The large bull raged once more, and my fingers tightened on the inventory of my rifle. I glanced round at Vernon Scott, seated a couple of ft away. He nodded his head towards the tangle of oak brush in entrance of us, indicating that the bull would are available in from that route
Seconds later one other shrieking bugle pierced the morning air. The decision had misplaced all its musical high quality and was now the wail of some primeval beast. We might hear the bull raking his antlers as he loosed his fury on oak saplings.
I slipped off the security of my Mannequin 70 Winchester .270 and turned the ability ring on my scope right down to 2X. The bull can be not more than 50 yards away when he got here into view. I used to be sure that he can be transferring, perhaps coming straight for us in an insane rush to fight. I needed all the sphere of view my scope might supply. My coronary heart pounded.
Then limbs snapped to our proper simply out of view.
“He’s circling into the wind,” Vernon whispered. “He’ll quickly get our scent until you get him on in. Make one other name in your bugle.”
I lifted the decision to my lips and tried to sound like an elk aching for a struggle. Immediately the bull bellowed an enraged reply. He was shut now, and I used to be trying wildly for a goal, however I nonetheless couldn’t spot him. One other limb broke farther to the best.
“We’ve had it,” Vernon muttered. “We’ve misplaced him.”
The final sound we heard was virtually immediately downwind of our place. We held our positions for half an hour whereas I made extra challenges on my name. However our bull elk had vanished.
I’m 40 and the Midsouth subject editor for OUTDOOR LIFE. The expertise described above occurred on an elk hunt I made final September.
For less than the second time on this century the Mescalero Apache Indians have been granting permits to hunt elk on their south-central New Mexico reservation, which accommodates over 460,000 acres of effective recreation nation. Elevations range from 5,500 ft to over 12,000 ft on Sierra Blanca peak.
Native recreation consists of mule deer, whitetails, black bears, antelope, and wild turkeys, although solely tribal members are permitted to hunt antelope and turkey. All searching on the reservation is by tribal allow, and the prices of permits range.
Throughout 1966 and 1967 the tribe launched 162 Rocky Mountain elk on reservation lands. Absolutely protected by the tribal Conservation Division, these animals multiplied quickly within the near-perfect habitat.
A hunt was held through the fall of 1973, and quite a lot of trophy bulls have been taken. Further elk wanted to be harvested, so a second season, this time for each bulls and cows, was scheduled for September 28 to October 13, 1974. The season coincided with the height of the rut, and bulls needed to be five-pointers or higher to be authorized.
The payment for a bull allow was set at $800. Cow permits have been $500. The New Mexico nonresident elk license prices $75.50. Since hunters might stay for your complete season these charges in contrast favorably with the price of elk hunts in most Western states at the moment.
Rental horses can be found from the Indians or close by livery stables for $10 to $15 a day. The Hunt Supervisor must be notified prematurely if horses are desired so the inventory will be reserved. There are not any set information charges; the hunter and his information talk about and agree on the charges, which rely upon what providers you want your information to offer. The charges must be determined upon earlier than the primary day’s hunt.
For noncampers quite a few cafes and in resorts in close by Ruidoso supply rooms for lease at a median of $12 per day. The Ciengita Resort is one other possibility-if it’s accomplished in time for the 1975 searching season. There are industrial flights into Roswell and Alamogordo each day. Rental automobiles can be found in Roswell for $10 a day and 12¢ per mile. The city is about 75 miles from the reservation. Details about hunts on the reservation — together with these for mule deer, whitetails, and black bears — is accessible from Vernon Scott, Hunt Supervisor, Mescalero Tribe, Mescalero, NM 88340.
By early August my plans have been agency. Vernon Scott stated that he would information me and that I might pitch my tent on the reservation a couple of miles above Ruidoso.
I’ve all the time loved sports activities through which calls can be utilized. I’ve had years of expertise calling geese, turkeys, and predators in my residence state of Mississippi, however I’d by no means hunted elk through the rut, when they are often bugled into rifle vary. I used to be anxious to attempt calling elk.
After a lot deliberation I ordered a rubber-tube elk bugle and an educational document, and earlier than my departure I practiced each spare minute. As is my customized earlier than making any high-country hunt, I beefed up my calisthenics and each day jogging classes. By mid-September I used to be hitting six miles each afternoon.
My four-wheel-drive was loaded to the roof with tenting gear once I arrived in New Mexico two days earlier than the opening day of elk season. This allowed me ample time to make camp and scout a number of the territory. I met Vernon Scott at tribal headquarters within the city of Mescalero.
Vernon is a Mescalero Apache in his early 30’s who is aware of the tribal mountains as intimately as did his forefathers. He served with an infantry outfit in Vietnam. He and his spouse Bernadine have two youngsters. Bernadine is the great-granddaughter of Victorio, the Chiricahua Apache warrior and chieftain.
Vernon and I picked up the final of my groceries and bounced our method the financial institution of the Rio Ruidoso. It was a wonderful fall day, and we quickly had my tent up. Vernon and a wrangler from Tally Barn in Tularosa would trailer our horses into camp the subsequent morning.
