After several years of applying for western public land hunts, I finally drew a bull elk tag for a unit in northern NM. This has been a dream of mine literally for decades. I had never even seen an elk in the wild, but come October 5 2024, I would be chasing them in NM with my brother. The unit I drew is large, over 700 square miles in size. The NM first rifle season ran from Oct 5-9 2024.

I was notified in April i drew. The next few months were spent scouring OnX and reading and learning as much about elk hunting as I could. Things like migration patterns, how pressure affects them, as they say, you don’t know what you don’t know. The only thing I was confident in, was that i did not know what to expect and that my many years of hunting whitetails in Texas and elsewhere would have virtually no benefit to hunting public land elk.

Having never been to Northern NM, my brother and I decided to do a quick scouting trip in August. We drove up to NM and primitive camped in the national forest for a couple days. We had identified some good areas on OnX we wanted to check out and generally just get a lay of the land. We took my trusty Tacoma and put her to work, driving over 100 miles on forest service roads. We were able to put eyes on a few areas and located 1 area in particular we felt confident would hold animals, just due to the remoteness and challenge to get back there. It was deep and very rugged. I found an old elk shed in this sanctuary spot that further boosted our confidence.








Early October arrives and the hunt is on. With nervous excitement and anticipation we head west. We would be hunting with a guide for the first 2 days. If unsuccessful, the remaining 3 would be DIY all on our own. We arrive at the camp and get settled in. I shoot my rifle, and actually had to adjust the scope a little.




We meet our guide that night and develop a general plan for the next day. The outfitter i went with was Kiowa Hunting Service. The food and service was great. I would recommend them.





Day 1: We drive with our guide into the national forest and hike a ways in. The guide lets out a cow call and immediately a bull screams back. My dream to hear an elk bugle has occured. An amazing sound we would hear frequently through out our hunt. We get settled in and continue cow calling trying to draw this bull in. Another bull starts bugling behind us, we were in them. With in 30 minutes or so, the crack of a rifle from a nearby hunter breaks the silence. The other hunter couldn’t have been more than 200 yards away. Welcome to public land hunting. The rest of the day we hike around and put on the miles but see nothing else. In a way i was glad the hunt did not end the first morning of the first day.





Day 2: My brother and I had identified a different area on OnX and we requested we hunt it with the guide. He was good with the idea. It was a long day hiking many miles back but we were in the elk. We had a spike about 20 yards away, later we spooked 1 herd bull and his cows, but no shots were offered. As afternoon turned to evening two or 3 bulls were really firing off. At times it sounded like Jurassic Park. The day ended with a failed stalk on bugling bull that we never saw. We should have just put those elk to bed, but we did not. We had a treacherous hike out that night. Our hunting with the guide is over.

Day 3: The first day we were on our own. We return to the area we hunted the previous day. The day was an absolute grind. We saw 2 cows at first lite and nothing the rest of the day. We are second guessing our selves at every point now. We think we pushed them all out the previous day with the failed stalk. We arrive back at camp that night late again.

Day 4: We found a new spot on OnX near a chunk of private land. This area we had never scouted, never hunted, we just kind of found a spot and went out. By 8:00AM we have seen or heard no elk, there was no fresh sign, nothing. Our mood and confidence is lower than it has been the entire hunt. We needed to make a change.

We decide to go all in. We would head out to our sanctuary spot, the one we found back in our scouting trip from August. This was a commitment as the spot is a 4 hour drive from where we were sitting currently and it was already mid morning.





We get back there a little after lunch and decide this time we will take our time, move slowly, listen and watch more. We are in an area full of benches and north facing ridges, there is fresh elk sign everywhere. We get within 50 yards or so of a small herd but push them out. It is now about 2:00PM. Our mood and confidence is high.

There is an elk bugling in the next drainage over. He is replying to our cow calls and we decide to make a play on him. The area is unbelievably thick timber, it looks like deep east Texas but with 45° angle mountains. As we are working up the ridge, my brother somehow spots a spike, the thick cover works to our benefit and we ease further up the drainage. At this point, we are midway up the ridge and at the ridge top we see another elk. My brother confirms it’s a legal bull and the adrenaline goes into overdrive. I have to army crawl up the ridge 50 yards or so while this bull and 2 other elk try to figure out what we are. All I can get is a leaning free hand shot through a small opening and I take it. We go to find blood, nothing. No blood. No hair. Just some dirt kicked up where he was standing. Self doubt and failure hit me like a ton of bricks, how in the world could i miss?

I start retracing my steps and after what seems like an eternity (but was probably 5 minutes) my brother calls out, “Hey come over here” I run down the drainage where he was standing and see my bull piled up, he had run 50 yards or so. A perfect heart shot. I was in shock. We had actually done it. No guide, just me and my brother, in a spot we found and scouted earlier in the year, way back in the middle of a giant national forest, completely on our own.

All the work and planning, all the driving, all the hiking around with a 30 pound pack and a 12 pound rifle, all the pain and second guessing. It all culminated in this moment.

A 3 x 3 rag horn bull in the bottom of the drainage, on the side of the mountain.






Together, we skinned, quartered and packed him out. This hunt was one of the most challenging and rewarding things i have accomplished and to do it with my brother by my side was simply amazing.

This bull is not a trophy to most people, but he is to me.

Wow, good for you man and great write up!

Congratulations!!! Great job.

Great report and a huge CONGRATS buddy! It couldn’t have happened to a better fella.

That's what is all about. Congrats and thanks for the story

Nice write and congrats. Elk hunting is no joke and you and your bro did great !

Great story, thanks for sharing! Oh yeah, congratulations!

Congratulations!

Dang straight that's a trophy! Congratulations on your first bull elk!!!

Great post, thanks for sharing. Congratulations on your trophy brother!

Congratulations!! As hard as you and your brother worked that is a trophy for sure. Thanks for the story, great write up.

Congratulations , and a great story .

Thanks for the report, congrats on the successful hunt!

Really well done, and a great story. Big congrats to you both

Congrats and welcome to the never ending fire!!!! Bugles haunt me!!


Enjoy the meat, hard to beat a meal you packed out on your back!!!

Great write up, you need to go to work for Outdoor Life. I have a feeling you are hooked for life.

Congrats on a great hunt and thanks for taking us along

That will be some great eating and memories made for a lifetime.

Once you start those hunts it is hard to stop them, you just want to keep going back time after time.

Right on

Congrats!!! My brother and I are hunting 3rd season in Unit 15 in Colorado next month.....hopefully at least one of us gets a bull!

Great write up. Congrats enjoy the delicious meat!

Great story! Great trip!

Very good story. Your hard work paid off in the end and you had a great time doing it. You got your bull, now you should start putting in for cow tags, they are a bit cheaper but just as much fun to hunt.

Way to go! Congrats!

Now that is what hunting is all about, big congrats to you and your brother

Those smiles tell it all!

Way to push through the second guessing, you both showed a lot of mental toughness!