Jaker_cc
WKR
This was my wife’s first elk tag, and we took it at her pace. She wrote daily notes so this story will be through her eyes. Not exactly how I saw it sometimes, but how she saw it. Hope y’all enjoy
“If you are interested to know how our elk hunt went in New Mexico, and if you have 10 mins to read, I took down daily updates.
The day we got to camp, it was raining its butt off, Jake drove his work truck which was a F350 and we hauled 4 ice chests, a blackstone, and our buggie on a trailer behind it. On the way up the mountain, Jake got stuck in deep mud. We were stuck for about an hour and 45 mins before someone drove by and was able to pull us out. Eventually, We had to unhitch the trailer. They pulled Jakes truck out, then we had to unload the trailer with everything that was on it. And then the buggie pulled the trailer out. Then we had to load everything back up again, it was a royal mess. After everything was out of the mud, Jake realized he had cut his two back tires with deep grooves from trying to put rocks under his tires to get out. Im just glad we got unstuck, tires are replaceable. Being stuck on the side of a mountain in the pouring rain is pretty bad. It took us another hour to drive to camp, when we got there it was raining and we had to set up our sleeping tent and our cooking tent. Our guide got there about 10 mins after we did, in order for our tag to be legal, we had to have a guide for the first 2 days of the hunt. When we finally got everything unloaded and unpacked, it was dark and it stopped raining, so Jake and the guide cut some wood that was dry so they could set up a fire to get warm around. I wasn't able to shoot my bow like I wanted to.
Day 1 - The guide took us up 2 mountains and we hiked 6.2 miles up 1,000 feet in elevation. We heard 2 bulls bugle, spooked a bull and two cows out of their bed, and glassed about 20 elk on mountain ridge. Jake somehow got a bee under his shirt and it stung him right above the belly button. We realized that our guide should have been a marathon runner. He was climbing these mountains like he was a damn mountain goat. Jake and I were dying. We had cramps and we were out of breath so we had to take a break every 50 yards. We finally got back to camp at 1pm and ate lunch and took a nap. We didn’t go hunting in the afternoon because one, my legs were so lactic that I couldn’t walk. Jake was hurting too. Two, it was raining hard again and we were tired of being cold and wet.
Day 2 - hiked 9 miles total in the morning and evening. Didn’t see any elk in the morning, but we did see 3 turkeys. When we came back for lunch I was finally able to shoot my bow. In the evening hunt, at around 7pm, We found a big mountain meadow that we sat under a tree that was in middle of the meadow. We bugled but nothing would bugle back. Then 10 mins later we saw a 5x6 bull with 4 cows come out into the meadow. He was pushing them towards the tree we were under, and I was ready to shoot him! But then it was 8pm and to dark to shoot. I couldn’t see my pins. Well then we were stuck in the middle of the field because we didn’t want to spook those elk out. So we sat there and then all of a sudden we heard bugles from every direction. The cute little bull in the meadow would sound off the weakest bugles, it was so funny. Then all of a sudden we heard what sounded like a herd of buffalo running through the woods to our right and coming straight into the meadow. Mind you we couldn’t see anything because it’s dark, but it’s a full moon so we could see the outline of their bodies. It turned out to be 10 cows and 1 big bull!! He was screaming!! Cutting the little bull off every bugle, They were just yelling at each other. Then the little bull started raking on a tree, well then the big bull got int between 2 trees and started raking hard. he was tearing those trees down he was raking so hard. It was the coolest thing to hear. I wish I could have seen it in the day time. Finally they pushed each other to the other side of the field and we were able to sneak out from behind the tree we were sitting under. The guide said that they will do that all night long since it’s a full moon. We didn’t get back to camp until 11:30pm but it was such an awesome experience.
Day 3- woke up with a paralyzing migraine, so we didn’t go hunting in the morning. As we were getting ready to go hiking, I went to the restroom and a bee had snuck its way into my long john’s. When I pulled my pants back up, it stung me right in my groin! hurt so bad but it got me going!! When we went hunting in the evening, we hiked a mile into a wallow that we found the day before that looked really good. As we were walking to it, we spooked a bull from his bed. He heard us before we could see him. We made it down to the wallow and got settled in. Got there around 4pm and I was sitting in between two trees, one in front of me and one behind me. Jake was sitting about 10 yards behind me hidden laying down. We saw 10 hen turkeys come out and eat for about 45 mins. If there would have been 1 tom, we would have been having turkey breast for supper. Then around 7:15pm I hear a loud noise behind me in the woods. It was an elk walking through the woods and the noise was getting louder and louder. As soon as I heard the noise I froze, kept repeating to myself “don’t move, don’t breathe” mainly because I couldn't see behind me so I didn’t know what it was doing or what it even was (there are bears and moo cows out here too), but it kept getting closer and closer! It walked 10 yards right next to Jake and then 4 yards right next to me! All I could move was my eyes, And it was a bull!!!! As soon as I saw it was a bull my body started shaking. It walked right past me and to the wallow to drink some water. I was in the worst position you could be in, I was sitting on my butt with my legs straight out in front of me. (We had been there for 4 hours) So in order for me to get into position to shoot, I had to get my legs under me so I could shoot on my knees. I tried doing that while he was drinking water. He was only 25 yards away and he heard every inch of me moving. Everytime he turned around I was in the weirdest position and I had to hold it. My whole body was shaking because he was so close and I was so nervous (and cold). He gave me so many great positions to shoot him, but I just couldn’t get to my knees. He ended up walking away to the left of us because he heard me moving. I was so pissed and frustrated with myself, I should have killed that bull, but he got away. So then I stay on my knees in case another one came out. Well about 15 mins later, another one did come out. I herd it again, behind us walking towards me. But this time he either smelled me or he saw me on my knees because he bolted when he got right behind us. We waited until it was too dark to shoot again but nothing else came out so we headed home. What an incredible experience having a bull elk 4 yards from me!!!! It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. But I can’t stop thinking about all the mistakes I made and let him go. On our way walking to the buggie, we saw two other hunters walking on the road. We ended up having a good conversation with them and gave them a ride back to their camp.
