Due to weather and lack of cell signal on the mountain, we’re just now checking in from our New Mexico Elk Camp. Here’s a rundown on what happened on day 2 and 3.
Day 2
Despite high hopes for the action to be picking up on day two, the morning proved to be a repeat of day one. We covered plenty of country in the morning but swirling winds made things tough. We never heard a peep from the elk all morning. We had a pretty good idea of where the bulls were hanging out, but the wind direction did not allow for an approach.
We went back to the maps to look for a plan B but we ultimately knew we were snakebit by the wind direction for the drainage we were in. We made the hike out with a plan to cover new country for the afternoon.
The temperatures continued to climb throughout the day making an afternoon sit at a fresh wallow look pretty promising. Trail cam pix showed recent activity at the wallow so that’s where I’d be for the evening of day 2.
I checked the trail camera when I climbed into the stand and saw that several cows and calves had been at the wallow the evening before, so I was optimistic that we’d have a little activity that night. Shortly after I climbed into the stand, a few mule deer made their way across the field and cruised on by. A little while later I had a red fox come on the scene to do a little mousing. It was fun to watch the fox do work on the mice, but unfortunately that was the highlight of the evening. The elk were a no-show.
We’re looking for better things as we draw closer to primetime in elk country. Every day should pick up little more as we approach the 15th.
Day 3
We spent the morning of day three doing a little recon work from the top of the bluff on a different side of the ranch. The view from the top will make you get right with the Lord. It’s pretty spectacular. We saw a number of elk on the neighboring property but things were pretty quiet on our side of the mountain.
The afternoon found me headed back to hunt over the wallow. When I climbed into the stand, I checked the trail camera that was mounted up in the stand. I about flipped when I scrolled through and found a good bull had been at the wallow just a couple hours before I climbed in. The bull thrashed and bathed in the wallow until he was covered horn to hoof in mud. I was pretty sure I had missed my opportunity for the evening but was already planning a long sit at the wallow for the following day. Maybe the bull will make another mid-day stop at the wallow. I will be waiting.