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NM Elk Camp Day 2 & 3

By Brodie SwisherSeptember 13, 2016

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.

elk camp gear

A few of the basics from elk camp.

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.

elk camp map

Looking for plan b is quickly becoming the norm.

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.

elk wallow

Trail cam pix showed that a wallow was the place to be for an afternoon sit.

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.

fox

This fox was the only critter to make an appearance during my sit at the wallow.

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.

Brodie Swisher
Brodie Swisher is a world champion game caller, outdoor writer, seminar speaker and Editor for Bowhunting.com. Brodie and his family live in the Kentucky Lake area of west Tennessee.
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