Day 4- I started my cycle last night so I was in pain all night long and didn’t get much sleep. So we didn’t go hunting in the morning. We slept until about 9am ate breakfast, took some medicine and then We both decided we were going to go back to the wallow and do it better. It’s a great spot and it being a little hot, there is going to be more elk in there. So we hiked back to the wallow at around noon, and found a different spot to sit, that way they arnt walking in from behind us again. And this time, I’m sitting on logs that way I don’t have to move when the elk come in. Jake also broke down a lot of tree limbs to make cover for me. I was ready for anything at any direction. And we got skunked. No elk, no mule deer, no turkeys, not even a bugle. I was so pissed. We left after it got dark. When we got back to our buggie it wouldn’t start, Jake had left the back light on. Thankfully the hunters we gave a ride to the day before were just up the road. But it was a rough road. We walked about a mile to their camp to ask if they could jump us, the only thing that would jump us with is their motercycle they would not drive their truck down that rocky road. They showed Jake how to drive it and where the battery was, gave us jumper cables and off we went. Jake drove in 1st gear the whole way with his legs sprawled out walking it. I was in the back holding on for dear life, it was also raining hard on us. I was laughing the entire time. I thought it was so funny watching Jake do something he never said he would do, and also drive it on the worst terrain you can think of, with rain and me on the back. We finally made it to the buggie and we got it started, I drove the buggie and he drove the motercycle back to their camp. God works in mysterious ways! I’m glad we befriended them the day before. He always provides because that walk all the way back to camp without the buggie would have been 11 miles uphill and it was already 9:30 at night.
“If you are interested to know how our elk hunt went in New Mexico, and if you have 10 mins to read, I took down daily updates.
The day we got to camp, it was raining its butt off, Jake drove his work truck which was a F350 and we hauled 4 ice chests, a blackstone, and our buggie on a trailer behind it. On the way up the mountain, Jake got stuck in deep mud. We were stuck for about an hour and 45 mins before someone drove by and was able to pull us out. Eventually, We had to unhitch the trailer. They pulled Jakes truck out, then we had to unload the trailer with everything that was on it. And then the buggie pulled the trailer out. Then we had to load everything back up again, it was a royal mess. After everything was out of the mud, Jake realized he had cut his two back tires with deep grooves from trying to put rocks under his tires to get out. Im just glad we got unstuck, tires are replaceable. Being stuck on the side of a mountain in the pouring rain is pretty bad. It took us another hour to drive to camp, when we got there it was raining and we had to set up our sleeping tent and our cooking tent. Our guide got there about 10 mins after we did, in order for our tag to be legal, we had to have a guide for the first 2 days of the hunt. When we finally got everything unloaded and unpacked, it was dark and it stopped raining, so Jake and the guide cut some wood that was dry so they could set up a fire to get warm around. I wasn't able to shoot my bow like I wanted to.
Day 1 - The guide took us up 2 mountains and we hiked 6.2 miles up 1,000 feet in elevation. We heard 2 bulls bugle, spooked a bull and two cows out of their bed, and glassed about 20 elk on mountain ridge. Jake somehow got a bee under his shirt and it stung him right above the belly button. We realized that our guide should have been a marathon runner. He was climbing these mountains like he was a damn mountain goat. Jake and I were dying. We had cramps and we were out of breath so we had to take a break every 50 yards. We finally got back to camp at 1pm and ate lunch and took a nap. We didn’t go hunting in the afternoon because one, my legs were so lactic that I couldn’t walk. Jake was hurting too. Two, it was raining hard again and we were tired of being cold and wet.
