Author Topic: I'll be outta here from 10/5 to 10/14 - ELK HUNT version 2!!!!!! (Read 475 times)

MyBigToy · « **on:** September 29, 2011, 07:08:03 AM »

I just thought I would post up before I forgot. I'll be leaving for a muzzleloader elk hunt after work on 10/5 and will be without Internet access until I return home on 10/14. I got drawn in a limited-draw area of New Mexico again; it borders on the Mescalero Apache reservation so there are some really good bulls in the unit. The outfitter we are hunting with says they typically have a 90% success rate in this unit; the overall success rate has been 50% the past 4 years.

Wish me luck and, for those of you who were around and saw the pictures from the hunt four years ago, wish me luck in not getting another giant blister on the bottom of my foot like the last time!

Richie_Rich · « **Reply #1 on:** September 29, 2011, 10:45:07 AM »

Good luck.
Sounds like a great time.....with the right boots, that is.

Fowlhunter · « **Reply #2 on:** September 29, 2011, 06:55:36 PM »

Good luck brother!! I hope all goes well and you have an awesome hunt!!

Be safe.

oHIobellboy · « **Reply #3 on:** September 29, 2011, 07:24:53 PM »

Never ate elk before. Bring back some goodies

oHIobellboy · « **Reply #4 on:** October 18, 2011, 06:26:59 AM »

WELL ?????????

MyBigToy · « **Reply #5 on:** October 18, 2011, 08:43:36 AM »

Quote from: oHIobellboy on October 18, 2011, 06:26:59 AM

WELL ?????????

It was a VERY tough hunt! Very steep, lots of loose rocks, and VERY THIN air! Ruidoso, where we stayed, is at about 6900' elevation. We hunted up from there. I was at 12000' the second morning - above the treeline - and it about killed me going straight up the mountain. I had to stop and take a breather whenever my heart was beating so fast that I couldn't take a deep breath any more.

The good news is that the new boots worked great - no blisters!

I took a some pictures of the scenery but I haven't had time to pull them off the camera yet. I'll get that done sometime this week.

oHIobellboy · « **Reply #6 on:** October 18, 2011, 08:47:38 AM »

Quote from: MyBigToy on October 18, 2011, 08:43:36 AM

It was a VERY tough hunt! Very steep, lots of loose rocks, and VERY THIN air! Ruidoso, where we stayed, is at about 6900' elevation. We hunted up from there. I was at 12000' the second morning - above the treeline - and it about killed me going straight up the mountain. I had to stop and take a breather whenever my heart was beating so fast that I couldn't take a deep breath any more.

The good news is that the new boots worked great - no blisters!

I took a some pictures of the scenery but I haven't had time to pull them off the camera yet. I'll get that done sometime this week.

So in other words....you didn't shoot anything.

Donnie1 · « **Reply #7 on:** October 18, 2011, 09:43:12 AM »

Quote from: oHIobellboy on October 18, 2011, 08:47:38 AM

So in other words....you didn't shoot anything.

I was thinking the same thing. And I was hoping for an invite for some steaks.

MyBigToy · « **Reply #8 on:** October 18, 2011, 11:32:14 AM »

Quote from: oHIobellboy on October 18, 2011, 08:47:38 AM

So in other words....you didn't shoot anything.

I guess you'll have to wait and see when I post the pictures.

MyBigToy · « **Reply #9 on:** October 19, 2011, 09:22:48 PM »

I finally got around to pulling the pix off the camera and resizing a few. There aren't many of the scenery and they don't do justice for how steep the terrain really is.

BnGBleeder · « **Reply #10 on:** October 19, 2011, 10:44:56 PM »

CONGRATS !! Nice looking, are ya mounting the antlers??

Donnie1 · « **Reply #11 on:** October 20, 2011, 02:29:43 AM »

Great trophy. I would love to do that one of these days. My dad has been to Alaska many times moose hunting, would love to do that as well.

oHIobellboy · « **Reply #12 on:** October 20, 2011, 04:47:49 AM »

Very nice

So how big was it? and how the heck do you get that thing off the mountain?

MyBigToy · « **Reply #13 on:** October 20, 2011, 06:23:04 AM »

Quote from: BnGBleeder on October 19, 2011, 10:44:56 PM

CONGRATS !! Nice looking, are ya mounting the antlers??

I'm just going to be doing a top skull mount myself on this one. I did a Eurpoean skull mount on the first one. We really don't have anywhere in the house that the ceilings are high enough to put a full shoulder mount.

MyBigToy · « **Reply #14 on:** October 20, 2011, 06:31:55 AM »

Quote from: oHIobellboy on October 20, 2011, 04:47:49 AM

Very nice So how big was it? and how the heck do you get that thing off the mountain?

It's probably somewhere around 220" of antler so it's not a big trophy. As far as weight, I'd guess it was probably 700 lbs on the hoof. Getting it off the mountain - if you look closely at the picture where we are hiking, you'll see backpacks on our backs. We quartered it out and packed it out on our backs. If you also loook even closer in the far background of the hiking picture, you can see the highway that we packed it out to running through the middle of the mountain in the background. I'll post a closer picture of the packs when I get home tonight.

