Harvested this 6x6 in Northwestern New Mexico this weekend, hunting with a really good guide. 382 yards, 3 degrees down-slope. Have to confess succumbing to buck fever and missing at 550 and 700 yards.

Waiting for final score, but preliminary was 320, plus or minus.

Gawd dammit... You didn't harvest that bull, you killed that bull. Go kill some more game. The veggies will still be waiting on you when you get back.

My dad and I hiked with our guide a few miles into the private ranch near the Zuni Mountains in western New Mexico, bordering the Navajo Reservation. It was a beautiful, clear morning about 40 degrees. I lost my mom about a month ago, so this hunt was good medicine for my dad and I. The ranch was wide-open, with a shallow valley bounded by small ridges and hills. There were no trees but some of the junipers on our ridge were 8 to 12 feet high. The guide spotted a small herd of elk about a 1200 yards away grazing in the valley, and we quietly moved through cover along a small ridge. I took a shot into the sun from 800 yards, which is well beyond my proven range of 350 yards. Fortunately these elk had not been shot at yet this year, and they only gingerly continued down the valley. The large bull was alone with about 15 cows and a few spikes.

The guide and I crawled the final 150 yards along the ridge through the brush to get a better shot. Missed a few more shots at about 600-750 yards shooting down into the valley, though the angle of the sun was better. The guide used a combination of cow/bull calls, and actually called in a few younger bulls to within 30 yards. I thought about taking the easy way out, but I am glad I didn't. I have gotten over buck fever for white tail deer years ago, but have to admit my hands were shaking quite a bit while stalking this elk.

The large bull started moving in toward us (likely to chase off the younger bulls). He and the cows came over a small ridge at about 425 yards, and I put the scope on him and waited for the cows to clear away. He was walking toward me to the right, but the angle was sufficient. The kill shot ended up being about 382 yards per my rangefinder. My shot was behind the shoulder a little higher than planned, but it was good enough to drop him where he stood. The guide quartered him in the field, and it did not hurt my feelings that we were able to take it out on a truck, and not have to pack it out.

We packed the quarters into some large coolers and Dad and I drove the head/antlers to a taxidermist in Llano to get a European mount made. We dropped off the meat at Miiller's in Llano to get steaks, dry/summer sausage, ground meat, brats, jerky... They estimated it would make 250 pounds of meat/sausage.

The guide was from Kiowa Outfitters out of Raton New Mexico. This was my second hunt with them, and I think they do a very good job, from planning the hunt to field dressing the animal. Hope to do a mule deer hunt with them in a few years.