I was lucky enough to draw a new mexico elk tag this year. This would be my 4th try for an elk.

The past two trips were DIY trips to N.M. and Colo. On both trips I saw ellk in places that I wouldn't go in. Mainly because I felt like I could never pack one out of there.

This year I looked to change that. So instead of my usual sprints up the mountain. I put on my pack frame and humped the mountain with a weighted pack. What followed was a lot of sweat soaked trips up and down.


A long the way I had to take a 3 week break. And there was a lot of this.


I eventually made it to my target weight of 65 pounds 2 weeks before I was to leave.

Then comes the long 1,600 mile drive to reach the unit. I arrived after dark. A young man from one of the near by towns stopped by my camp and we talked for awhile. He and his sister had both arrowed bulls during the first two weeks. He pointed out some areas were he had been hearing bugles.
The next morning I headed out to one of those areas. I drove up a pretty rough road and ended up going all the way to the end. I fiqured I either missed the turn off he was talking about or miss understood him. so I turned around and headed back down. On the way I hit a unseen mud hole pretty hard. Shortly after I started hearing a strange noise. I turned down the radio and could hear a scrubbing when I applied the breaks. I was trying to make it to a flat spot so I could get out of the road to check it out. I finally made it back to a meadow and when I tried to turn off the front wheel completely locked up. I managed to get of the road by backing up. It seems like there is always some adventure with the truck when I go out west. it usually involves rain or snow and getting stuck. I got out and said screw it, I am not missing the first morning working on the truck. I put on my gear and took off down a logging road.



I did have the thought some where a long the way that this was really stupid. What if you kill a bull with no way to get it out.



Not what you want to see in the back country.

About a half mile down the road I came upon a puddle that had been wallowed in. I started looking around and could see a rub down the hill from the road. I let out a location bugle. A bull answered but he was way off on the next ridge over. I eased down thru the woods to check out the area. There was sign everywhere. After a few minutes I let out another bugle. The same bull answered. Then a bull answered him and he was on the same ridge. I sneaked down the ridge until I thought I was whithin a 100 yards. There was a huge oak brush thicket off the side of the ridge that appeared to be were the bugle came from. I set up to one side of a little clearing and ripped of a bugle. It wasn't 30 seconds and I could hear something walking towards me. He hung up just inside the brush. After a short time I heard it moving down the ridge trying to cut my wind. So I started sneaking down the ridge too. I got to a spot were I thought I could see a good ways down the hill. When I peaked around the brush all I saw was legs whirl and take off up the ridge. He didn't go 50 yards and everything got quite. I waited a minute and took a couple of steps and another elk busted out of there. Well I decide to bug out of there and let them settle down. I decided to make a big loop around the ridge and back to the truck. I had only went a short distance when two more bulls started bugling. I headed for the closest one. I was getting close now and I stopped waiting for him to sound off again. Out of the corner of my eye I catch movement. I look over my right shoulder an there is a bull walking on a path that will carry him right by me. I clipped on my release and drew as he walked behind some brush. He came out the other side and actually turned walking right at me. Closer and closer he comes and I am thinking this is about to implode. The other bull bugles and this bull stops takes a couple steps uphill and stares in the direction of the other bull. I think to my self less than 20 yards broadside and looking the other way. Thump the arrow blows thru his rib cage and he bolts. He only makes it 50 yards be fore he stops and starts wavering. He coughs up a huge amount of blood and falls over. As I walked over to see if I could find my arrow the other bull comes walking in. He was much larger but you know what the say, I bird in hand is much better than one in the bush.



Now the work begins. Butchering one by your self is no easy task. I was exhausted by the time I got him quartered and in the game bags. I carried both of the hind quarters up to the logging road. Its now 12:15 and I decided to eat lunch. While it is digesting I crawled under the truck to see whats wrong. It turns out the bottom bolt has fallen out of the break caliper assembly. So when you apply the breaks it rotates back and rubs the inside of the wheel. Well I decided that push comes to shove I could use a coat hanger to wire it in place and ease back to town. I went back and finished packing the meat up to the logging road. All the training paid off as the half mile up a gentle slope was really no problem at all.
While in the process I decided that the bolt had to fall out on the uphill portion of the rough road. So I walked out to the truck and head up the road. It seemed like I walked for ever trying to get to the mudhole I hit too hard. Right before I got there I found the bolt.



I had some help bolting it back together.



I actually had to run one of them of who was licking my pack.

I didn't have any trouble sleeping that's for sure.

