Seabird965
FNG
Long Read - Skip to the pictures if not interested. Lol
West Texas Elk Hunt Recap. I recently posted about being invited to hunt elk out by Marathon from a customer of mine on a 15,000 acre cattle ranch.
Day 1 - I got out there about 11am on Saturday. My customer & her husband (ranch manager Jeremy) drove me around the place showing the roads & places to watch and hunt. We saw a bunch of Pronghorns, a few Aoudad, and about 10 cow elk. We got back to ranch and there was another ranch manager (Ty) of a 60,000 acres cattle ranch there. We were all talking and heard what sounded like a helicopter outside. We went outside saw a green & white helicopter and thought it was Border Patrol. The helicopter turns around and lands about 100ft from us and out pops 4 game wardens. They said they were checking hunter camps. The female game warden said who is hunting here. I raise my hand and said I was invited out to elk hunt. She said, well I might as well ask for your license. I grabbed my phone and showed her my digital license. She thanks me & told me good luck. They took back off & blew that west Texas dust as far as you could see. I got dressed and took my Ranger out to a ridge overlooking a water tank & heavily brushed draw and set glassing for a few hours. I didn't see anything and headed in at dark.
Day 2 - Sunday - It was cold, cloudy, and windy all day. Never got above 37 with wind gust up to 30-35. Jeremy told me since he was off, he would drive me around so I didn't has to be on that cold Ranger all day. We started that morning at daybreak on a smaller but well position hill. You could see basically 2-3 miles all the way around. It was surrounded by lots of brush & mesquite trees. We could also glass about 6 water tanks on the property from this location. We saw several cows & calves but no bulls. We sat glassing for about 2 hours but no bulls insight. We made a move to the front of the property to glass some more and saw a herd of about 12 cows. We glass a bit longer but no bulls. About that time Ty from the other ranch called. He told Jeremy to bring me down to his ranch because he have been seeing a lot of bull. We made the 20 mile trip. This piece of property was beautiful with big canyon & tall peaks of the Glass Mountains. Some spots even had tall fir trees. I felt like I was in Colorado. This place was big & thick. We drove around glassing for a few hours not seeing anything when all of a sudden I caught a glimpse of big body & big antlers down in a canyon. We glassed and never saw him again. We snuck down in the canyon but never saw the bull again. The wind was swirling so he might have winded us. We droved around for a few more hours only seeing cows, calves, and a few spikes. We drove back to the other ranch and finished out where we started. Just saw cows & calves, and a few small mule deer. While we were at the other ranch I was talking to Ty about me having a RV Service business and he asked if I had time tomorrow would I look at his AC on his motorhome that wasn't working. I was happy to help. This man just let me hunt his property.
Day 3 - Monday - I was by myself. I started the day on the same hill. It started cold but the sun came out and warm up nicely. This time I took my spotting scope. Watching the sun top over the peaks really set the day. Once again nothing but cows & calves moving around, but with the spotting scope I could really reach out and see them far away. I glassed for about a hour and made a move to the front of the property where we saw some cows the 1st day. I found a bigger heard of about 25 cows, few spikes, and 1 really small bull. I decided to drive back to camp & go back to the other property to work on motorhome. On the way back I saw about 30-40 Pronghorns. Got to the other property, found a few electrical issues and repaired the ac and headed back to other ranch. When I got back, Ty called and asked about the motorhome and I told him I fixed it. He then asked if I see any bulls yet. He told me he saw a few really good bulls earlier on his place and for me to come back and he would put me on one. I made the drive again and we headed out. We drove to the point looking out over a big draw and glassed for a while before moving to another ridge looking over a big bottom with a draw. As soon as we start glassing, he spots a bull about 600 yards. We back the truck up and get out. The bull was heading the way and was about 1100 yards now. As we glassed we found 3 other good bulls in the area. One was heading our direction but parallel to us. He was about 1200 yards away. We stalked about 600 yards and stopped and glass but couldn't find him. Ty said he was probably going to that draw and we stalked another 400 yards. We stopped to glassed, when the bull pop out at 49 yards. He was grazing behind a big cedar bush. I got ready, shoulder my 300WSM and steadied for that long range of 49 yards. He walked out, I squeezed, and he fell within 5ft. It all happened too fast.
I was steady with no shakes before & during the shot, but was shaking so bad I couldn't barely hold my rifle after he fell. We walked up and I could not believe the size of his body & antlers. Ty said that was a really good bull. I told him I would know even if it was a bad bull. He told me the bull was fairly old and weighed about 800lbs I just got me a nice 6x6 bull. We also notice that the bulls antlers on the left side were pointing out sideways & slightly backwards. There is a big bend just above brow tines. He must have injure them during velvet. I would have been there around 5 hours cleaning him but Ty grabbed a knife and made short work of quartering him up where he fell. I don't know how many times I "Thank him" but I sure it wasn't enough. I definitely was blessed with this opportunity & can't believe the kindness of these people. Even if I hadn't shot a big bull, it was a great trip & great to hunt West Texas. I also found a few broken arrow heads
West Texas Elk Hunt Recap. I recently posted about being invited to hunt elk out by Marathon from a customer of mine on a 15,000 acre cattle ranch.
