Plots, Trailcams & Misc

First visit to the farm in two weeks (since I was in New Mexico).  A couple of the cameras had dead batteries.  The furnace doesn't seem to be working.  It's raining and 43 degrees. 

I sat in the driveway stand last night for the first hunt of the year.  The field in front of the stand is planted in clover but it barely emerged - so it's mostly dirt.  I thought the acorns on the field edge would be an attractant and I wanted a view of the main field.  I saw 9 does and no bucks.  Most of the action was in the main field but I had a couple of does eating acorns.

I saw 10 turkeys in the pond field yesterday and there were 7 in the barn field this morning.

This appears to be the backward buck - not a great shot.

The pond is still really low.

Camera checks.

Last harvest - mostly mutants and green ones.

I can't believe that they haven't touched this brassica yet.

The soybeans have been hammered.

They do leave some of the beans - saving them for later?

Driveway field clover - barely sprouted.

Pumpkin patch - somebody got inside the tape and was munching on green pumpkins.

There are some nice pumpkins that never quite ripened.

Barn field clover.

Pond field clover.

Turkey parade.

Fox or coyote?

Equal opportunity.

Near relocated ladder stand.

What I usually see when hunting.

NM - WED P.M. - Last Hunt

Yes, it's true - I am eating my elk tag.  But think of all the money that I'm saving on meat processing, taxidermy and shipping.

Actually, the first two days of this hunt were extremely thrilling and an experience that I won't forget.  The rest of the week was less thrilling but that's hunting.  I think that this area is great and I'm pretty sure that a different tag (private land) may have been more successful.  I was awfully close to taking a trophy bull on the first two days - just not close enough.

I learned alot about my muzzleloader - I have at least double the range that I thought I had.

On our last hunt, we tried to find a bull up in these mountains that we spotted from about 2 miles away yesterday.  This is Matt leading us up the valley.

View from top of one of those mountains.

We also took a drive around today to look for coyote.  It was the only chance to get Dave some shooting.  Mid-day coyote hunting isn't optimal.  I really appreciate Dave coming along as an observer.  He spent some long  days just watching and glassing.

NM - WED A.M. - No Luck

Two bulls bugling hard across the road before first light (different unit, private land).  Saw some cows but no bulls.  Going to go try to shoot a coyote before taking last stab at an elk this evening.  53 degrees this morning.

NM - Tuesday P.M. - Sightseeing?

Dave and I took a drive during the mid-day today.  We drove past the Mangas Mountains and along the northern edge of the Gila National Forest.

We drove thru several passes and valleys.  We also crossed the continental divide a couple of times.

After the mountains, we came out into the plains.  We saw a coyote on the road and then these antelope.

We stopped for gas in Datil NM and this truck pulled in beside us.  We saw several trucks go by with nice looking racks in them.

For the evening "hunt" , Matt decided to take us up to a forest service fire watch tower.  It was an OMG drive up a gravel switchback road to the peak where the views were awesome.

We set up on the tower to glass the surrounding mountains for elk.

The views were great but the wind was strong and cold.

Matt seemed excited to see elk about 2 miles away, across two drainages.  All I could think about was how I would get there to shoot one and, if I did, how we would get it out.

So we glassed for a few hours and then drove down at sunset.  I never even put a primer in the gun tonight.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This picture doesn't do justice to the single lane, gravel, no guardrail, switchback, access road.  We had mule deer standing in the road as we drove out.

 

One day of hunting left - the pressure is on.



NM - Tuesday A.M. - Nada

Starting to feel the time pressure.  The hunt seems to be slowing down.  When we got up this morning, it was 50 degrees - the warmest yet.  We slipped by several cows on the way in and heard two promising bugles.  But once light came up, we saw 20 cows wandering away from us and never saw a decent bull.  By the time the sun was up, there was no elk to be seen or heard.  Don't know if it's the rut shutting down or the weather getting warmer but the hunting is getting tougher.  We're going to try a new area this evening.  Photos today are a tour of the lodge.

Living/Dining/Kitchen

Kitchen - camp cook was sick this week but Tuffy's mother has been delivering dinners - we're eating well.

There are three bedrooms like this plus the bedroom I'm in, plus Tuffy has a master suite.

My room.

The camp kitties are awfully friendly.

NM - Monday Evening - Cow Parade

We watched 40+ elk get up from bed and work their way down to a water hole.  Unfortunately, this parade was across the fence on a neighboring property and there were no shooter bulls with them.  No bugling at all this evening.  The activity is clearly greater in the mornings.  Two full days of hunting left - two morning hunts that are my best chances.

There are several properties bording the land that we have been hunting and some have recently been for sale.  Here's a few links on some of the neighboring ranches.

Southern Cross Ranch

Shortes Ranch

Cox Peak Ranch

NM - Monday A.M. - No Shots



Another exciting morning but no chance to shoot.  We watched 30 to 50 cows cross a fence line to property we can't hunt.  There were two bulls bugling over there just across the border.  Tuffy said he saw one and it was a 6x6.  I didn't see it - difference between Swarofski 10x vs Nikon 8x?  He says the other bull was even bigger (from the bugle sound?).  Anyway the sound is hard to describe.  One of the bulls is kind of hoarse from bugling for 6 weeks - he kind of sounds like an elephant. 30 degrees when we went out this morning.  The sky is awesome before sunrise and there's a meteor shower going on.

 

 

Dave in camp with a shed antler.

It looks like they usually recover the bulls from the field and skin them here.

Tuffy's rig.

This must be how they get an 800 pound animal into the truck.

NM - Sunday Evening - No Joy

Seemed like a perfect setup.  We hiked in near where we hunted this morning.  We got downwind and found high ground.  We set up glassing just above the "elk bedroom".  At about 4:30 we started seeing elk at about 250 yards.  We saw cows.  We saw calves.  We saw calves nursing on cows.  Finally we saw a bull but he was not a shooter.  He hung around for about 1 hour but he had no boyfriends.  We hiked in on last light - beautiful sunset.

View from our perch.

The highlight of Pie Town New Mexico - the septic tank sucker truck is the "Stool Bus".