Ode to New Mexico

[elkmtngear]

The ?Weekend Warriors? came that Day
The bugling action quit
With silent elk, I had no choice
But waterholes to sit

 

[elkmtngear]

I had my share of visitors
But elk among them few
By morning of Day 6 we knew
Just what we had to do

We headed toward the drainage
Where the King was once supreme
And, with the light of Dawn we were
Rewarded with a scream!

 

[elkmtngear]

We tried to stage a challenge
But, the big bull wouldn?t play
And opted to relocate cows
A quarter mile away

From one ridge to another
We shadowed him all morning
A two mile circle to a bench
He gave his final warning

 

[elkmtngear]

We moved ahead, with Ninja stealth
Beneath his bench on high
And I whispered back at Kenny
?I know how we?ll kill this guy?

I?ll move ahead, and to one side
While you set up the Deke
When I get settled in there?ll be
No reason for ?elk speak?

Just thrash the brush, and roll some rocks
And shake the decoy ?round
My guess is that the bull
Will sneak on in without a sound

 

[elkmtngear]

Well, several minutes passed amidst
My Buddy?s great performance
When I finally saw an antler shine
The Bastard was enormous!

He snuck on in, like on a string
But, my position sucked
He came directly at me
Man, of all the rotten luck!

A frontal shot, my only hope
To 15 yards he closed
But, vitals were obscured by brush
And I was full exposed

Unsure of the scenario
The bull then whipped, and arced
I saw one little opening
He hit it, and I \"barked\" !

 

[elkmtngear]

Jeff Shot by Jeffery Ervin, on Flickr

Instinctively, for 45
I execute the shot
I heard the hit, but arrow flight
Showed me I missed the spot

Kenny cow called post-release
And bugled quick as well
I told him I hit too far back
For hours, we?d be in Hell!

 

[elkmtngear]

Bloodshaft by Jeffery Ervin, on Flickr

We gave him 90 minutes
And crept up slow to find
The arrow soaked in bright red blood
Completely blew my mind!

Then, Kenny grabs my shoulder
And points 30 yards ahead
My eyes bugged out at what I saw
The bull was lying dead!

 

[elkmtngear]

Jeff Hero Shot by Jeffery Ervin, on Flickr

I grabbed my Buddy, thanked the Lord
Exchanged a loud high-five
We posed for pictures, grinning wide
It?s good to be alive!

 

[elkmtngear]

Jeff Antlers by Jeffery Ervin, on Flickr

 

[elkmtngear]

Tagged and caped and bagged
The easy packout quickly done
We drove to camp, victorious
The game we?d finally won!

 

[elkmtngear]

backstraps by Jeffery Ervin, on Flickr

We won?t forget New Mexico
And hope to be back soon
We feasted one last time beneath
Her peaceful, waning Moon

~The End~

 

[iccyman001]

This is awesome, Jeff!!!!!

Thanks for taking the time to write this out and you guys took some FANTASTIC pictures. :upthumb:
Congrats again to you and Kenny. :upthumb:

 

[elkmtngear]

Thanks Dan...you were a BIG part of this hunt as well

 

[iccyman001]

Thanks Dan...you were a BIG part of this hunt as well

I can\'t wait to see how the mounts turn out!!!!! :upthumb:

 

[elkmtngear]

I can\'t wait to see how the mounts turn out!!!!! :upthumb:

Me too...I told my Taxi guy \"well, guess I\'ll see you in a Year\".

He laughed and said \"Yeah, Maybe\"

 

[Deertick]

Thanks for sharing that story, Jeff ...

I\'d want to share it, too, if it were my story! THAT hunt sounds like it was about as good as they get. Good friends, big bulls, and \"YUGE\" memories.

 

[bnsafe]

awesome story,thanks for sharing

 

[bowhunter]

Thanks or sharing......Great story and some awesome bulls. :upthumb:

 

[WW]

Way to go guys! Congrats to both of you :upthumb: :upthumb: Two thumbs up!LOL!

 

[Baby Huey]

Impressive poetry skills!

Congratulations to you both, those are some outstanding bulls! Great job guys and thanks for sharing!