My annual elk hunt on the Jicarilla Apache Res in NM was tough but great this year. I hunted with my trusty TC muzzleloader and had bulls in range pretty much every day. I was definitely being picky. I saw plenty of 6x6 bulls, but no real mature ones, or ones that were "right".
Everyone in my group was knocking down good bulls, but we kept hunting hard. The first couple of days, the bulls responded well to calling, especially raking a shed on trees. My guide and old friend Larson Panzy called numerous bulls into bow range, and the 2nd day, we had a 6x6 come in to 4 yards. It was great. The 3rd afternoon, I passed up a beautiful 280ish 6x6 out in a sage flat at about 50 yards.
We had more great encounters, and the last day, we got in on 2 6x6's in a knock down, drag out fight. They were in intense battle, and it was a real spectacle. I figured we just weren't going to get one this year because the last afternoon, the temps were 80 and the wind was absolutely brutal.
We decided to sit water, and an hour or so before dark, we heard a distant bugle. After 30 minutes, elk began to emerge from up the draw, and eventually 25 or more cows, calves and spikes were moving toward our waterhole with the bull bugling out of sight. He finally came out herding cows, and I could see he had a huge body. Then I saw he was only a 5x5, but he was very mature, heavy and wide. He was definitely the boss of the area and kept all in line. He worked in and got down in the pond and drank and bugled only 40 yards from me. He was blocked for the camera then, so I waited for him to get out, and the TC hammered him at about 50 yards. Again, he was a 5x5, but he was a great bull in my opinion. Most of the 6x's I saw were smaller than him...last 15 minutes of the hunt, we pulled it out. That is 6 bulls in 6 years on the Jicarilla...Sorry about the photos. Like I said, he was last minute and my camera was in the truck, we had to get him out, and these are the only shots I got. We drove all night just to catch our flights the next day...TH
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