new mexico labor day weekend report....

[Mike_Parson]

well i hunted the norther part of unit 34. it wasnt so full of hunters that you couldnt hunt, but it did seem to turn them off regular patterns. there were lots of ATV activity on all the major roads and lots of partyer campers in all the camping spots.

The week before my hunt i put out 2 game cameras on 2 water tanks that i had scouted and seen lots of sign at. on Thursday evening where we got to the area we hiked in at sunset and grabbed them and checked otu the pictures. I had over 700 pics, 3 pics every time it went off, of elk, bulls and cows and spikes, hitting a water tank every day and night for a week solid at 7AM amd 7PM. i decided that was the best corse of action considering i had my 16yr old daughter with me and this was her first hunt ever.

Saturday morning, 30 min into hunting we had 3 cows walk in on us while sitting a water hole. they were 15 ft before they decided to stop and check us out. they didnt spook, just walked off as they didnt feel we belonged. was really cool to experiance. Had nothing the rest of the day come in at all. DIdnt shoot the lead cow as i figured we had a ton of pics showing bulls and others so why end things 30 min into my hunt.

Sunday morning while hiking in to the tank we had a 300"+ bull come down the ridge right into the trail we were walking on. he was about 100 yds out but i could see his g5 and g6 were at least 12" long and he was wider than his back. he stayed out in front of us walking for about 5 min and then dropped out of sight following his 3 cows over the ridge. when i got to his drop off spot they were gone. Later that morning had a black bear male come into the tank and he played for a while and then as he left he stopped 15yds from us and sniffed the air and stood on hind legs and never indicated he smelled us even tho he was dead down wind. he wandered off. another awesome experiance for us. didnt see an elk all day at the tank.

On monday we sat the tank again with no sightings at all.

we did see deer every day as it seems they are running this particular ridge all the time.

The bulls were bugeling some all weekend. even at night close to our camp on sunday night.

That bull we saw on Sunday was location bugeling all day sunday and monday, so i have a pretty good idea where he is hanging out. i think next weekend i will try a different strategy and chase him some. i didnt this time as my daughter is NOT a quiet hunter. I have scouted and hiked the canyon he is hanging out in and im pretty sure i know his bed and im sure he is feeding and watering just below his bed as there is a water hole and thick grass just a few hundered yards from the area he seems to be bedding at. His bugles were all in that general location all weekend so i think thats my plan. Monday morning i did get him to reply back to my location bugles as i played with him for a little bit. Elknut, your right that now chuckler bugle is totally awesome!!!

Next weekend i will be back at it and this time ill put more bugeling and cow calling to work and see if i can get one worked up and coming in to me. Not sure what caused the elk to turn off the water tank like they did. maybe it was the increase of people in general or maybe the moon pattern or just the stars werent in alligment. All in all it was a great time out in the woods with my daughter.

[Mike_Parson]

headed out to my hunting area tonight after work. Got me a game plan on how to chase some bugling bulls. Hope everyone that is headed out there has a great time and successful hunt.

[WapitiTalk1]

Go get em Mike! Anxious to read your "elk down" story.