Three of us arrived at our destination south of Pie Town, NM on 12/9. We had seen just three cows near Datil that morning. Late afternoon we drove to an area where we could watch for elk coming down out of the mountains to feed. Just minutes before dark, 18 cows filtered into the meadow. That was not very many according to the rancher who said lots of rain had allowed for ample water and grass throughout NM. Jim, the only one of us that had hunted elk before, said that the bulls and cows separate during this period.
Saturday at 5:30 AM it was 10 degrees and that was colder than I was expecting. The land we were hunting was being offered for sale in parcels of 160 ? 1,0000+ acres. Consequently, the rancher had graded roads and that made for quiet and easy access to many good areas. By 8:15, I had not heard or seen anything and so decided to take a stroll to explore. About a half-mile further west, the road started to run along a fence line. There were scrub trees to my left and to my right were windrows of scrub trees that made for a terrace-like appearance in the pasture. I could see for miles and there were cattle grazing. Another 100 yards down the road, I could see there were elk feeding with the cattle, so I ducked into the scrub trees and worked my way another ? mile toward them. They were still 400 yards out, but working toward me. I counted 36 cows and 2 spike bulls in the group.
I studied the group through the scope for what seemed like a long time but was really only 30 minutes. At 9:10, one of the lead cows presented a broadside shot at 175 yards and I squeezed off the shot. The cow kind of sucked up, took two short steps and then laid down for a dirt-nap. The rest of the herd had their heads up and looked my way for several seconds and then took off in the direction from which they came.
The load was 3 50-grain pellets of 777 and a 290 grain TMZ. It broke a rib on the way in, cracked one on the other side when it nicked it on the way by and then got caught under the hide. I tried taking a picture of the bullet, but couldn?t get it to focus. It does look just like the pictures in their advertising and weighed in at 287 grains. The tip probably weighs 3 grains.
The next day I saw 9 more cows at about 65 yards and the following day a group of 5 as I worked down a mountainside. During those three days, my partners did not see anything. On day 4, one of them took a shot a few minutes before sundown. We started trailing it the next morning, but after a mile of decreasing blood, we lost the trail. Eventually, an elk got up and took off like a rocket. I?ve got to believe it was the same elk and was glad to see it was not going to become coyote chow. By the way, there were lots of coyotes.
Just to keep ol?Spitpatch happy, I let the guys take my picture.
This is next to the cow looking back to where I took the shot.
This is about a mile from the harvest and it is going to be a home building-site for my hunting buddy.
The temp was usually about 10 degrees F in the morning and was 50 by mid-day.
This was my first experience with elk hunting and I can hardly wait for the next opportunity. Until then, I've got a couple more doe tags to fill here in Iowa.
Best regards from the cob pile -
Cob
Saturday at 5:30 AM it was 10 degrees and that was colder than I was expecting. The land we were hunting was being offered for sale in parcels of 160 ? 1,0000+ acres. Consequently, the rancher had graded roads and that made for quiet and easy access to many good areas. By 8:15, I had not heard or seen anything and so decided to take a stroll to explore. About a half-mile further west, the road started to run along a fence line. There were scrub trees to my left and to my right were windrows of scrub trees that made for a terrace-like appearance in the pasture. I could see for miles and there were cattle grazing. Another 100 yards down the road, I could see there were elk feeding with the cattle, so I ducked into the scrub trees and worked my way another ? mile toward them. They were still 400 yards out, but working toward me. I counted 36 cows and 2 spike bulls in the group.
I studied the group through the scope for what seemed like a long time but was really only 30 minutes. At 9:10, one of the lead cows presented a broadside shot at 175 yards and I squeezed off the shot. The cow kind of sucked up, took two short steps and then laid down for a dirt-nap. The rest of the herd had their heads up and looked my way for several seconds and then took off in the direction from which they came.
The load was 3 50-grain pellets of 777 and a 290 grain TMZ. It broke a rib on the way in, cracked one on the other side when it nicked it on the way by and then got caught under the hide. I tried taking a picture of the bullet, but couldn?t get it to focus. It does look just like the pictures in their advertising and weighed in at 287 grains. The tip probably weighs 3 grains.
The next day I saw 9 more cows at about 65 yards and the following day a group of 5 as I worked down a mountainside. During those three days, my partners did not see anything. On day 4, one of them took a shot a few minutes before sundown. We started trailing it the next morning, but after a mile of decreasing blood, we lost the trail. Eventually, an elk got up and took off like a rocket. I?ve got to believe it was the same elk and was glad to see it was not going to become coyote chow. By the way, there were lots of coyotes.
Just to keep ol?Spitpatch happy, I let the guys take my picture.
This is next to the cow looking back to where I took the shot.
This is about a mile from the harvest and it is going to be a home building-site for my hunting buddy.
The temp was usually about 10 degrees F in the morning and was 50 by mid-day.
This was my first experience with elk hunting and I can hardly wait for the next opportunity. Until then, I've got a couple more doe tags to fill here in Iowa.
Best regards from the cob pile -
Cob