1st rule of DIY hunting. Have a back up plan A, B & C. I have always had the thought. What do I do if I tag out on the first day. I just drove 2,000 miles and have almost 2 weeks left , Hmmm. I have always made secondary plans, until now ive never gotten to use it. So the next morning I head to town to find some dry ice and then point the truck north.
I drove thru this little slice of heaven hidden out in the prairie on a rock climbing trip many years ago. After I did some research I went back to hunt Antelope. There is too much water to affectively hunt antelope from a blind, but I kept seeing all these big deer. I would hunt it several times over the next decade. We would see hundreds of deer during a weeks trip and several big bucks. Unfortunately EHD really did a number on the area. In six days I never saw a buck over 2 years old. I stopped and talked to one of the local farmers who is a hunter. He painted a grim picture. Im afraid it will take many years for the area to recover if ever. I still had a great time stalking and glassing. I saw 20 – 30 deer a day and stalked within 22 yards of the only buck I tried. Im confident I could have shot him in his bed but I didn’t intend to shoot him to begin with.

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Part of the adventure. You never know what you might see.

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If I wasn’t excited enough to draw my own Elk tag I received a phone call from my brother Zack who had drawn a Kentucky elk tag. It was a cow rifle tag but still a unique opportunity. I quickly offered my services as pack mule. Now I was really stoked, two elk hunts in one year.

I kept up my training so I would be in shape to pack quarters out of a hole if needed. Its a lot easier to do when the temps are mild and the woods full of color.

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The state estimates that approx. 10,000 elk roam the 16 county restoration area. The tags are allocated by a pure lottery system. If lucky enough to draw a tag, you can then apply for a limited entry area. Zack was lucky enough to draw a LE area too. Supposedly you’re the only person that has permission too be on that piece of property. We would find out that there is no enforcement and that the locals use the area as they please. It seems the coal companies could care less about people trespassing on the reclaimed areas of the mines.

I left work at lunch and started the 5-6 hour drive north to meet my brother. It was currently snowing and the forecasted low was in the high teens. Zack spent the afternoon driving around and scouting his LE area while I was on the way. He decided on a small valley that was more isolated than the larger part of the area. He talked to a couple of guides at the camp site and they told him they often saw elk on the ridge right behind camp.
Day 1
Saturday morning dawned clear and cold with my thermometer reading 16 degrees. The only water that wasn’t frozen was a couple of Nalgene bottles Zack had stuck inside a cooler at home. The plan was to get on a prominent point in the valley and glass. The guides also warned us that it was opening day of late muzzle loader and there would be lots of deer hunters out and about. Well about 45 minutes before daylight a vehicle drives up the valley. We hike up on the point and watch two more vehicles go by. Right about prime time one of them comes creeping back thru. Don’t know if it was the cold or common practice but it seemed everybody was trying to shoot a deer from the truck. We hiked back to the camp and spent the rest of the morning driving around an exploring different areas. Even though we glassed up several deer including a nice buck right behind camp we never saw an elk. Nobody we talked too had seen any either. While eating lunch I pointed out that the guides had taken their client thru the valley and over the top. I surmised that, we should go up there too. We gathered our packs and drove to the end of the valley. We hiked up and out of the valley. When we got there we discovered that it was practically the highest point for miles around.

From the valley floor.

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From the top.

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Top of the world. Well this part of the world anyway
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We began scouting and glassing the area. I found a bench of the other side that was very green and the grass looked like it had been mowed. I told Zack as cold as it is the deer and elk will be in here this evening. We still had several hours until dark and decide to scout one of the ridge lines. We really didn’t find anything fresh so we headed back to the bench. We arrived back with about an hour of daylight left. Zack went up on a little knoll to glass while I looped around to keep an eye on the bench. I couldn’t see it all from the top and decided to drop off the top a couple of hundred yards to get a better view. As soon as I reached my intended spot I blew two deer out of their beds. They ran down across the hollow and towards Zack. I decide to loop around and join him on the knoll. When I got there I couldn’t see him. I finally see movement and realize he is sitting down looking thru the scope. I look beyond him and see 3 elk standing in an old road bed. They were headed to the bench until the deer blew out. I put the binos on them. Theres a spike a cow and a calf. The cow has tags in her ear. As she turns I see a sat collar too. Its then that I realize that it absolutely dwarfs the spike. I take another look and decide it’s a big bull that has lost his horns. I inform Zack of my suspicion and he says okay im going to shoot the other one. I have my cow call ready and when she turns to leave I stop her broadside. I keep waiting for him to shoot and watch as the bull leads them back the way they came. Zack said there was a sapling covering her heart when she stopped. We tried an end round too cut them off and it worked but the cow never showed. I did confirm the elk with the collar was male as he had his manhood run out for all to see. As were sitting there watching , Zack spotted some elk on another slope heading towards us. There were 9 cows and a medium sized bull. Unfortunately they didn’t get close enough before darkness arrived.
About an hour and half before dark we heard two rifle shots that seemed to come from the valley. Turns out a hunter from Vermont had shot a cow right around the corner from our camp. They were staying in a motel and weren’t quite sure what to do with the meat for the night. Since there are very few trees on the valley floor I offered to let them lay them out on top of my truck. They were froze solid the next morning.

