done by 8am, and then we got to work. With three of us it went pretty quick. It also helped that I was able to find an access road less than 2 miles away, mostly downhill.

 

[ShakeDown]

We were back at camp by 3pm. The best part of the trip was showing up and seeing the utter shock on Dad’s face. He honestly thought we were playing a trick on him.

Now here is the kicker... the same brother drew a first archery tag in arguably the best unit in NM this year. Looks like we will be back!

 

[ColoHtr]

Thanks for sharing, sounds like a great trip to be able to have with your brothers and Dad. Good luck this year!

 

[TNsavageman]

Great story! It’s really cool how the whole family got involved. Dad picked a heck of a morning to sleep in!! Haha

 

[loopmtz]

Awesome stuff. Shot my best bull in the Gila!

 

[cmbbulldog]

Great story and bull!

 

[ShakeDown]

Great story! It’s really cool how the whole family got involved. Dad picked a heck of a morning to sleep in!! Haha

Ha! Truth be told my most recent NM bull was in 2017, and that was a sort of passing of the torch. He’s getting a little long in the tooth and has a bit more trouble getting up the mountain. It was that hunt when his 4 grown boys took over the hunt and all the work that follows, and he sat back and watched. Maybe that is a story for another time.

Steve Rinella talks about how now that he’s older and has children, he sees his father and how he never would leave the kids behind. About how that as a kid you take that for granted. That is exactly my father, and really spoke to me.

 

[jpe5714]

awesome bull and cool story and pics. Congrats and Thanks for sharing

 

[ShakeDown]

Appreciate it gents.

 

[ShakeDown]

I’ve posted this before, but here is the final euro.

 

[huntngolf]

Great stuff, thank you for sharing. Had to be extra special having all the family involved

 

[JPD350]

Good write up and some great pics, thanks for sharing!