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reel man · Dec-10-2005, 09:57 PM

Just got home from New Mexico, hunted cow elk on the Mescalero Apache reservation. They have two, 100 tag cow elk hunts, one in Oct during the rut, and the second one in Dec. We put in for the late hunt thinking the bulls wouldn't be chasing the cows, and the possibility of snow in the high country would drive the cows down for easier access. The whole reservation looks like perfect elk country, and it is important to have a good guide to get you into the choice country.

The hunt started on Dec 3, and ended on Dec 7, so that gives you 5 days to get your animal. What we found was very dry conditions, so that narrowed the locations to areas holding water. They usually drink twice a day, once in the morning before bedding down, and in the evening before feeding.

We would usually drive the canyon roads, or trails where there has been logging, and when cows are spotted exit the truck and put a stalk on them. For whatever reason they all acted very spooky this year and as soon as the truck was spotted or even heard would take off.

My friend got his on Sat evening by walking up a canyon then up the side to get a view of two more canyons that converged across from him. There were 4 cows millling around, and he was able to shoot one in back of the head at about 130 yds with a 338 Win Mag. Didn't lose one ounce of meat.

My birthday was on Sun so that was the day my animal would be my present, but wasn't to be. Early morning found us driving up a long road to a saddle between two hills, and found a good number of elk eating just ahead of us. We stopped the truck until it got light enough to hunt. Up to our right was a large water tank with troughs for cattle. There were 15-20 bull elk just standing around, and put on a great show for us. The big 6X6 bulls would chase the smaller bulls away when they came up to drink. You could hear their antlers brushing the trees and rub against the tank.

We hunted that morning, and went out again in the afternoon, but the elk were not in the mood to stand around. Went out again Mon morning, and had them spooking off before I could get out and sneak up for a good shot. I think we had thrown in the towel, and were heading out when the guide spotted 3 about 1000 yds off. He turned the truck and slowly drove across this pasture till he was pretty sure they were going to hightail it out of there. He said to get out and shoot, but the animals were 560 yds out and because we were working the tight canyons I had opted to bring my 30/06 instead of the 300 mag. I leaned down on the hood of the truck, aimed high on the shoulder and squeezed the trigger. The elk hunched up like it took the shot, took a couple of steps then started following the other 2 up a fairly steep hill. The guide stepped out of the truck and was going to take another shot when the elk stopped then fell down for the count. Seems my bullet went through a main artery and it bled to death on the inside.

We all walked up the hill with me holding up the rear, huffing and puffing due to the altitude and not being the best of shape. The guide gutted it out and used my foldup saw to cut through the bones, so we could drag it down to the base of the hill. My friend walked back to the truck, and drove it right up to us so it made loading very easy.

Took it to the trap and skeet lodge where they have a complete processing operation, skinned it out, and if we had a couple more days would have hung and stored it in a walkin reefer. We had to come on back so it and my friends cow were loaded into the back of his truck, on a tarp, and we headed for Wal-Mart to get some dry ice.

The meat will hang at the butchers for 15 days, and he'll cut it up, wrap or vacuum pack, and label all the cuts.

The Mescalero Apache reservation sits between Tularosa (near Alamagordo), and Ruidoso, NM. After driving across mostly desert for almost 2 days it's almost amazing the change heading up to the reservation. It goes from White Sands NM, and flat barren land to pinion pine, to aspen, and then into the big pine country. They are a very progressive tribe with a hotel, 2 casinos, golf, tennis, skiing, horseback riding, trap, skeet, and sporting clays, fishing, and of course hunting. They raise their own cattle, and have a selective logging operation. All the people living on the reservation share in the profits from all the operations.

Dec-10-2005, 09:57 PM	#1 (permalink)
reel man Registered User Name: Jerry Age: 67 Vessel: Sportfisher's Location: Burbank, CA Job:retired	Cow elk hunt Just got home from New Mexico, hunted cow elk on the Mescalero Apache reservation. They have two, 100 tag cow elk hunts, one in Oct during the rut, and the second one in Dec. We put in for the late hunt thinking the bulls wouldn't be chasing the cows, and the possibility of snow in the high country would drive the cows down for easier access. The whole reservation looks like perfect elk country, and it is important to have a good guide to get you into the choice country. The hunt started on Dec 3, and ended on Dec 7, so that gives you 5 days to get your animal. What we found was very dry conditions, so that narrowed the locations to areas holding water. They usually drink twice a day, once in the morning before bedding down, and in the evening before feeding. We would usually drive the canyon roads, or trails where there has been logging, and when cows are spotted exit the truck and put a stalk on them. For whatever reason they all acted very spooky this year and as soon as the truck was spotted or even heard would take off. My friend got his on Sat evening by walking up a canyon then up the side to get a view of two more canyons that converged across from him. There were 4 cows millling around, and he was able to shoot one in back of the head at about 130 yds with a 338 Win Mag. Didn't lose one ounce of meat. My birthday was on Sun so that was the day my animal would be my present, but wasn't to be. Early morning found us driving up a long road to a saddle between two hills, and found a good number of elk eating just ahead of us. We stopped the truck until it got light enough to hunt. Up to our right was a large water tank with troughs for cattle. There were 15-20 bull elk just standing around, and put on a great show for us. The big 6X6 bulls would chase the smaller bulls away when they came up to drink. You could hear their antlers brushing the trees and rub against the tank. We hunted that morning, and went out again in the afternoon, but the elk were not in the mood to stand around. Went out again Mon morning, and had them spooking off before I could get out and sneak up for a good shot. I think we had thrown in the towel, and were heading out when the guide spotted 3 about 1000 yds off. He turned the truck and slowly drove across this pasture till he was pretty sure they were going to hightail it out of there. He said to get out and shoot, but the animals were 560 yds out and because we were working the tight canyons I had opted to bring my 30/06 instead of the 300 mag. I leaned down on the hood of the truck, aimed high on the shoulder and squeezed the trigger. The elk hunched up like it took the shot, took a couple of steps then started following the other 2 up a fairly steep hill. The guide stepped out of the truck and was going to take another shot when the elk stopped then fell down for the count. Seems my bullet went through a main artery and it bled to death on the inside. We all walked up the hill with me holding up the rear, huffing and puffing due to the altitude and not being the best of shape. The guide gutted it out and used my foldup saw to cut through the bones, so we could drag it down to the base of the hill. My friend walked back to the truck, and drove it right up to us so it made loading very easy. Took it to the trap and skeet lodge where they have a complete processing operation, skinned it out, and if we had a couple more days would have hung and stored it in a walkin reefer. We had to come on back so it and my friends cow were loaded into the back of his truck, on a tarp, and we headed for Wal-Mart to get some dry ice. The meat will hang at the butchers for 15 days, and he'll cut it up, wrap or vacuum pack, and label all the cuts. The Mescalero Apache reservation sits between Tularosa (near Alamagordo), and Ruidoso, NM. After driving across mostly desert for almost 2 days it's almost amazing the change heading up to the reservation. It goes from White Sands NM, and flat barren land to pinion pine, to aspen, and then into the big pine country. They are a very progressive tribe with a hotel, 2 casinos, golf, tennis, skiing, horseback riding, trap, skeet, and sporting clays, fishing, and of course hunting. They raise their own cattle, and have a selective logging operation. All the people living on the reservation share in the profits from all the operations.