It was about 3/4 of a mile for the pack-out for mine, but we had about 2 miles on the one my buddy got. 80-100 lbs on your back gets a little heavy going up and down hills that are sometimes almost vertical, with loose fist-sized rocks all over them just waiting to turn or break your ankle. I was very glad I attempted to get in halfway decent shape for the hunt.

MyBigToy · « **Reply #15 on:** October 20, 2011, 06:46:54 AM »

Quote from: Donnie1 on October 20, 2011, 02:29:43 AM

Great trophy. I would love to do that one of these days. My dad has been to Alaska many times moose hunting, would love to do that as well.

We are going on outfitted hunts so it's not exactly cheap. We are applying for limited draw areas where your chances for a trophy are better; so far we have been drawn every 3-4 years. I put money back each year in a special hunt account so that it's already there when we do get drawn.

We will likely only be taking one more elk hunt, since we should be pretty close to getting drawn in Wyoming. After that we are talking about various other hunts, like antelope (cheap if you do it on your own and only have to pay a trespass fee to the rancher), caribou, Canada moose, or possibly black bear in Canada with a bow. I'd love to do an Alasksa moose hunt but it would run about $20k by the time it's all said and done, and that's just way too much for my tight a$$ to spend.

You only live once, and the older you get the more you come to realize how fast time flies. I probably won't be able to do this type of a physically-demanding hunt for more than another 10 years so I figure now is the time to enjoy it as long as it doesn't cut the family finances short.

MyBigToy · « **Reply #16 on:** October 20, 2011, 07:27:24 AM »

A few more specifics about the hunt - this was a muzzle-loader hunt. I was extremely impressed with the knock-down power. The evening I got the bull was slightly a comedy of errors.

We were on a high plateau that overlooks two deep canyons that run north-south, with a bunch of finger ridges running east-west into the main canyons. I told the guide that I wasn't going to take my backpack since we would be glassing from overlooks and didn't think I'd really need it. I remember thinking "I need to remember to pick up my shooting tripod". We spotted the elk about 3/4 of a mile away. Guess when I remembered that I forgot my shooting sticks - that's right, after we were already one ridge away from the truck! We got over the next ridge and the guide said "Crap, I don't have my rangefinder".

I almost passed on this bull; I'd passed on 7 or 8 previously, and had been ready to pull the trigger on one the second morning, but a cow busted us and took the bull in the opposite direction - I was standing with the rifle cocked, waiting for the bull to take two more steps into the open for a 70 yard shot.

I decided the time was right if we could get close enough for a shot. Long story short (sort of!), we got close enough but then everyone already knew that.

There were 2 cows, a calf, a rag-horn 3X or 4X bull, and the one I got. When we finally got into range, we slid over the top of the finger ridge and under a cedar tree that had a branch I could use to rest the rifle on. I estimated the range at 225-230 yards; the guide thought it was 215 so we were pretty close to agreement. The bull wouldn't cooperate; the elk were moseying along feeding and were in no hurry. He wouldn't present a shot and when he did, after watching for 20-30 minutes, I had to act fast. It was a broadside shot, the crosshairs settled well, and the gun went off.

All you can see with a muzzle-loader is a big cloud of white smoke, but the guide was watching through his binoculars from a slightly higher vantage point and said I hit the bull well. He moved further away and was standing behind some trees/brush. When he stepped out the second time, he was quartering away hard, at what I estimated to be 270 yards. I held just over his back, settled the crosshairs, everything felt great, and pulled the trigger. I immediately heard "whack" and knew it was over. The guide watched him drop and slide under a cedar tree (the last picture posted). That picture doesn't do justice to the predicament we found when we walked up to him as we had already cut some branches and were dislodging his antlers from both sides of the tree. We had to get help to even be able to move him, but I'll leave that part of the adventure for another time.

I'm shooting a CVA Optima Pro in-line, with three 777 pellets (150 grain black powder equivalent) and a 300 grain Hornady saboted jacketed bullet. Ballistics are: sighted in 3" high at 100 yards gives you 3" low at 200 yards and 11" low at 250 yards. Needless to say, my yardage estimate was pretty good since the bullet hit mid-chest at about 15" below my aiming point. The first bullet hit a little far back through the rear of the lungs; the second hit in almost the exact same spot but since he was quartering hard it travelled right through the vitals. We recovered the almost perfectly-mushroomed bullet just under the skin in front of the opposite-side front shoulder.

MyBigToy · « **Reply #17 on:** October 20, 2011, 07:43:06 PM »

Here's a couple of closer pictures packing out.

Fowlhunter · « **Reply #18 on:** October 20, 2011, 07:53:12 PM »

Very nice Joe! Congrats man! It appears to be a 5 x 5, correct?

MyBigToy · « **Reply #19 on:** October 21, 2011, 06:07:15 AM »

Quote from: Fowlhunter on October 20, 2011, 07:53:12 PM

Very nice Joe! Congrats man! It appears to be a 5 x 5, correct?

Yes, it's a 5X5. I haven't held this rack up to the one from 4 years ago to see exactly how different they are. This one has more antler mass, is larger on the bottom, and weaker on the top. The spread is wider also but as far as height, I don't know yet. This rack is almost white compared to the brown of the first one.