We made a swing by means of a number of the reservation. About 2,000 Apaches stay right here. The Mescaleros obtain no annuities from the federal authorities. They’re a proud and industrious folks and have intensive cattle and timber operations. In addition they personal Sierra Blanca Ski Resort, largest snowboarding complicated within the Southwest. Their present undertaking is the Cienegita Vacationer Resort Advanced, now underneath building.
I returned to my camp at sundown. By the point the celebrities have been. winking I had a potato baking within the hearth and a steak scorching within the skillet. After supper I walked· away from camp to flee the roar of the river and listened for elk bugling within the moonlit hills above my camp, however all I heard was the mournful howl of a coyote. I used to be up and had the espresso going when Vernon and Mrs. Jeanette Tally of Tally Barn bounced into camp with three horses in tow. We shook palms after which unloaded the horses right into a small catch pen close to camp. Vernon was busy arranging for different hunters arriving that day, however earlier than he left he instructed quite a lot of areas I would take a look at as I rambled about. One among these spots was Cienegita Canyon.
“I’ll see you within the morning,” he added. “Early.”
It was virtually darkish when the rocky path up Cienegita Canyon performed out and my 4WD lurched to a cease. I stuffed my elk bugle into my jacket and walked a number of hundred yards up a facet canyon. As I stood getting my breath I heard the bizarre, calliope name of a rutting bull elk half a mile away. I waited a number of minutes after which made a name on my bugle. Seconds later got here a response — eerie notes floating off a excessive ridge and down the black canyon to the place I stood. A ripple of pleasure went down my backbone. The bull’s name gave the impression to be the very essence of the wilderness.
Again at camp I fed the inventory and cooked supper. After consuming I checked over my rifle and different gear, then turned in early. The subsequent morning was opening day.
The moon was nonetheless shining once I rolled out and fired up the lantern. A lightweight frost rimed my tent. I used to be frying eggs when Vernon and Jeanette pulled into camp. They only nodded as they walked by means of the lantern gentle carrying saddles and bridles to the corral. Later I instructed Vernon in regards to the bull I’d heard up Cienegita.
“Some good bulls there,” he replied. “However at the moment we’ll journey towards Sierra Blanca. I do know a excessive basin that ought to produce a bull for us.”
After breakfast we mounted up and rode a darkish path up the mountains. It was starting to get gentle once we topped out on an oak-covered bench. Miles beneath us, a couple of lights nonetheless twinkled in Ruidoso. Vernon reined up and stepped down.
“We’ll depart the horses right here and go the final quarter-mile on foot.”
It was gentle sufficient to shoot once we reached the comb rim. We eased up rigorously and started glassing the basin beneath. A mule-deer doe and her twin yearlings browsed 200 yards down the slope. On the far hillside Vernon noticed three wild horses, the primary of many we have been to see.
“Two bulls have been on this basin every week in the past,” Vernon stated.
We continued glassing, however the one I’m framed by large rack of my bull different animals we situated have been coyotes. They have been howling and gave the impression to be taking part in a recreation of chase.
“The outdated folks imagine,” Vernon defined, “that when coyotes howl at daybreak will probably be a poor searching day.”
We watched the basin till after dawn, however no elk appeared, so we continued our climb towards stark Sierra Blanca. As we rode alongside I noticed antler-scarred bushes, recent droppings, and loads of tracks. After a few miles we tied the horses and started glassing the hills.
These mountains are part of the Sacramento Vary. Rocky, knifelike ridges jut out above timbered hills and canyons. Right here and there open mountain meadows present golden towards the black timber. The high-country aspens have been aflame with coloration. This was a number of the most stunning elk nation I’d ever hunted.
Vernon took a seat atop a pinnacle of rock and started utilizing his 7×35 Leitz binoculars. I pulled out my elk bugle and made a name right into a deep canyon to the south. The notes had scarcely stopped when a bull answered from dense pines far beneath. Then one other bull bugled someplace to the east.
My information smiled however continued glassing the distant hills. That first bull should have answered me a dozen instances, however he refused to return a step nearer. Lastly he hushed, and I couldn’t provoke one other reply. Then Vernon stated softly, “Hey, you need to see two bulls battling it out?”
By way of my glasses I watched as two bulls on a distant hillside sparred for management of a small herd of cows. After a number of minutes of fight the smaller bull broke and ran. The victor prolonged his neck and proclaimed himself king of the mountain, however his calls have been swallowed up by the gap between us. It was an exciting sight.
“That’s the elk we wish,” Vernon stated because the bull adopted the· final of his harem into the bushes.
We mounted up and climbed. above the timberline, crossing beneath the summit of Sierra Blanca, then turning south on a journey that took the remainder of the day.
The solar was low once we tied our horses within the cowl of an oak thicket. Quietly we moved up, and I took a seat overlooking a meadow inside 200 yards of the place we’d seen the bull early that morning. I saved my vigil till the crosshairs of my scope pale, however our bull didn’t present. It was a troublesome journey off that mountain in the dead of night, and we needed to decide our method alongside as we adopted the headwaters of the Ruidoso downward. The moon finally rose above the edges and lit the path to camp. It was after 11 p.m. once we swung down and unsaddled the horses.
