2020 NM Muzzleloader Elk Hunt Recap
This was our third year heading down to hunt elk with our good friend GT Nunn of Frontier Outfitting. The past two years, we opted to put in for archery tags…but let’s be real, sometimes a little more firepower is kinda nice! So for 2020, dad and I were both ready for a change up. GT Helped us put in for muzzleloader tags, and we were stoked to draw them. Over the years, dad had hunted around home with a muzzleloader, and I had shot one a few times, but we were both anxious and hopeful to kill an elk with one.
We prepared for this hunt just as we did our previous elk hunts. We both exercised as we see fit and shot rifles regularly to stay dialed. We pretty much have this hunting trip thing down. I pretty much do all of the preparation work. Applying for tags, making arrangements, organizing and packing our gear, and dad drives the entire way, haha.
*so a little side note here, all throughout my childhood, dad was a truck driver. I don’t know if he would admit this, but he is very good at driving long distances. Because of this, I’ve literally never had to drive anywhere…any trip we go on, he does the driving! I think like 4 or 5 hours is the farthest I’ve ever driven alone and it was terrible. I’m pathetic, I KNOW.*
The drive takes us about 14 hours, and we split it into two days. This way we can get into camp the day before our hunt at a decent time and get everything ready. And so we can stop at every western store from Missouri to New Mexico. Priorities.
Our first few days of hunting ended with no success. But we weren’t going to give up, obviously. On Day 3, we had some serious weather move in. Blizzard like conditions and heavy snowfall made for a slow afternoon. I was hunting with long-time guide Travis Tafoya and his wife Karrie, and they decided it would be best to hang at camp during the whiteout since we were close by. My dad on the other hand, was hunting with Vince Chavez, quite a ways away, so they didn’t have that luxury. My afternoon consisted of eating a warm lunch, sipping some beverages and enjoying conversation with the Frontier Outfitting crew and other hunters, hoping for a break in the weather. We ended up trying to glass a few places, with no luck. It was snowing too hard to see anything, let alone glass up an elk on the side of a mountain. Travis, Karrie, and I made our way back to camp excited for a hot meal from the world famous Eddie..aka “The Legend.”
Time was passing and no word from my dad. I started to worry a little, but knew he was in good hands and I was sure they’d be okay. Low and behold, about 9:30-10:00 pm, Mark and Vince roll in. I went right to the truck to help dad carry his things inside and to give him a beer (because that’s just what we do), and much to my surprise, he had killed an elk!! But things weren’t exactly all fine and dandy. They ended having to put a long stalk on the bull, talking them several miles from the truck…and then the blizzard started. They chased after the elk and his cows until dad was able to put a successful and lethal shot on him. However, just as luck would have it, as the bull was expiring, he picked his head up, and hit it onto a boulder, breaking off half his rack. Thankfully they were able to collect all of the pieces, so it ended up not being the end of the world. All in all, my dads iPhone tracked him to have walked over 14 miles, with most of that being in whiteout conditions. When he got into camp, he literally looked like he was out of a scene of the movie “The Revenant.” Thankfully he’s tougher than an old leather boot!
The next morning while dad and and Vince ventured off to pack out his bull, Travis, Kerrie, and I went out to hopefully glass up a bull for me. The weather was better than the day before, but still less than desirable conditions. It was very very cold, and snowing really hard on and off. But with some fresh snow, we were excited to get the day started! We visited a couple high glassing points, but weren’t having any luck in finding any elk. But as we were driving down the mountain we saw fresh elk tracks on top of our tire tracks, meaning the elk had just crossed and were probably near by. Travis concluded one of the tracks belonged to a bull. He and I headed out following the fresh tracks. We only hiked a 150-200 yards or so before laying eyes on a group of cows. Some were up feeding and some were bedded. Travis grabbed his bugle tube, hoping to get a response, and much to my surprise, a bull answered! And he was close. We continued to sneak though the trees, staying out of sight. As soon as we spotted the bull, I knew I was going to take a shot at him. I had only killed one bull before, and this was my first muzzleloader hunt, so I wasn’t going to pass much up. We took a good look through the binos at him, and the fact that he hadn’t busted up any of his rack made it a quick and decision that I wanted to try him. I rested the muzzleloader firmly on a limb and focused my scope. I heard Travis whisper “250” referring the yardage. I settled the crosshairs on his vitals, and took a deep breath while literally thinking to myself “don’t eff this up, Alex.” One well-placed shot, and he fell right where he was standing! I was so so happy, and what made it even better is that Travis was just as pumped as I was. After a quick celebration, we made our way to the truck back to Kerrie.
Thankfully we were able to get Travis’s truck fairly close to the elk. Right as we got up to him, we snapped a few pictures and got to work breaking him down. If he would have rolled down at all, it would have made for a brutal pack out, but we were happy that we didn’t have to worry about that. I couldn’t hardly wait to get back into service and spread the good news. The first call was to my dad, of course.
Hunting at Frontier Outfitters the past few years has been the best time for dad and I. We’ve made some amazing memories and even better friendships. New Mexico hasn’t seen the last of us though..we’ll keep putting in for tags and I’m already looking forward to our next hunt with GT.
