Hunter - Mike Perkins
Hunter - Larry Day
Hunter - Charles Garner
Hunter -Steve Fleming
Alan Ranch -
Hunter : Bruce Heersink
January 11, 2011
Tis the new year and the 2011 season has officially begun. I got the pleasure of hunting with my friend, Tom Moleski and his business partner, Dennis Helka this past week for archery mule deer at the Hondo and Perry Ranches. Hoyt Graham, one of our top guides, joined us and guided Dennis for the week.
To say the week was unusual, is the understatement of the year. Although nobody actually killed a deer, I think the hunt will resonate in all of our memories for as long as we live.
Dennis and Hoyt started the whole thing off the first afternoon of the hunt as they built a small ground blind over one of the water drinkers on the ranch. Dennis was sitting on the ground waiting patiently for a buck to come in and drink when he catches movement out of the corner of his eye. Sure enough, there stands a good buck 20 yards away looking right at him. Dennis' bow is laying next to him on the ground with an arrow nocked.
This buck did not know what Dennis was, but he wasn't happy about it at all. The buck would turn and take a step forward and then jerk his head back toward Dennis. The buck did a great job of keeping Dennis pinned and not let him move to get his bow. Finally, the buck worked his way downwind and now he had enough of the situation. Off he went with Dennis never even getting a chance to raise his bow.
Undeterred, Dennis and Hoyt vowed to move their blind and reinforce the cover in it. The rest of Dennis' fun all occurred on this one water hole the rest of the week.
The next morning Tom and I went to an area that I've found deer here before and we found a few bunches of deer, but no good bucks. Then we spotted a buck and a doe feeding on a hillside. Of course, like a moron, I didn't take my spotting scope for some reason I'm still questioning. Tom had a new pair of 15-power Leica Geovids and he was able to make out the horns better than I could in my 10-powers.
The buck's body looked like an old, sway-backed mule with a white face. He was at least 5 1/2 if not 6 1/2 years old. His horns looked good in some angles, but both of us kept saying there was something wrong with his left antler. It was not as tall as the right antler. We're thinking either he is broken or it might be some type of freak antler. Well, as light increased with the day, we finally could tell his top fork was broken on that one side.
We hum-hawed around about it and finally decided he was an overly-mature buck and we would deal with the broken tine if we could get him killed. The buck finally settled into his second bed of the morning and I rigged Tom up with an ear-piece and a Rino 530 HCX radio. I was going to walk him into the buck and hopefully whack him.
Tom circled around and got above the buck. I was sitting 3/4 mile away looking at the hill where the buck and doe were bedded. I was looking at it from an extreme angle and little did we know, that angle was going to be important later on. Tom was easing down the slope toward the bedded deer and it looked like he was almost straight above them. It looked to me that he must have been within 30 yards of the buck. But with the angle I was viewing from, it was more like 50 yards. I'm telling Tom the buck is in the big cedar, 30 yards below him, just slightly to his left.
Well, it was more like, the buck was in a cedar 50 yards from him and way to his left. You got it. I had him looking at the wrong trees! The doe exploded out of the trees to Tom's left and took the buck with her. We watched the buck vanish over a ridge to never be seen again the rest of the week.
Paul Cartusciello, Tom's co-hunter on their Alan Ranch elk hunt in November didn't make this trip because of the fact that it was an archery hunt and Paul is only a rifle hunter. Why do I mention this tidbit you're probably wondering? Well, I ragged on Paul pretty good in the write-up on the elk hunt about being in shape. I just had to tell him, that I initially sent Tom on a more direct route up the hill to get above the buck. The wind began to shift so I called Tom on the radio and told him to swing way around so the wind didn't foul us. Paul, Tom whined about that hike the rest of the week! I thought you should know. Sorry Tom, I love you, but Paul needed to know!
That afternoon saw Dennis and Hoyt back at their new and improved ground blind over their water hole. With the improved blind, I gave Dennis a folding chair to sit on instead of the ground. Sure enough, a buck comes in to drink. The buck is 25 yards from Dennis, broad-sided, and does not know he is there. Dennis goes to draw his bow and because of the way he was slouched down in the chair, his elbow was hitting the back of the chair when he tried to draw. Much to Dennis' dismay, he was going to have to let down and move in the chair to get drawn. Of course, the deer bolts when he lets down and Dennis was left with his mouth hanging open, again.
Tom and I had built a blind over another water hole on the Perry Ranch and we hunted it every afternoon. Tom's adventures on this water hole rivaled those of Dennis. The first day, Tom fought the cows (bovine, that is) away from him as they were dog-gentle and figured Tom must be there to feed them.
