Stress Test in the Cornfield

[Greybeard]

Buddy from west Texas called Sunday night, with more info. on some big elk we've observed in the area (on others lands) while doing other types of hunting for the past several years. It seems that 5 bulls migrated over and were making a "bed and breakfast" out of one of his high-dollar irrigated corn fields.

Brother and I got our businesses in order to be able to get up there for a quickie hunt Tuesday. We took a big electric ice box and a generator to run it in the back of my pickup. Upon arrival, fresh signs were there that the animals were definitely in the area, likely bedded down somewhere out in the 160 acres of 7' tall corn. Glassing mid-day yeilded nothing but sweat.

However, about 5 p.m. (from atop the ice box in back of pickup) I spotted two pair of antlers - one pair a monster, moving around - 12 to 18" above the tops of the corn about 300 yards out. By the time I got my brother in a position to see 'em, the smaller of the two had bedded back down.

To make a long story shorter, there were just two of us on site at the time and buddy could not get there for at least another hour, so my brother decided to go in with radio and 12 gauge (loaded with slugs) to try to push 'em out the east side where I set up with binocs and '06. We learned rather quickly that the corn was so tall and thick, that an observer with binocs and radio was not going to be able to direct "pusher" less than 8' tall.

When buddy arrived around 7:00, I (stupidly!) voluntered to make a "flag" out of a 6' rod he had in back of truck and a pair of my whitey-tighties. "The Plan" was for them to set up on the east with rifles and use radios to direct me toward the big bull to push him out to wheat stubble on the east. Brother planned to perch on top of horizontal irrigation system about 20' up and buddy to continue to glass from top of ice box in back of truck - while I walked around to the far west edge of corn field before heading into it eastbound. Those who have ever spent any time in a 7' tall irrigated corn field are probably beginning to grin about now ...

Again to try and make a reeeeal long stalk story shorter, they "go north" and "go east"ed me to the point I could SMELL the big guy, but COULD NOT see or hear him! At which point we discovered that particular bull must have believed in the old "stand your ground doctrine" ....

Buddy came on the radio and said "I sure hope you've got that pistol out." (Duuuuuuh!) Upon first whiff of the beast, I'd lowered the whitie tightie flag, instinctively hunkered down with the .454 SBH cocked and at high-ready, waitin' on him to make the next move. During this little stand-off, I could not help but think about buddy's story about neighbor telling him last fall that he'd watched younger bull kill the Grand Daddy bull of the bunch in turf war. And of recent read of Capstick's "Death in the Long Grass" ... I was determined to make the bull move first. But, in moving reeeeeel slowly to try and get a view of any part of him thru the corn, he busted up and ran off to the east about 50 yards for more "cat and mouse".

Once again, their radio calling of the "square dance" was on - with darkness approaching quickly. At one point, I'd stopped again after buddy said "You're on him, you've got to be right on top of him." Again, I froze, looking and listening - with hammer back over a 300-grain cast handload. Nothing. At least except rustling from a little south wind. The animal slipped off thru the corn again like a ghost, then reappeared (to them anyway) about 15 yards away (although I think their perceptions of distance, being some 100 to 400+ yards off, was somewhat distorted.)

Buddy again said "Go east, go straight east." Then brother promptly came over radio and said "He's moving west. The bull is moving right at you." (Guess elk must have also heard about "The Castle Doctrine" .) Once again, I froze with hammer back at high-ready with the hand cannon. And again could SEE nothing but CORN STALKS. And hear nothing.

With the sun below the horizon and light fading fast, I got out "tactical" flashlight in hopes of it helping me see the beast. Then quickly decided, that the flashlight might actually be more of an advantage for the bull than to me.

Somewhere near the end of this 1-hour+ adrenelne dump, buddy came over radio with "There are TWO of them. No wait, there are FOUR of them, 3 more just north of you!". As I tried to "turret" the hand cannon slowly across the corn to my new unseen targets, the rest of the bachelor party apparently had winded me and went thrashing back to the west. And this old man headed EAST, ready to be the last 50 yards OUT OF THERE before complete darkness set in. And with the same number of holes in the old body as what I went in with!

 

[taylorce1]

Are Elk considered exotics in TX? Sounds like a tense hunt, I sure love trying to stalk animals.

 

[Greybeard]

Yep, exotics in Tejas. Legal day or night, year round - if ya can get permission from landowner.

These are possibly remnants of not-high-enough-high-fenced ranch that went belly up a few years back.

I've heard that some more either got out or got turned loose from similar operation 100 miles or so northwest of DFW. One of my hunter ed. students' son had dropped a big elk calf, mistaking it for a deer.

 

[Art Eatman]

Some three or four years back is the last time I read the TP&WD rules about elk, so I may be behind the curve.

Anyhow, the deal was that elk hunting was ONLY by permit to the landowner. Trouble was, TP&WD was not issuing any permits.

Me, I'd go to the TP&WD book, or check their on-line info.

Art

 

[Greybeard]

Art -

Ya thinkin' back of maybe denial of permits for antelope?

I re-read "Exotic Animals" ("not indigenous or native to Texas") paragraph at top of page 72 in this year's book before packing up Monday evening. This is all I found of possible relevance in search tonight at TP&W site.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/elk/

The last paragraph in particular:

"The only native Elk in Texas were in the southern part of the Guadalupe Mountains and belonged to the species Cervus merriami, which has been extinct since the early 1900s."

 

[~z]

Where abouts in west TX? I have a buddy in Iraan who has been seeing some out there too.
~z

 

[Greybeard]

Along breaks of Canadian River. IIRC, the Dad whose kid dropped the calf had a lease in Jack County (north of Weatherford).

Other friends in Amarillo have said a few black bears have even making their way out of northwest NM.

Z, what town ya in or near? (I grew up in and around Pampa.)

 

[Art Eatman]

Some ranchers have imported elk from up in the Rockies. There are a few in the Davis Mountains, in the Glass Mountains north of Marathon, and in the mountains just southeast of Alpine. So far, it's "few and far between", with only occasional sightings.

Like I say, I'm behind the TP&WD curve, as to any hunting.

Edit/Add: I'm just guessing about the reasoning, but a review of TP&WD regulations makes me believe that because the original Texas species is extinct, the elk we see are regarded in the same manner as most exotics. They're not game animals and thus not owned by the state. Ergo, no rules apply. No mention of elk is made in the listing of game animals.

Art

 

[Greybeard]

Yea Art, I'm also frequently fightin' off "the curve". From search I did on TP&W web site, it appears that there is at least some long-term concern that CWD could make it this way via imported deer or elk.

Edit/Add: Quote: "the elk we see are regarded in the same manner as most exotics." Yea, that's pretty much how the Dad who's kid had dropped one said the GW had explained it to their crew when they knew in advance that some were in the area.

' Guess ya saw in that paragraph on page 72 the "includes, but not limited to" verbiage. Then it even spells out "feral hog", but you're quite right - no mention specifically of elk. These bulls are doing damage on an order-of-magnitude similar to or even greather than that of feral hog - just keeping the damage above ground level.

And speakin' of ground level, I'd thought having to get down and crawl through the briars with hand cannon lookin' to locate Mr. Big Pig was spooky. This bull-in-the corn stuff also brought back those memories. Got to admit, of all the types of huntin' dun over the last 30 years with brother and this buddy, this trip was rather unique.

 

[griz]

Thanks for a good story. I've walked up on Turkey, fox, and deer in cornfields, and it's always a contest as to who gets surprised first. However, I never had the problem of bumping into a critter taller than me.