NM RMEF Elk Hunt

[texastrophies]

We just got back from Jake’s elk hunt in NM. Here is a recap with pictures.

Texas has a youth hunting program (TYHP) that puts on all types of hunts for youth. Most are deer hunts on ranches for does or culls. I checked out there website in November to see if there were any hunts that would fall in a time frame that Jake would be able to go on. I noticed on the front page they were having a contest for a cow elk hunt in New Mexico between Christmas & New Year’s Day. The youth had to submit a less than 500 word essay on what hunting meant to them. That night I showed it to Jake and he was excited and started working on his essay.

When he completed his essay, he had over a 1,000 words in it, so he decided to take it to his English teacher and get some help on reducing the amount of words in it. Here is his essay.

The Influence of Hunting on my Life

Whitetail deer hunting was instilled in me as early as I can recall. Some of my first memories were of my dad and I going out to the ranch and hunting, him with his huge rifle, and me with my BB gun! However, the hunt I anticipated the most was my first opportunity to go on an elk hunt.

Deep in the Texas summer, my mom, dad, and I are sitting in the living room watching T.V. with my dad also on the computer. Halfway through the show, I hear a huge shriek from my dad about the fact that he had an unknown charge of over $500. I couldn’t figure out why in the world any sane person would be this happy about losing $500 until he finally explains to me that the only thing a charge like this could mean is that I was drawn for a youth elk hunt in Utah! Once I comprehend what I was just told, I become just as excited as my dad!

Throughout the beginning of the school year, I bragged about my elk hunt to everybody that would listen, and even to some of those that wouldn’t. However, around mid-September I received news that would haunt me forever. My dad said that the doctors had said my mom had only about two more months to live. She had been battling cancer on and off for my entire life, but this was the first time I really understood that it might actually take her away. We drew it out as long as we could, but in early November, the month of the hunt, we realize that the elk hunt I was so excited for would probably be taking place when my mom passed. This had been evident since I got the news, but I was hoping it wouldn’t end up that way. However, when my dad told me to take some time and make a decision as to whether I would attend the hunt or not, I wasted about five seconds and decided we wouldn’t be going on an elk hunt in 2008. At 7:50 pm on November 22, 2008, my mom passed away.

Hunting has shaped my life. But at that time, I had to choose something that would change my life forever over something that I would most likely never have a chance at again. Hunting has shown me that sacrifices are a very important piece of life, and it has given me the strength to see that you must have priorities. It has shaped me in such that I am now able to take these experiences and apply them to the rest of my life. Had I never been introduced to hunting, I would not be near the same person I am today, and I would not be able to have the outlook on life that I currently do.

Jacob Berger

The deadline for submittal was 3:00 pm on Nov. 19th, with the announcement to be made in early December. So when my phone rang around 7:00 pm on the 19th with an unknown number, I was a little apprehensive when I answered it. The voice on the other end told me Jake was one of two kids that had been selected for the hunt out of over 40 applications. We were both very excited. We would be leaving on Christmas Day driving out to the Double H Ranch, which is also known as the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation ranch with over 140,000 acres of land.

We celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve, then got up on Christmas Day and went to the location where we would meet up with the sponsor from the TYHP that would be driving us there in a 15 passenger van. We drove about 2/3 of the way there on the 25th and got there shortly after noon on the 26th.

Here are a couple of pics from on the road.

That afternoon the kids went to the range to shoot the muzzle loaders and make sure they were still sited in. Since I do not have a ML, the TYHP had provided two T/C’s for each of the kids to shoot. The other kid shot first and after a couple of shots, his gun was back on target. Jake’s turn was next. His first shot was just barely on paper, but he said it felt good. The sponsor then shot it, since he had sited it in, same story, barely on the paper, he adjusted the scope and it was worse, after a couple of more shots, it was decided that the scope had failed and we would not be able to use that gun. No problem, the ranch had guns, they pulled out a ML, and Jake’s first shot with it was about ½” high, good to go.

First morning we were assigned to a guide, John Ray (JR) and off we went. We saw a few elk and deer, but nothing we could get on. JR received a call on the radio that another hunter, there were 6 kids total, had an elk down. We went over to help and a young girl had her first animal down.

Picture of girl with elk.

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That afternoon, we went to try and setup in an area where we had watched some elk go up into the mountains that morning with hope of them coming out in the same area that evening. When we got there we noticed the wind wasn’t great and not long after setting up, we were glassing the mountain side and caught a glimpse of the elk moving over the top going to the back side of the mountain.

The second morning, we woke up to about 1” of snow covering the ground. The areas we went to did not have any elk showing them selves. On our return trip to the lodge, we noticed two cows, but they were in an area where we could not stalk them. Hunter, the other kid that went with us, connected on a cow. This would prove to be a bad thing for Jake.

Hunter & elk.

Since the gun the ranch had provided Jake was a little to long for him, Jake decided to start using the gun that Hunter had used. On the second afternoon, we went back to where we had seen the 2 cows that morning, and after a little glassing we found them bedded down on the side of a hill not too far from where they were that morning. We put together a plan of attack and started about a mile hike into where they were. As we were getting close, we couldn’t find them, then all of a sudden they popped up about 100 yards from us, but much higher on the hill than we were looking. This caused Jake to take a free hand shot that resulted in a miss. The rest of the afternoon was non-productive.

