I was lucky enough to draw an elk tag this year in Unit 51 of New Mexico. I had never hunted there before but one of my buddies had. My best friend, his son and my youngest brother and I all drew together. Three of us got to camp a few days early and spent some time scouting. There were quite a few people camped in the area but everyone was seeing elk. I hunted with my buddies son the first couple days and we were getting into elk but having trouble catching the herd as they were moving to bed in the mornings. We got close to a cow and had a good bull walk by at 60 yards but no shot. The third evening I sat on a water hole I had found and just after sundown this spike walked in to drink. He turned broadside at 50 yrds and I hit him high in the lungs. I gave him an hour and started tracking and when my buddy and his son came by to get me we continued the blood trail. He was bleeding good and it looked like out of both sides. I shot him with a 2 blade rage 1 1/2" cut. After about 1/4 mile we jumped him next to another pond and he ran through the middle of the pond and over the dam on the far side. We decided to come back the next morning and look. My best friend is a retired game warden and there were two other retired OK wardens camped next to us. The 2 camped next to us offered to go with me and look for him the next morning. We decided that I would take them to the pond I shot him on and we would sit and call for awhile and then go try to find my elk. We called a while and they decided that if anything were there it would have come in so we took off to where the last blood was. We found blood where he had come up out of the pond and then nothing after that. He had gone down a draw and there was a big rock bluff on one side and one of the guys decided to climb up there and take a look. As soon as he got up there he yelled that he could see my elk and it was about 50 yrds in front of me dead. I think him running through the water must have helped cool him down because he was in great shape and the meat had chilled well. He had made about 200 more yards after going through the pond. It was my first archery elk after 10 trips so I was excited to say the least!
Here is a pic of the 3 retired game wardens and my buddies son, Luke, after getting the elk loaded up. Left to Right is Larry Mannering, Jim Roland, Luke Cunningham and Jon Cunningham.
Jon and Luke began to see elk and have opportunities but they were passing spikes and cows hoping for a big bull. After a week went by Jon decided he was going to shoot the next legal elk he saw and ended up getting a spike bull also. His shot was 35 yrds with a crossbow. Here is his pic.
Luke was set on calling in a big bull but he had found a water hole that he thought looked good so he asked me to sit it the next evening just to see if anything came in and maybe I might see a bear since I did still have a bear tag. I had not been sitting on that pond for 5 minutes and had my rangefinder out getting some ranges in case a bear walked in when a nice 5x5 walked in at 10 yards. I was ranging straight into the sun and I think he caught the glint off the rangefinder and bolted. I decided to get out of there before I spooked anything else and messed it up. The next night Luke sat the pond and didn't see any elk but shot this bear. We were trailing it for a long time in some really thick stuff and I just about stepped on it before I saw it. It must have gone 200 yards but weaving and turning in some really nasty stuff. Here is Luke with his bear.
My brother didn't get to camp till the 4th day of season and I think it was the first night he hunted that he called in a monster. He shoots a recurve and he said the bull was as big as any he had ever seen on anyone's wall. He had ranged some trees and was cow calling when the bull started responding from 100 yrds out. He snuck a little closer and was peeking over a rise when the bull walked in to 19 yards, turned broadside and looked the other way. He stopped right next to one of the trees he had ranged at 30 yards and he shot for 30, not remembering that he had snuck in closer. He shot right over its back. He saw many more elk on the trip but never had another shot opportunity. This rabbit was his only kill. We had a great time and everyone enjoyed camping and hunting together.
Here is a pic of the 3 retired game wardens and my buddies son, Luke, after getting the elk loaded up. Left to Right is Larry Mannering, Jim Roland, Luke Cunningham and Jon Cunningham.
Jon and Luke began to see elk and have opportunities but they were passing spikes and cows hoping for a big bull. After a week went by Jon decided he was going to shoot the next legal elk he saw and ended up getting a spike bull also. His shot was 35 yrds with a crossbow. Here is his pic.
Luke was set on calling in a big bull but he had found a water hole that he thought looked good so he asked me to sit it the next evening just to see if anything came in and maybe I might see a bear since I did still have a bear tag. I had not been sitting on that pond for 5 minutes and had my rangefinder out getting some ranges in case a bear walked in when a nice 5x5 walked in at 10 yards. I was ranging straight into the sun and I think he caught the glint off the rangefinder and bolted. I decided to get out of there before I spooked anything else and messed it up. The next night Luke sat the pond and didn't see any elk but shot this bear. We were trailing it for a long time in some really thick stuff and I just about stepped on it before I saw it. It must have gone 200 yards but weaving and turning in some really nasty stuff. Here is Luke with his bear.
My brother didn't get to camp till the 4th day of season and I think it was the first night he hunted that he called in a monster. He shoots a recurve and he said the bull was as big as any he had ever seen on anyone's wall. He had ranged some trees and was cow calling when the bull started responding from 100 yrds out. He snuck a little closer and was peeking over a rise when the bull walked in to 19 yards, turned broadside and looked the other way. He stopped right next to one of the trees he had ranged at 30 yards and he shot for 30, not remembering that he had snuck in closer. He shot right over its back. He saw many more elk on the trip but never had another shot opportunity. This rabbit was his only kill. We had a great time and everyone enjoyed camping and hunting together.