Then Tom hears the drone of a 4-wheeler coming in.... I should take this time to tell you that in New Mexico, there are guys who's sole job is to inspect electric power poles on ranches where electricity is present. Being the well that supplies water to the drinker is electric, poles run all the way to the well. Well, this guy comes buzzing in on a 4-wheeler with a dog riding along. They get off 50 yards from where Tom was sitting in his ground blind.
The dog starts barking and chasing the cows around and the guy is banging and coring into the pole with a chain-saw corer, simultaneously yelling at the dog. Tom's eyes are rolled back into his head by this time. After repeating this same procedure of banging, then coring and yelling at the dog on a second pole, they finally mount the 4-wheeler and leave. They never saw Tom.
An hour goes by and Tom spots this buck walking into water. The buck was 28 yards in front of the blind and only needed two more steps to give Tom a shot. We don't know whether it was the scent from the guy and dog, our scent from building the blind, or what, but the buck got uneasy and bolted back up the hill. Tom had the wind, so something else was making him nervous. The buck stopped and Tom drew and shot without knowing the distance. There was no time for a rangefinder. The arrow went over the buck's back into the bushes.
After our first morning spot and stalk session, Tom and I were never able to locate another good buck on any of the next three mornings. Plenty of doe groups, but without bucks chasing them. It was looking like the rut was winding down on us.
The next afternoon when Tom went back to the water hole, the cows were hanging around the water as usual. When I picked Tom up at dark, there were two young bulls, right in front of Tom, jacking around, dry-humping each other, head-butting, and a few other things I can't mention in this family-friendly blog.
I asked Tom, "Have they been doing this the whole afternoon?"
"The whole afternoon." Tom replied.
But a pair of does came in and went right into water with all the cows hanging around and the Banger Brothers carrying on. Obviously they were at peace with each other.
The next afternoon, Tom went back to his blind over the water hole and played with the cows for a while. I think he was getting fond of them by this time. The cows eventually disappeared back behind Tom and a half hour or better went by.
Then Tom hears the faint sound of footsteps behind him. Tom is thinking' "Are those stupid cows coming back?" Tom slowly turns and looks behind him. He sees an ear sticking out from behind the bush he is next to. Five feet away! Then he sees bone. And then more bone!
This buck is literally standing five feet from Tom, dead down wind of him. Tom is thinking, "I'm toast." He wasn't even getting excited figuring the buck is moments away from fleeing with a snout-full of human scent. But, much to Tom's amazement, the buck continues toward the water. He walked maybe three feet behind Tom and was continuing on. Tom is just waiting for the buck to clear and he was going to smoke him.
Then it happened.... At that exact moment, two Air Force jets broke the sound barrier just above us. KABOOM...BOOM! All of us jumped literally 6-inches out of our seats no matter where we were. Tom was sitting on a bucket after Dennis' trouble with the chair and he almost fell off when the percussion from the sonic booms hit us.
Tom figures the buck had to be a mile away by this time but he slowly turned his head toward the location where the buck was walking. The buck was still standing there but had his head turned back looking right at him. He must have seen Tom jump. The buck then bounds off and left Tom just sitting there wondering what in the hell just happened. I guess sonic booms are not common in many areas, and Tom had no idea what it was. Talk about bad timing...
When I picked him up, he was reluctant to tell me what happened thinking I wouldn't believe him.
"Did you hear that explosion?" he sheepishly asked.
I replied, "Yes. As did everyone else in a 100-mile radius!"
Then he told me the story.
Dennis concluded our debacle the next day when he was sitting in his blind over his usual water hole. Another buck came strolling in to water.
I want to take this time to describe the setting a little better. Larry Tillman, the rancher, has a fenced enclosure around the water where he can either allow the cows access to the water or close it and only the deer and elk can get in by jumping over the fence. He keeps it closed during the hunting season to keep the cows from hanging around like they did at Tom's blind.
The buck jumped the fence and was standing 20 yards in front of Dennis who was at full draw by this time. He releases the arrow. Instead of whacking the deer, the arrow hit one of the wires in the fence, deflects, and completely missed the buck. Needless to say, the buck didn't hang around for an encore.
If it were not for bad luck, we'd have none at all. It was the story of the week.
But, as I alluded to earlier, the hunt will live on in our memories forever. We laughed about all our mishaps and in all, it was one of the best weeks of the year. At least from a fun perspective. Tom and Dennis made it a good week when many would have thought the world had ended. You guys were great and I look forward to many more hunts together. Tom, hope your "bucket back" is better.