First stalk, sorry about my finger.

Day 3, the last day of the hunt, the weather forecast was calling for possible blizzard conditions that evening/night. The sponsor was anxious to get going before the storm hit. We went out that morning to “the farm” and watched a heard of about 70 cows feeding out on the flats. Finally, they headed up into the mountains. We went back to the lodge to get a bite to eat for lunch, and then headed back to try to stalk this heard. When we got there, the elk were no where to be found. Ended up finding out that the ranch foreman had been in the area on a 4-wheeler herding cattle and we assumed that that scared the elk out of the area.

Jake glassing.

We then got a call from a different guide that they had spotted some elk in a different area, so we headed that direction. When we got there, we immediately spotted some elk above the road towards the top of the mountain. They were about 300 yards above us, too far for a shot with a ML. We started moving up and got to about 100 yards from them and could see patches of brown but did not have a good clean shot. The elk got nervous and over the top they went. So we moved on down the road to the area where we were originally heading for the elk that were below us.

We could see them bedded down on the opposite side of the canyon about 400 feet below us. We started down towards them on the back side of the ridge. About half way down, I spotted a deer on the ridge, after a quick look through my bino’s, I saw the largest buck I have ever seen alive, he was easily 4 inches past the ears and had your typical mule deer rack, with a couple of extra’s hanging down. We moved on down the ridge and as we were getting close to the area where the elk were, we spooked two small bucks and they dove off the ridge right into the elk and took them out of the area with them. On our way back up to the trucks, we ran across my first ever elk shed. The score now is elk 2 – 0.

Deer that spooked elk.

Stalking.

Elk shed

We headed around to another area on the ranch where we had seen some elk on the first morning. We spotted a herd of cows. The elk were up and feeding a lot today with the upcoming weather. We got to about 50 yards of them, and Jake got off a good shot, but nothing happened, all the elk took off. We went over to the area where they were, and started looking for blood. No blood at all on the ground. Elk 3 – 0.

Being a heard of elk, it was easy to follow their tracks. We followed for about a half of a mile, looking for blood or possibly a downed elk, thinking it might have been a gut shot. As we were following them, we ended up catching up with the herd as they were feeding again. The stalk was on. The wind was not great, as it kept us from going the direction we needed to get use the cover to get close. We got to about 130 yards and that was as close as we could go. Jake got set up on the tripod, and popped off another shot. Obviously another miss. Elk 4 - Jake 0, final score.

On the way back to the lodge, we went by the shooting range. We only had one shot left and figured we would use it to see if it was the gun or Jake. I shot it standard size paper target, and it did not even hit the paper. Don’t know if that was all of the problem or not, but know it didn’t help.

When we got back to the lodge, the sponsor said that we were going to grab a bite to eat, load up and head out to beat the storm. We ended up leaving about 8:30 and drove all night and day, not a pleasant ride on my part, I felt I had to stay awake since I was riding shotgun to make sure the driver stayed awake, and I think that ended up being a wise decision. We ended up getting home around 7:00 pm on Thursday. Even though we didn’t get an elk, we both had a great time.

Here are a few pics from around the lodge.

A rock formation with a little extra.

[whitetailtrax]

Sounds like a great adventure Jeff - one that you and Jake will never forget! Sorry he wasn't able to connect, but that is part of hunting. Congrats to him on the essay - nice job! Thanks again for the xmas exchange gift - fruit is gone and the Realtree cap is serving its purpose well. Happy New Year to you and Jake! Mark

[pointing_dogs_rule]

Really cool and nice photos. Congrats on a really great trip.

good luck to all

the dog

[wtnhunt]

Good story and pics there Jeff. Too bad about the gun issues. Thought you had planned on getting a ml'er for this season?

Any way you can do anything with your pic of the deer, I see it, but cannot see the antlers.

[texastrophies]

Guess I need to clean a couple of things up.

1. The picture of the deer is not the big one, did not get a picture of him. This picture is of two SMALL bucks that scared the elk off.

2. Jake did not kill an elk. Had opportunities, but missed.

On the ML, I was going to, then Jacob did not draw the hunt that I had applied him for that required a ML so I didn't do it. And when we found out about this hunt did not think there was time to buy one, figure out how to use it, and get it set up in time. I will have one within the next couple of months, now that I know how to use them.

[wtnhunt]

On the ML, I was going to, then Jacob did not draw the hunt that I had applied him for that required a ML so I didn't do it. And when we found out about this hunt did not think there was time to buy one, figure out how to use it, and get it set up in time. I will have one within the next couple of months, now that I know how to use them.

Thought so. Ml'ers are a lot of fun Jeff, would get one if I were you. Don't know about Texas seasons, but I would not go without a ml'er here, some of our best deer activity is during our ml'er season.

[stevebeilgard]

great hunt, jeff, even though jake couldn't connect. i know where you can find an elk... lol

[fly]

Jeff your story makes me look forward to the first time my son and I take a hunting trip. He's 8, so it will not be long! Thanks for posting and congratulations on being a great dad.