Day 1 - I got out there about 11am on Saturday. My customer & her husband (ranch manager Jeremy) drove me around the place showing the roads & places to watch and hunt. We saw a bunch of Pronghorns, a few Aoudad, and about 10 cow elk. We got back to ranch and there was another ranch manager (Ty) of a 60,000 acres cattle ranch there. We were all talking and heard what sounded like a helicopter outside. We went outside saw a green & white helicopter and thought it was Border Patrol. The helicopter turns around and lands about 100ft from us and out pops 4 game wardens. They said they were checking hunter camps. The female game warden said who is hunting here. I raise my hand and said I was invited out to elk hunt. She said, well I might as well ask for your license. I grabbed my phone and showed her my digital license. She thanks me & told me good luck. They took back off & blew that west Texas dust as far as you could see. I got dressed and took my Ranger out to a ridge overlooking a water tank & heavily brushed draw and set glassing for a few hours. I didn't see anything and headed in at dark.
Day 2 - Sunday - It was cold, cloudy, and windy all day. Never got above 37 with wind gust up to 30-35. Jeremy told me since he was off, he would drive me around so I didn't has to be on that cold Ranger all day. We started that morning at daybreak on a smaller but well position hill. You could see basically 2-3 miles all the way around. It was surrounded by lots of brush & mesquite trees. We could also glass about 6 water tanks on the property from this location. We saw several cows & calves but no bulls. We sat glassing for about 2 hours but no bulls insight. We made a move to the front of the property to glass some more and saw a herd of about 12 cows. We glass a bit longer but no bulls. About that time Ty from the other ranch called. He told Jeremy to bring me down to his ranch because he have been seeing a lot of bull. We made the 20 mile trip. This piece of property was beautiful with big canyon & tall peaks of the Glass Mountains. Some spots even had tall fir trees. I felt like I was in Colorado. This place was big & thick. We drove around glassing for a few hours not seeing anything when all of a sudden I caught a glimpse of big body & big antlers down in a canyon. We glassed and never saw him again. We snuck down in the canyon but never saw the bull again. The wind was swirling so he might have winded us. We droved around for a few more hours only seeing cows, calves, and a few spikes. We drove back to the other ranch and finished out where we started. Just saw cows & calves, and a few small mule deer. While we were at the other ranch I was talking to Ty about me having a RV Service business and he asked if I had time tomorrow would I look at his AC on his motorhome that wasn't working. I was happy to help. This man just let me hunt his property.
Day 3 - Monday - I was by myself. I started the day on the same hill. It started cold but the sun came out and warm up nicely. This time I took my spotting scope. Watching the sun top over the peaks really set the day. Once again nothing but cows & calves moving around, but with the spotting scope I could really reach out and see them far away. I glassed for about a hour and made a move to the front of the property where we saw some cows the 1st day. I found a bigger heard of about 25 cows, few spikes, and 1 really small bull. I decided to drive back to camp & go back to the other property to work on motorhome. On the way back I saw about 30-40 Pronghorns. Got to the other property, found a few electrical issues and repaired the ac and headed back to other ranch. When I got back, Ty called and asked about the motorhome and I told him I fixed it. He then asked if I see any bulls yet. He told me he saw a few really good bulls earlier on his place and for me to come back and he would put me on one. I made the drive again and we headed out. We drove to the point looking out over a big draw and glassed for a while before moving to another ridge looking over a big bottom with a draw. As soon as we start glassing, he spots a bull about 600 yards. We back the truck up and get out. The bull was heading the way and was about 1100 yards now. As we glassed we found 3 other good bulls in the area. One was heading our direction but parallel to us. He was about 1200 yards away. We stalked about 600 yards and stopped and glass but couldn't find him. Ty said he was probably going to that draw and we stalked another 400 yards. We stopped to glassed, when the bull pop out at 49 yards. He was grazing behind a big cedar bush. I got ready, shoulder my 300WSM and steadied for that long range of 49 yards. He walked out, I squeezed, and he fell within 5ft. It all happened too fast.
I was steady with no shakes before & during the shot, but was shaking so bad I couldn't barely hold my rifle after he fell. We walked up and I could not believe the size of his body & antlers. Ty said that was a really good bull. I told him I would know even if it was a bad bull. He told me the bull was fairly old and weighed about 800lbs I just got me a nice 6x6 bull. We also notice that the bulls antlers on the left side were pointing out sideways & slightly backwards. There is a big bend just above brow tines. He must have injure them during velvet. I would have been there around 5 hours cleaning him but Ty grabbed a knife and made short work of quartering him up where he fell. I don't know how many times I "Thank him" but I sure it wasn't enough. I definitely was blessed with this opportunity & can't believe the kindness of these people. Even if I hadn't shot a big bull, it was a great trip & great to hunt West Texas. I also found a few broken arrow heads