Vernon stated that he would return for breakfast at 4:15. He needed to hunt an space referred to as Carrizo. It was a broad sweep of nation containing little water, and he was certain elk can be shopping close to a selected waterhole.
It was in Carrizo the subsequent morning that I virtually referred to as up the bull I discussed initially. After the bull spooked, Vernon and I hunted on foot by means of timbered ridges for the remainder of the morning. At one level we walked into the midst of a small herd that had bedded down. Elk exploded on all sides, however I noticed no horns.
About midafternoon we constructed a blind 200 yards from a waterhole surrounded by recent signal. Thirty minutes earlier than darkish a small- band of untamed horses got here to drink, however no elk got here.
On our journey again to camp Vernon stated, “Tomorrow we hunt Cienegita Spring.”
He defined that this space was simply south of the place we’d seen the bulls combating on opening day. I reminded him of the bull I’d heard bugle in Cienegita Canyon.
“Jeanette can trailer the horses to the foot of the mountain,” my information stated. “From there it’s solely a thirty-minute journey to that massive bull’s stomping floor. If he doesn’t present, we’ll hunt southward. There’s miles of fine nation in Cienegita, and we might discover a bull wherever.”
Subsequent morning we saddled up by lantern gentle, loaded the horses into the trailer, and pulled out for Cienegita. By the point we had unloaded and ridden a mile north, a brand new day was dawning.
“We’re late,” Vernon whispered. “It’ll be daylight once we attain the meadow.”
Dawn caught us as we topped out and paused to let the horses blow. Vernon dismounted and glassed the nation to the west. A second later he dropped his reins.
“What’s it?” I requested.
“I believe I see some elk throughout the canyon,” he whispered. “It’s nonetheless not gentle sufficient to make certain.”
I started to check the distant meadow with my 8X Bushnell glasses, and regularly the herd of a dozen or extra took form. They have been over a mile away.
“The one nearest that black rock is a bull,” Vernon stated finally. “I can’t say how good. They’ll most likely feed into that timber to the left.”
“Let’s take a better look,” I stated. “It could possibly be the herd bull we noticed combating.”
I slipped my rifle from its scabbard, and whereas Jeanette held our horses Vernon and I labored our method off the mountain and throughout the canyon to the west. We moved by means of oak and aspen, rigorously avoiding open areas. We stopped once we neared the meadow the place we’d seen the bull.
“I’ll wait right here,” Vernon stated. “There’s not sufficient cowl up there to cover us each.”
I shucked my down jacket, digital camera, and binoculars. I needed nothing to intrude with a potential shot. I moved up 50 yards in a low crouch. Then the duvet performed out, so I crawled the final 10 yards by means of knee-high brush.
At first I discovered solely two cows. I eased up on one knee, after which I noticed him 125 yards away. He stood big and luxurious, with sweeping mahogany antlers, darkish matted mane, and creamy brown disguise. He carried six factors on all sides. No image has ever captured the picture of an excellent elk within the wild.
As I regarded, he took a number of steps ahead and scanned the meadow. I must shoot off-hand. I flipped off the security and planted the crosshairs as firmly as I might maintain on the purpose of his shoulder. The rifle bucked, however the bull didn’t go down. As he began to maneuver out I hammered him once more, and this time he dropped.
Bull elk are superior creatures, and it’s a profound expertise to bag one. Each photographs had linked, the primary bullet placing to the entrance of the shoulder however lacking bone and vitals. The second 150-groin Sierra boattail hit him simply behind the shoulders and lodged beneath the disguise on the off facet. He was arduous within the rut and rank with the odor of musk and urine. One forehead tine had been freshly damaged, maybe in fight with the opposite bull we’d seen.
Jeanette introduced the horses over from the far hillside, the place she had watched the motion by means of her binoculars. We took some footage, after which Vernon and I field-dressed my elk.
In late afternoon we lastly delivered the bull to a neighborhood processing plant, the place the meat was transformed into almost 500 kilos of steaks, chops, and floor meat. All these packages have been frozen for the journey residence.
The drive residence took two days, however the meat-which I’d packed into cheap foam-plastic containers together with small items of dry ice-was nonetheless frozen. Quickly my bull’s head will grace a wall of my den.
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It’s reported that at the least one bull taken throughout final 12 months’s hunt will qualify for the Boone and Crockett Membership’s document ebook. I’m satisfied {that a} sizable variety of bulls among the many Mescalero herd carry record-book racks.
There have been 100 permits provided final fall. Solely 28 have been bought. Due to prudent and progressive recreation administration on tribal lands, the Mescalero elk herd continues to increase quickly. Extra permits must be obtainable annually, giving an increasing number of hunters the chance to stalk a bull in a number of the most stunning nation within the West.
This story, “Elk of the Mescalero,” first appeared within the August 1975 concern of Out of doors Life.