Day 2 - hiked 9 miles total in the morning and evening. Didn’t see any elk in the morning, but we did see 3 turkeys. When we came back for lunch I was finally able to shoot my bow. In the evening hunt, at around 7pm, We found a big mountain meadow that we sat under a tree that was in middle of the meadow. We bugled but nothing would bugle back. Then 10 mins later we saw a 5x6 bull with 4 cows come out into the meadow. He was pushing them towards the tree we were under, and I was ready to shoot him! But then it was 8pm and to dark to shoot. I couldn’t see my pins. Well then we were stuck in the middle of the field because we didn’t want to spook those elk out. So we sat there and then all of a sudden we heard bugles from every direction. The cute little bull in the meadow would sound off the weakest bugles, it was so funny. Then all of a sudden we heard what sounded like a herd of buffalo running through the woods to our right and coming straight into the meadow. Mind you we couldn’t see anything because it’s dark, but it’s a full moon so we could see the outline of their bodies. It turned out to be 10 cows and 1 big bull!! He was screaming!! Cutting the little bull off every bugle, They were just yelling at each other. Then the little bull started raking on a tree, well then the big bull got int between 2 trees and started raking hard. he was tearing those trees down he was raking so hard. It was the coolest thing to hear. I wish I could have seen it in the day time. Finally they pushed each other to the other side of the field and we were able to sneak out from behind the tree we were sitting under. The guide said that they will do that all night long since it’s a full moon. We didn’t get back to camp until 11:30pm but it was such an awesome experience.
Day 3- woke up with a paralyzing migraine, so we didn’t go hunting in the morning. As we were getting ready to go hiking, I went to the restroom and a bee had snuck its way into my long john’s. When I pulled my pants back up, it stung me right in my groin! hurt so bad but it got me going!! When we went hunting in the evening, we hiked a mile into a wallow that we found the day before that looked really good. As we were walking to it, we spooked a bull from his bed. He heard us before we could see him. We made it down to the wallow and got settled in. Got there around 4pm and I was sitting in between two trees, one in front of me and one behind me. Jake was sitting about 10 yards behind me hidden laying down. We saw 10 hen turkeys come out and eat for about 45 mins. If there would have been 1 tom, we would have been having turkey breast for supper. Then around 7:15pm I hear a loud noise behind me in the woods. It was an elk walking through the woods and the noise was getting louder and louder. As soon as I heard the noise I froze, kept repeating to myself “don’t move, don’t breathe” mainly because I couldn't see behind me so I didn’t know what it was doing or what it even was (there are bears and moo cows out here too), but it kept getting closer and closer! It walked 10 yards right next to Jake and then 4 yards right next to me! All I could move was my eyes, And it was a bull!!!! As soon as I saw it was a bull my body started shaking. It walked right past me and to the wallow to drink some water. I was in the worst position you could be in, I was sitting on my butt with my legs straight out in front of me. (We had been there for 4 hours) So in order for me to get into position to shoot, I had to get my legs under me so I could shoot on my knees. I tried doing that while he was drinking water. He was only 25 yards away and he heard every inch of me moving. Everytime he turned around I was in the weirdest position and I had to hold it. My whole body was shaking because he was so close and I was so nervous (and cold). He gave me so many great positions to shoot him, but I just couldn’t get to my knees. He ended up walking away to the left of us because he heard me moving. I was so pissed and frustrated with myself, I should have killed that bull, but he got away. So then I stay on my knees in case another one came out. Well about 15 mins later, another one did come out. I herd it again, behind us walking towards me. But this time he either smelled me or he saw me on my knees because he bolted when he got right behind us. We waited until it was too dark to shoot again but nothing else came out so we headed home. What an incredible experience having a bull elk 4 yards from me!!!! It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. But I can’t stop thinking about all the mistakes I made and let him go. On our way walking to the buggie, we saw two other hunters walking on the road. We ended up having a good conversation with them and gave them a ride back to their camp.
Day 4- I started my cycle last night so I was in pain all night long and didn’t get much sleep. So we didn’t go hunting in the morning. We slept until about 9am ate breakfast, took some medicine and then We both decided we were going to go back to the wallow and do it better. It’s a great spot and it being a little hot, there is going to be more elk in there. So we hiked back to the wallow at around noon, and found a different spot to sit, that way they arnt walking in from behind us again. And this time, I’m sitting on logs that way I don’t have to move when the elk come in. Jake also broke down a lot of tree limbs to make cover for me. I was ready for anything at any direction. And we got skunked. No elk, no mule deer, no turkeys, not even a bugle. I was so pissed. We left after it got dark. When we got back to our buggie it wouldn’t start, Jake had left the back light on. Thankfully the hunters we gave a ride to the day before were just up the road. But it was a rough road. We walked about a mile to their camp to ask if they could jump us, the only thing that would jump us with is their motercycle they would not drive their truck down that rocky road. They showed Jake how to drive it and where the battery was, gave us jumper cables and off we went. Jake drove in 1st gear the whole way with his legs sprawled out walking it. I was in the back holding on for dear life, it was also raining hard on us. I was laughing the entire time. I thought it was so funny watching Jake do something he never said he would do, and also drive it on the worst terrain you can think of, with rain and me on the back. We finally made it to the buggie and we got it started, I drove the buggie and he drove the motercycle back to their camp. God works in mysterious ways! I’m glad we befriended them the day before. He always provides because that walk all the way back to camp without the buggie would have been 11 miles uphill and it was already 9:30 at night.
