Rancho Lobo Elk Hunt
Day 3
My manager, Cade, and I were up early and ready to make another assault on the ranches bulls. Our plan, this morning, was to drive to the north side of the “Honey Hole”, a series of meadows located in the lower central part of the ranch. From there we would attempt to parallel the various groups of elk moving up the ridges to their morning beds.
Bugling activity was strong as we left the vehicle and began moving up the ridge on the edge of the meadows. As we continued to advance the light began to increase as the sun crept closer to the mountain tops it was necessary to move carefully in the low light conditions, as the cow elk had a much better chance of spotting us tan we did them.
As we closed in on the first group of elk we could see a very nice 6X6 bull doing his best to keep this group of cows rounded up although a nice bull, he wasn’t what I was looking for, so we skirted to the bulls that were already further up the ridge.
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Try as we might we could not seem to gain on these bulls. We did get to see two 5X5’s which came easily to my cow calls.
As we paused to assess our best plan of attack, Cade and I could hear a bull down the ridge. He seemed to be moving up in our direction, and did not sound as if he was one of the bulls we had already seen.
Quickly we found a spot that would offer us both cover and some shooting lanes. I debated silently about the idea of cow calling, and finally decided to hold off. Right now this bull had no idea we were there, and as long as he continued to advance, it seemed best to remain quiet.
After several encounters over the last two days where luck was not with us, everything appeared to be going our way this time. My biggest concern was the wind. If the bull walked up the hill and stayed to the right, or uphill of us, we were fine. If he walked straight at us we were fine. But, if he came to our left, on our down hill side, I was certain he would wind us before I could take a shot.
Long moments passed before we finally spotted him coming up the ridge. At just under eighty yards the bull stepped between two aspens and revealed his impressive 6X6 rack. As he moved closer there was no doubt in my mind I would shoot this bull if the opportunity presented itself. I turned to Cade who was busy videoing the action, and told him so.
The bull slowly continued his advance, stopping to bugle every few steps. He was moving right at us! I readied myself for what appeared to be a “straight on” shot opportunity. At about twenty yards the bulls head disappeared behind a large aspen and I came to full draw. He kept moving right at me until, at 13 yards he stopped to bugle. I settled my 20 yard pin about 4 inches into the dark neck ruff and, just as he was finishing his bugle, touched off the release. I saw the arrow bury deep in his chest as all hell broke loose! The bull reversed course and went tearing through every thing in his path, breaking limbs as he went, in the blink of an eye it was over, and all was again silent, save the bugling of the other bulls now well up the ridge. It is hard for me to describe the excitement I had been feeling for the previous five minutes!
Cade and I celebrated the thrill of the moment, much the same as two scuba divers do just after returning to the surface. We compared notes on everything we were seeing and feeling during the tense moments leading up to the shot, when speaking to each other was not possible. Having spent a good deal of time behind a camera myself I knew Cade was as excited as I was.
Within ten minutes we had recovered our composure and were ready to get serious about the big bull’s blood trail. For me, getting on a blood trail is like landing a plane it requires full concentration I do it in such a way that all options possible are left open to me. I do not rush the job and I always assume the animal may be alive, so I move slowly and quietly until I have confirmation my prey is dead. In this way I can be in a position to take a finishing shot if necessary.
As I moved forward on the blood trail I could tell a second shot would be unlikely. Massive quantities of blood led me to believe the jackhammer mechanical had severed the jugular as it sliced into the boiler room.
Within 150 yards we spotted the downed bull. As we approached, the antlers seemed to grow, always a good sign.
My New Mexico bull ended up scoring right at 300 points by the Pope & Young method, making him the twentieth bull I have taken that would exceed their minimum requirements. As I think back over each and every one of my archery elk kills, I cannot recall any that were more exciting!