****
Remember my mentioning of Alexandra Summers, our essay contest winner, and how they were having trouble finding bulls on her elk hunt? It didn't get any better on the last day. She hunted her heart out but ultimately went home without an opportunity. It was the only hunt of the year on the Hondo Ranch that we failed to deliver a shot opportunity.
Alex wrote a story about her hunt and I want to share it with you. I dare anyone to tell me that this 16-year old girl can't write! She's an awesome young writer and an even better person. We were privileged to have her. She is a true ambassador for our sport.
Brad and I have already made plans to take her on an Axis deer hunt this summer to make up for the goose egg on the elk hunt.
My First Elk Hunt
by Alex Summers
Being raised on the flat gulf coastal plain of Texas, the folds in the earth of the foothills of the Rockies seemed to me like the ruffles in the fabric of the world. The Hondo Ranch is positioned at the end of a long, gravel road that weaves through the hills near Hondo, New Mexico. As we approached the ranch the flora reminded me of the hill country back in Texas. The dry, dead grass of winter painted the hills a pale yellow, while cedar splashed dark green splotches across the landscape.
When my father and I arrived at the Ranch, we were met by Mike Acklin, our guide. He is a funny and personable man and also a great guy. He quickly made us feel comfortable and introduced me to the exciting adventure of elk hunting.
I
had never been on an elk hunt before, and I soon discovered, it was entirely
different from the deer hunting I had done out of blinds in the Texas hill
country. The majority of the hunting was done by hiking and glassing. Mike
would lead us to the top of a ridge, where we would scour all the
surrounding ridges and canyons through our binoculars. Upon seeing nothing,
we would then hike to the next ridge and repeat the process. It was
astonishing to me how these hills seemed to go on endlessly, for as soon as
we reached the apex of one hill we were greeted by the sight of another yet,
each one subtly different from the last.
All the hiking was a bit difficult the first day before my body had adjusted to the altitude. But, after that it became a fun exercise. Tuesday was an exciting day. We saw an elk on a ridge about a mile and a half away. Working our way towards the elk we realized that there were four other bulls with the one we initially spotted! Unfortunately, these bulls were on the neighboring Indian reservation, but it was still so exciting to watch the elk graze on the hillside.
The first two days of the trip we had very good weather, but that was about to change. On Wednesday, the winds came with sustained winds of 25-30 mph and gusts well over 40 mph. The snow started falling the next day. The storm became bad enough that we had to forego the afternoon hunt on Thursday. We hoped the storm would keep the elk bedded down for the night and thus get them moving for the last morning of the hunt. But it didn't happen.
Due to the poor weather, we saw no elk after those five on Tuesday, so in the end I was not able to harvest an elk. Still, I am so grateful that I was able to go on this hunt. Before this hunt, I had never hunted in the Western United States, so it was a new and thrilling experience for me. I discovered that I enjoy elk hunting so much more than deer hunting from a blind. I think it has something to do with being up and moving through the wilderness after game. It also gave me the opportunity to spend some great time with my dad.
I will keep this memory with me always. I would like to thank Johnny and Denise Hughes at Elite Outfitters along with Mr. Larry Tillman, owner of the Hondo Ranch, for this experience and for sponsoring the essay contest. I would especially like to thank Mike Acklin, who made the entire hunt so enjoyable and fun. And finally, a thanks to Mr. Russ Peagler. The money he donated was used to buy some warm hunting gear that kept my thin, Texan blood from freezing. If I am fortunate enough to go on another elk hunt someday, I will certainly use what I learned on this hunt to improve my chances of harvesting an elk.
****
While
some of us were working, a few of our guides drew archery Ibex tags in the
formidable, Florida Mountains of southern New Mexico. It is a tough hunt
with an average overall kill success of less than 5%. Joseph Graham, took
the honors this week when he connected on a 40-inch Ibex with a 120-yard
shot. Yes, 80+ yard shots are the norm for this hunt if you plan on ever
shooting at a goat. It takes lots of long-range practice and Joseph is the
best I've ever seen at it.
Not to mention this mountain literally chews people up. For all of you that have gotten your butt busted by trying to follow Brad around the mountains.... you will be happy to know that this rock pile kicked his butt! Out of fairness, it kicks anyone's butt who tries it. But I know there are some of you that can enjoy the mental picture of Brad hurting with all the punishment he dishes out!
Can you see the Ibex in the photos below? The arrow points to the zoomed picture.
Click Here to Read the "What's New" Posts for July-Dec 2010 Season
Click Here to Read the "What's New" Posts for Jan-June 2010 Season
Click Here to Read the "What's New" Posts for the 2009 Season