About half of this was written, sitting above waterholes in a climber stand. It was a truly great Season for my Buddy Kenny and I... I hope you enjoy it.
Please gather round, if so inclined
And listen to our Story
About the “Land of Enchantment”
In all its’ shining glory
My Buddy Kenny called me up
“Let’s take an elk vacation”
And so, upon his hard research
We paid the Application
The waiting seemed forever
But, we knew it was well-spent
When we found out we drew NM
On odds of four percent !
Who’d had 3 years success
Turns out the Unit was the same
How could we be so blessed?
Well, Dan was just outstanding
And soon, without hesitation
We started getting steady flows
Of inside information
15 long hours a loner
And I’m standing on the corner
Down in Winslow, Arizona
(RIP Glen Frey, 1948-2016)
Before he’d be arriving
Crack of Dawn, and in 6 hours
I was all done with driving
I furiously set up camp
And walked out heading West
The Day before the Opener
My skills put to the test
A Symphony ensued
3 screaming bulls were riffing hard
I was one happy Dude !
I set out in the dark
To find the elk already high
And way above the Park
I set my jaw, and I attacked
The daunting oakbrush face
Upon the crest, the wind told me
I may have lost the race
And suddenly, ahead
A lone spike bull fed unaware
Proceeding to his bed
I shadowed him for quite a while
And tried to match his pace
But, never had a decent shot
So, he survived, by Grace
The bulls were singing distantly
Now, wind was swirling ‘round
Tomorrow’s plan began to flow
A snack, and I laid down
Across a giant park
A 5x5, with cows of 6
Emerged from Timber Dark
To intercept, my wind was good
But, time was not my friend
I hustled, unsuccessfully
To watch the Opener end.
Who had pushed the pedal down
We made plans for the Morning
We just knew we’d win this round
Behind the bulls' domain
At daylight, they began to scream
And we began to gain
The King was sounding big and bad
With challengers surrounded
Our wind was good, we got within
Now 80 yards it sounded
And Kenny moved ahead
A curious cow heard our approach
And quickly pinned us dead
Appearing now, the monster bull
Defied imagination
And calmly came to watch his cow
Assess the situation
With trusty decoy now in sight
The cow seemed satisfied
She fed on in, and now the bull
Strode 40 yards broadside
For what seemed like forever
I raked the ground, the bull advanced
It’s surely now or never
Kenny’s cow call stopped the King
Through trees a tight lane stood
And, from the sound, and pumping fist
I knew the hit was good !
We both cow called excitedly
In hopes he’d slow his run
A crash, and then a gurgling growl
The mighty bull was done!
To take up his blood trail
No need, for 40 yards ahead
We saw a great whale tail
We both just stood in disbelief
The King before us lay
We celebrated, thanking God
For this amazing Day!
The work was fast and clean
Two heavy loads apiece to bring
The miles to seventeen
But still we hit the Dawn
My turn to be the shooter now
We had our “A- Game” on
On Dan’s intel, we headed to
An area unseen
When suddenly, up on a bench
A growler, rough and mean
He had a little, irritating
Satellite behind
Which kept him screaming, making him
An easy bull to find
We got into his “comfort zone”
And Kenny popped the butt
I moved toward an ambush spot
Across an open cut
The 6x6 appears
And I go into “statue mode”
For what seems like years
Finally, he’s had enough
And turns to break the spell
I turn to Kenny, giving signs
“Unleash the fires of Hell” !
Like a magnet on a nail
Behind an oakbrush wall he came
I waited on its' tail
I saw a tine above the brush
And quickly drew my bow
Just two more steps and he’ll be mine
But, something told him “No”
He stopped short, and I held my draw
Till I began to shake
When Kenny’s calling moved him out
I made my big mistake
Fly low, and miss him clean
My heart sunk as he said “So Long”
And dove down the ravine
Dejectedly, we tucked our tails
And sauntered to the rig
Two Days, two opportunities
And I had blown it big !
The bugling action quit
With silent elk, I had no choice
But waterholes to sit
But elk among them few
By morning of Day 6 we knew
Just what we had to do
We headed toward the drainage
Where the King was once supreme
And, with the light of Dawn we were
Rewarded with a scream !
But, the big bull wouldn’t play
And opted to relocate cows
A quarter mile away
From one ridge to another
We shadowed him all morning
A two mile circle to a bench
He gave his final warning
Beneath his bench on high
And I whispered back at Kenny
“I know how we’ll kill this guy”
"I’ll move ahead, and to one side
While you set up the Deke
When I get settled in there’ll be
No reason for “elk speak”
Just thrash the brush, and roll some rocks
And shake the decoy ‘round
My guess is that the bull
Will sneak on in without a sound"
My Buddy’s great performance
When I finally saw an antler shine
The Bastard was enormous !
He snuck on in, like on a string
But, my position sucked
He came directly at me
Man, of all the rotten luck !
A frontal shot, my only hope
To 15 yards he closed
But, vitals were obscured by brush
And I was full exposed
Unsure of the scenario
The bull then whipped, and arced
I saw one little opening
He hit it, and I "barked" !
Instinctively, for 45
I execute the shot
I heard the hit, but arrow flight
Showed me I missed the spot
Kenny cow called post-release
And bugled quick as well
I told him I hit too far back
For hours, we’d be in Hell !
And crept up slow to find
The arrow streaked in bright red blood
Completely blew my mind !
Then, Kenny grabs my shoulder
And points 30 yards ahead
My eyes bugged out at what I saw
The bull was lying dead!
I grabbed my Buddy, thanked the Lord
Exchanged a loud high-five
We posed for pictures, grinning wide
It’s good to be alive !
The easy packout quickly done
We drove to camp, victorious
The game we’d finally won !
We won’t forget New Mexico
And hope to be back soon
We feasted one last time beneath
Her peaceful, waning Moon !
Thanks for sharing
my best, Paul
Mark
Thanks for taking us along
Congrats
Good luck, Robb
Best of Luck, Jeff
Congrats! Mike
Keep that lucky streak going...I'm on board!
Best of Luck, Jeff
Hmmm...you got the wheels turning here Bill ! Problem is...I only seem to get inspired when I'm elk hunting :^(
Glad I found this :) G
Hope everyone had a great Christmas !
Best of Luck, Jeff
"It's good to be alive"!
Yes sir!!!!!!!!!
Thanks John, I'm just runnin' down the road, tryin' to loosen my load...
