New Mexico's 1rst Crossbow Elk!
On a cool mid September afternoon in 2006,
my girlfriend Stacey and I arrived at Brandon
Gaudelli’s, All American Outfitters located in
the extreme southwest of New Mexico, where
he hunts the majestic, Gila National Forest.
Brandon has catered to mobility impaired
hunters for some twelve years now. So, last
summer when he told me New Mexico
decided to allow Mobility Impaired hunters
to use crossbows, I had my excuse to go
hunting. I am a quadriplegic, dependent on a
wheelchair.
Traditionally, when hunting this desert
region, you would find a water source called a
wallow (big mud puddle) or “tank”, as the
locals say, and set up for an ambush. That’s
all and well but, we have had more rain than
the past 111 years. We could not count on
tradition alone and were potentially in for a
long hard hunt.
Day one came and went with the later half
of the day showing more than the first. Day
two, 11:30 AM once again Brandon lifts me
into the truck and we’re soon “rock
crawling” to our stand.
Set up in the “pop-up blind” Brandon
and I briefly broke silence to whisper about
the absence of bugling by the normally, vocal
elk at this time of the year.
As if on queue, a blood curdling scream
from a bull elk jolted us from less than a
hundred yards away. As Brandon turned my
chair and readied the camera he told me
where and what to expect from the elk. I, in
turn adjusted myself into position for the
anticipated shot.
Thirty yards to our right we pick up
movement. Slowly one, two, now a third bull
elk cautiously emerge from the thick timber.
Two spikes and a beautiful 5X6 sporting a
large and very unique rack stands next to our
wallow. To my surprise, the big bull plopped
down on his belly and started rolling and
thrashing around. He threw mud and grass
well into the air with his rack and feet while
making quite the noise.
Finally, the massive bull stood up and
bounced out of the wallow. Strolling ever so
slowly from right to left, he stepped into my
shooting lane perfectly broad sided at 22
yards. I laid the sights directly behind his leg
and let the arrow fly. The bull was vigorously
shaking the muddy water from his coat and
never heard the shot from my 185lb,
Excalibur crossbow. I knew the shot was true
and watched the magnificent animal stand
still as if nothing had happened. After 60
seconds of smiles, silent celebrations and
expectations of it laying or falling down right
in front of us, Brandon asked “Are you sure
you hit him?” “Yes!” I replied.
For at least five minutes after my
“Perfect” shot and the elk standing there like
a billboard, at 22 yards. Brandon says:
“Shoot him again.” I told him that cocking
the bow would certainly scare the bull off.
Brandon shrugged his shoulders as if saying
“What now?”
Thirty minutes after last seeing the
valiant bull, we quietly slipped out of the
stand. Back at camp we confirmed our
thoughts with the video camera. The bull’s
leg was back as far as it could go when I
squeezed the trigger. That’s bad! I obviously
did not catch as much lung as I initially
thought. I don't believe the shaking helped
matters either.
Early the next morning, armed with
cameras and optimism we returned to the
stand with Stacey and Ernie, a friend of
Brandon’s. Knowing the bull would not be
far. Unfortunately, this was not the case.
The guys gave it their best and could not
locate the bull. Physically and mentally ill
from the loss of the trophy bull, we pressed
on hunting hard for bear, deer, and turkey.
Day after day, we hunted from dark to dark,
with each morning progressively harder to
wake and every day feeling longer than the
last. To make matters worse, we saw far less
game due to the abundance of rain.
About noon on the Seventh day Brandon
decided to again check out the area in hopes
of finding our bull. I set up in hopes to fill a
tag.
At mid afternoon I see Brandon returning.
With a huge smile on his face says: “Yes!
I found him.” It felt as if a ton was lifted
from our shoulders. The size of these
magnificent creatures is unbelievable.
The rack, a wide and deep forked 5X6,
with unique shaped eye guards and a 10
inch cork screwed kicker as a bonus,
surpassed my expectations.
A long hard hunt this was, mentally as
well as physically but the loss of meat was the
only sour note of this trip. The biggest thrill
of all is, to the best of our knowledge, being
the first to legally take an elk with a crossbow
in the great state of New Mexico, on public land
to boot! I applaud NM’s Game and Fish for their
recognition toward Mobility Impaired Hunters.
Contact Brandon at 575 533 6200 or
http://www.GilaGuide.com and NM’s Game and
Fish at 575 222 4700.
Chris Whitley (Hunter/Author)
