Bowsite.com

This hunt was for myself and my son. All told I probably spent around $10,000 for our fees, licenses and travel. Pretty much a once in a lifetime hunt for me. When the hunt was booked I was told we'd be staying in a lodge, a trailer, a motor home or tent. I specifically asked for a tent and was granted my request. After drawing Unit 9 in New Mexico I was told we'd be hunting Mt. Taylor. Since I'd had a slight back problem earlier we agreed it would be good for me to hunt some waterholes and other areas and not walk hunt too much. Upon arrival we were informed we'd been booked into a casino motel and would be hunting elsewhere. They did refund me some money for meals, but this was not the hunt I booked and I wasn't given any options. We'd been assigned an experienced guide for three days and to make up for it, a newly licensed guide for 5 days. The first day we checked all the waterholes and they were either dry or not being used by elk. That afternoon my son and the newbie had spotted 2 raghorns hanging with a 5 x 5. They set up to ambush the bigger bull, but when the bulls showed themselves the raghorns were alone. Looking around they spotted the big bull glaring at them from behind their ambush spot. Caught out of position it took my son several excruciating minutes to get turned around for the shot. By then, the bull was very nervous and certain to bolt at any moment. With that in mind he took a quick shot and missed. The bull fled over an edge and dropped down into a valley where my guide spotted him and began calling. He was possibly 500 yards away and coming in our direction. We closed the distance when possible and hunkered down behind a small cedar for the final call. I wish the guide had set up somewhere behind me as he had earlier told me he would in that situatuion. Nevertheless,the bull kept on coming. I stripped off all my gear, checked my bow and prepared for the shot. The bull was focused on our position and the moment his shoulder cleared the bush, he spotted us and bolted away. The guide spoke his displeasure at me not getting off a shot and proudly exclaimed he'd done his job. I told him I didn't have time for a shot and bit my tongue on my other thoughts. I knew I needed him for the rest of the hunt. I never saw another elk the entire trip. My son saw one cow and one other bull. The stalk they put on him was inexplicably broken off by the guide when he spotted another hunter in the same area. By the 4th day, we could tell the guides were just going through the motions, so I put in a call to the outfitter hoping for a change of area and guides. Even though I spoke with his wife, he never returned my call. The last afternoon my guide showed up in street clothes and smelly. At the conclusion of the hunt we followed them out of the foothills in our truck, but they chose to stop part way down and visit with someone rather than speak to us. We waited awhile for them, but it was obvious they didn't want to talk, so we headed for home. We never saw the outfitter after our hunt began and he never returned our call. All in all it was a pathetic effort by everyone at Moon Valley.