Hey new here

[Okieslayer]

Cool place to be...saw someone post about this forum on another forum I monitor for local information in New Mexico...just cant seem to soak up enough about the hunt before I leave Thursday with two buddies...Neither have ever been and Im excited about all of us getting to go..We all whitetail hunt together and one of them is even an outfitter but has never had anyone take him..We'll have a huge time in camp Im sure...We'll post on how we do...Getting some good reports from our area just south of Chama...Cant wait to get there!!

[JohnFitzgerald]

Welcome aboard Okieslayer. There's plenty of "extremely" knowledgeable guys/gals on here that would be happy to answer any questions. Good luck on your hunt and welcome to the addiction!

[ElkNut1]

Yes sir, welcome to the Forum bud, glad you stopped by!!!! We should have plenty of Photos & Stories in the weeks to come!!

ElkNut1

[Magic]

I am new also, but welcome to Elknut Forum, Okieslayer.

[Okieslayer]

Well I am already part of the addiction but my two buddies finally let me drag them out to bust their cherries. Bet this wont be the last time they want to drag up and go to the mountains...Theyve been getting in shape and they are both highly motivated so I think we'll have a good hunt. I appreciate the warm welcome you guys gave me on here. Ive been soaking up this forum and going, yes, yes, yes and then occasionally I find myself going ahhhhh I didnt think about that....anyway...awesome information and its got me pissing down both legs to get out of here Thursday and head to out!!! I think Im gonna keep posting my trip from the field because Im really enjoying other peoples accounts of their hunt....Be nothing better than to post "game over big brown down." anyway I'll be on here...thanks again guys!

[Okieslayer]

Loading the truck up and headed to Alva Oklahoma to pick up my partner and then headed to New Mexico...We'll post our progress and any info we can add....

[JohnFitzgerald]

Loading the truck up and headed to Alva Oklahoma to pick up my partner and then headed to New Mexico...We'll post our progress and any info we can add....

Good luck Okieslayer!

[Okieslayer]

Thanks Fitzgerald...Headed to this very area...got cameras running as we speak

Thanks Fitzgerald...

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[Okieslayer]

Alright got back Saturday from me and my buddies elk hunt in New Mexico...

We arrived at our camp on the 7th and immediately checked our cameras and saw numerous cows and a couple decent bulls and then turned in for a good nights sleep to get started early the next morning...My two hunting partners who came with me were first time elkers and had no idea what they were in for this week. The next day we got up early and hit the woods before daylight and I knew the area we were headed for: however, as we headed north to the draws we planned to hunt we heard very faint bugles to the south before daylight..being pig headed I took them north to the area I had scouted and we never heard a bugle...as we headed back down about 11:00 am we paralleled a well used draw and heard a bull bugle twice about 200 yards inside the timber....as we entered the timber I set up Dustin closest to the bugle and I backed down the trail about 80 yards with Brian and began to cow call...When Brian and I set up he began figeting and adjusting his hood and I kept telling him not to move due to the fact I could see two satellite bulls on the opposite rim of the draw about 70 yards away....that is when I found he had a hearing difficulty...Brian kept asking me what I was saying and kept adjusting his clothing...in the mean time cows were going crazy at my cow call and after about 15 seconds of the cows raising hell he said "wait I think I heard a cow"...lol... Anyway the bulls on the rim were staring at us by that time and were curious about us and began barking at us for what seemed like 15 minutes while the herd bull headed off bugling into the distance to the east getting fainter and fainter...It didnt matter we had an encounter and both of them were pumped at the possibilities.

We ate some lunch in the woods and decided to check the tanks I knew and hang some cameras..We found three tanks that were loaded with sign and hung cameras at each one...we heard no elk that evening and turned in with high hopes for the next day..

