On the first day of our hunt, my buddy, Barry Eldridge, had his bull elk on the ground three hours after daylight. Less than 24 hours later, my buddy, Russ Davis, had his first bull elk on the ground. After a high five, a bull that we hadn’t seen came over the knoll. My shot rang out and another bull was on the ground. Our hunt was over in less than a day and a half.
It was October 2017, and we were hunting on public and private land near Taos with Casey Kuehnlenz of Cross Country Guide Service. Casey had never hunted this area before, but he arrived a few days before us and found a great location. We scouted the afternoon before our hunt and saw several nice bulls before returning to camp. The next morning, we returned to our spotting location before daylight. As soon as the sun came up, we had more elk around us than you could shake a stick at! They were to the right of us, to the left, behind, and in front of us. Most were a half-mile away or more, but Casey and Ryan Peralta, another guide with Cross Country Guide Service, could determine which bulls we would be chasing soon with their long-range spotting scopes and binoculars.
After a couple hours of glassing and sizing bulls, Casey and Ryan came up with the plan to pursue several bulls that were in a small herd about two miles away. The herd was heading towards a gorge to slip out of the soon to be heat for the day. Casey and Russ went to the west of the herd, and Ryan, Barry, and I went to the east. Ryan was about 20 yards from the edge of the ravine when he told Barry, “Nice bull right there, 150 yards away.” Barry didn’t even think of finding and using a rest. He shot standing a mere three seconds after Ryan had spoken. The bull went straight down with one shot from his Remington model 700 7mm Magnum.
Once all the work was done to get Barry’s elk out from the gorge, we returned to camp until the afternoon. The afternoon hunt came and went without any action. The next morning, we all went back up to the glassing location and as soon as the sun came up, a herd of about 200 was 150 yards down the hill from us, but all of the bulls were too small. We glassed for about 30 minutes and then Casey and Ryan found a nice bull coming out of another ravine right in front of us a half-mile away.
Casey told Russ and me to grab our gear. We had to go cut them off before they crossed a fence, so off we went to the truck. After a quick truck ride, we got to the spot where Casey thought they might be coming. After hiking fast through the low-lying brush for about 20 minutes, we finally reached our spot. Russ set up on his bipod, and Casey and I were behind him about 10 feet. We thought it might be a while before we saw the herd, but boy were we mistaken. I had only sat down on my knees for about a minute when a cow elk popped over the hill. Casey was expecting them to come from a different direction, so when I told him we had several cows coming to the right of us, he was shocked at how fast they had got there, not to mention that we were set up perfectly. After several cows went by, the bull we had spotted came over the hill and Casey told Russ to get ready. A few seconds later, the sound of Russ’s Remington Model 7 300 WSM rang out and his bull was on the ground. We high fived and thought the morning hunt was over. Boy were we wrong again! I was on my tripod sticks to back up Russ still. Right after high fiving, Casey looked to our right and told me to shoot that big bull. I glanced to my right and saw the bull. I pulled the trigger on my Remington 700 338 Win Mag and down he went. We spent the rest of the day packing out and processing our elk.
There was supposed to be another buddy hunting with us, but Hurricane Harvey kept him back in Florida, thus freeing up a tag. Casey tried to sell the tag but was unable to due to the short amount of time before the tag had to be used, so he decided to use it himself. The next day, Casey and Ryan headed back to the glassing location while Barry, Russ, and I slept in. After only 30 minutes of glassing, they spotted a nice bull one mile away, so they hiked down the mountain in pursuit. They found the bull standing on a mountainside across a large ravine. Casey fired one shot from his modified model 12 Savage 7mm SAUM and the bull was down. Barry, Russ, and I hopped in the truck for a five-minute ride and then hiked out a mere mile and a half to help Casey and Ryan haul the meat back to the truck.
I first hunted with Barry in 2000 when we were both stationed at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. We have hunted Axis deer, mouflon sheep, and whitetail deer together. I started hunting with Russ in 2007. We met while we were both stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas. Over the years, we’ve hunted hogs, deer, black bear, caribou, and antelope together. I introduced Barry to Russ three years ago during a deer hunt in Nebraska, and we are planning on meeting up again this fall for a deer hunt in Texas.
Everybody has friends, but huntin’ buddies are more than just friends. Huntin’ buddies are similar to you, they share the same traits, and you get along with ease. In camp, everybody knows their role and everybody shares responsibilities around the camp. All of this equates to making memories that will last a lifetime. Our trip to New Mexico was no different. Four bull elk taken in less than 72 hours by four different hunters is how you make an awesome memory with your huntin’ buddies!
Elk in New Mexico
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