Day 2
It’s a balmy 27 degrees as we head out in the darkness. We drive to the end of the valley and hike up to the top. We hung out and glassed from the top for the first hour or so. We then decided to investigate the area were last nights herd came from. We scouted and glassed while working our way out a ridge line. The top has been stripped and replanted its very thick. We see tons of both Elk and Deer sign.

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Walking along I find this guy just laying in the road. He dosent have a mark on him so I decide maybe hes just cold. I put him in my pocket with a hand warmer and 30 minutes later he wakes up and jumps out.

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Zacks phone starts going off. The Vermont guys are at our camp getting there meat. There is a herd of 8 elk on the ridge behind camp.

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Of course that’s on the other side of the valley. We decide to hike around up top and try to drop in from above. To make along story short we spent 45 minutes with a calf just a few yards from us. We expected the rest of the herd to appear any minute. She finally walked into a big patch of briars and layed down. We backed out and went back to camp for lunch. After lunch we headed back to the top. The wind had been picking up all afternoon. Up top it was full gail force. The only elk we saw were 3 cows that were feeding on a steep ridge side out of the wind. After covering 6 miles the first day and 8 the second there should have been no problem with sleeping. The winds rocked the tent to the point I knew it would collapse any minute. Then the rain started. Oh boy did it rain.

Day 3
The alarm sounds off at 5:00. Its pouring rain. Zack resets it. 6:00 its still pouring. I finally got up just before 7:00. We decided to get in the truck and ease around glassing from the truck. Theres nothing in the valley, so we decide to head over to the other area. There a kinda of hidden bowl that we want to check. We 4 wheel drive back in there. Its just misting now. We get out and hike to a high point so we can see the whole thing. The entire bowl has been mined and is a mixture of switch grass, briars and small trees. It looks like heaven but there not a single animal to be seen. We decide to head over the ridge to glass a big open area. We drive back out and start up the winding road. About half way up we come around the corner too see a herd of elk crossing the dirt road. They run off up the hill a 100 yards or so and stand there staring at us. I tell Zack don’t stop just keep driving. We continue over the top and park on the other side. We work our way back down and use some small pines to slide out on a point overlooking the area. The elk have went back to feeding. I pick out one and range her at 197 yards. The rest is history.

The shot was taken from the pines right behind Zacks head.

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So we both get our first elk in the same year. Both tags drawn from a lottery system to boot. I don’t know that it could have been any better.
In closing this is not your traditional elk hunt but its definitely cool. The combination of the steep slopes and reclaimed areas make for great habitat and interesting hunting.

Saying good bye on the way out.

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Well worth the effort !!

Nice work, nice bull...a DIY archery elk is a real trophy.

Right on! Congrats on a nice DIY archery bull. I bet he'll be a tasty bugger.

Huge Congrats!!!

What an awesome hunt Thunder Head. You earned that one, so congrats to you big time! Loved the great story and pics, thanks for sharing them with us.

Conglads on a good bull.

Awesome! God's looking out for you when you jump out of the truck, stick and elk and then find your "lost" bolt! Amazing and congrats!

Nice! Congratulations!

That is a great story! Some guys are good and some are lucky. I would say you are BOTH!

Breaking down in the middle of rutting elk is one thing. Breaking down, taking a great bull, finding the bolt, and getting in some quality bovine time is pretty much the pinnacle of western hunting.

Great hunt, and great job!

Jeremy

Awesome! Now I know the Rest of the story! Lady Luck was be your side....

Good story, nice elk, congratulations. Been there, done that.

Wow,you will never forget this hunt.Congrats on pulling it off.OB

Great job!!! Your HOOKED for life!!!

That's a hunting story for a lifetime! Congrats!

Way to go! Congratulations!

I added my brothers Ky. elk hunt to the story.

I would like to send a special thanks out to AR's own Skip Nantz. Even though he was leaving on his own out of state hunt he did his best to help us anyway he could for the Ky. hunt.

It takes a lot of work to put together a trip report like that. Thanks for sharing your story and congratulations.

Very nice two-fer. Way to go guys!

Was the KY elk from the straight area.

I wouldn't go anywhere in a Ford

LHeym500,
It came from the limited entry area Zack drew.

Possibly than as Straight Creek is a
Limited entry area. There are about 3 limited entry areas if memory is right.

KY Fish and Game change them about every other year. Also, the tags were reduced for 2017 mostly the reduction comes from the late cow seasons.

Congrats to you and your brother. Elk is my favorite venison.

Congrats on the success, and what an adventure. I have put it for that stupid drawing since they started it and have never been drawn.

Another great hunt! Hate that I missed taking part.

LHeym...they were in an area of Ky River Coal property near Carr Fork Lake. Only about 30 minutes from me.

Here's a pic of an elk bedded in front of my porch on that Saturday when I returned home.





Here's a pic the next afternoon...my backyard!

Straight Creek is about a hour & 15 minute drive.

I encourage everyone to put in for the draw...know it hurts my chances, but what a bargain Elk hunt for us Easterners.