The next morning we woke up and went to the same area but heard no bugles...we worked our way down some draws hunting and looking for any new sign..We ate lunch and headed to the tanks to check our footage...All three tanks had elk pictures but one in particular had ALL the bull and cow activity we could stand...We quickly set up a blind and brushed it in and left...we decided to let the blind sit for a day and hunt else where but the evening proved uneventful and we turned in early that night

The next morning Brian and Dustin urged me to sit in the blind since I had done the scouting and they both said they were going to just sit and listen in an area I had showed them the day before where we had seen alot of fresh sign...as I made the three mile hike to the blind before daylight, I heard bugling in a meadow on the way, about a half mile to my right...I circled around with the wind and glassed the field at daylight and saw a huge 6x6 bull (way over 300 inches) and about 15 cows in the meadow. The bull was hanging in the tree line bugling like crazy and keeping three satellite bulls ran off while the cows grazed in the meadow...I circled around the to the back of the treeline and tried to get within distance of him but he weaving back and forth through the trees and wouldnt slow down...I set up several times and he didnt respond to cow calls at all...after about 20 minutes of trying to get up on him he rounded up his cows and headed south to the the big timber....I had never been in the area he was headed but I made a wide berth trying to get ahead of him gauging where he was by his bugles...as I literally ran parallel trying to get in front I was losing ground as I went...finally after about 1 1/2 miles I dropped down into a draw in the big timber ahead of him and the cows....I set up where it sounded they would come thru and stayed quiet until I heard a bugle about 100 yards to my left...I cow called and he immediately bugled again but it didnt sound like the same bull as in the field....I stayed put and waited and heard him bugle again but it sounded like he was further away (fainter) this time headed away from me down the ridge. I sat tight for a couple minutes and became frustrated because this whole ordeal had started 1 1/2 miles away and they had always been moving away from me.(I broke the rule...stay put)...I got up and started to ease down the ridge towards the last bugle and came face to face with the bull that had bugled....He had been coming the whole time but had faked me out by prolly facing away from me the last time...Needless to say he froze, I froze without my bow drawn, and then he was getting some gone despite my cow calls. I got back to the guys and told them about my morning encounter, but felt kinda bad because they hadnt heard anything. But I really felt like a million bucks....I love that kind of hunt!!

That evening I couldnt wait to get to the blind and hunt the waterhole I never made it to that morning; however, my buddies really werent sure about what to do if I hunted the blind and I wanted them to have a good hunt... so I told Dustin to hunt the blind and Brian and I would go to the draw I had the earlier encounter in...Brian I went to the same area hoping to catch the elk coming to the meadows just before dark and sat down to listen for the evening...after getting there we started getting soaked from a nasty rain and I curled up underneath a cedar trying to stay dry and determined to stay till is subsided knowing they would move...the rains stopped about thirty minutes before dark and we decided to ease down the trail going out at a snails pace and listen and hunt on the way...just as it was almost dark I heard a twig snap and I saw a cow come down off the ridge to our left and cross through the trees 50 yards in front of us...Brian didnt hear the twig so I grabbed his shirt and stopped him and in anticipation covered his mouth...we knelt down and watched 16 cows file by us through the timber in single file...as the last elk came down I saw he had horns; however, I couldnt tell what he was but I drew my bow anyway and guessed it about 40 yards. He stopped for just a second and his body was exposed through the brush and I let fly....I heard my arrow pop his lungs and I eased down and just sat there taking it all in....Brian was just bug eyed with excitement...this was short lived because a few minutes later and too dark to shoot I heard a familiar bugle down the same trail coming towards us....I could tell it was the huge 6x6...we eased out a different way and called Dustin to tell him we had one down...when Dustin answered the phone he couldnt even speak and we thought he was excited for us... but come to find out he had just shot a 350 inch bull on the water hole about 30 minutes earlier....We met up with Dustin and and found the young bull I had shot and discussed his bull with him...Dustin who is a seasoned whitetail hunter knew he had shot the bull in the liver and wanted to wait till the next morning to recover him....The next day we woke up to torrential rains and our hearts sank at the possibility of no blood trail for the big bull....We were staying at a local friends ranch house who knew the area and he helped us look for the bull all day and part of the next....when we finally headed home we were dejected and sick about wasting such a majestic bull,,,,however...after arriving back in Oklahoma Dustin received a call from my friend saying he had found the carcass and the bull was every bit a 350 class bull....awesome hunt I thought Id share...and I was proud that my buddy's first elk was so impressive....I so didnt care I killed a young bull and was happy for my long time whitetail hunting partner!!!