Not my biggest bull ever, but one of the most satisfying hunts I've ever had. I was in Northern New Mexico opening week and was on an outparcel of a much larger ranch in the vicinity. The area is not blessed with an outlandish population, nor is it loaded with monster bulls. That being said, the scenery was drop dead gorgeous and I was into elk every hunt, so that ain't bad at all!

Temperatures were in the high 20's each morning, getting up to the mid to high 50's each afternoon. Wind was a nasty 25 or so MPH for much of the hunt due to a front blowing out. Rutting action was very so-so, as the bulls were pulling of the cows, hanging just close enough to catch any cow coming in late.

I had only been on this ranch for one other time a few years ago and now would have to learn it all on my own. Still hunts were on the easy side, relatively speaking, as the wind pretty much blew constantly out of the North the whole time with very few exceptions. I took my time and over the course of a few hunts got the jump on a few groups of cows and bulls here and there.

After a few days, I caught this bull meandering along @ 120 yards away, only seeing a tan butt at first. He had no idea I was close by, and I looked him over with my binocs after stopping him with a very faint cow call....6 by on one side....other side similar, not broken....I stopped him again with the cow call and got into a shooting position that got me a clear shot. He was quartering away now at 110 yards and one final call allowed me to put the shot quartering into his right side at the last rib. The bullet blew through the vitals, lodging under the hide on the off side shoulder. Perfect shot! He was down, but coughing up blood, etc by the time I got to him and I placed a finisher in him, mostly to end it as quickly as I could for the bull.

He ended up being a pretty 6x5, with the nicest set of ivories I have ever taken. During skinning I caught the bullet under the hide of the left shoulder and was amazed at the the terminal performance of the Nosler Partition...338, 210 grains. In the past, most of the Partitions I've recovered have been in the 60% range, weight wise. This one weighed 184 grains after penetrating the elk and busting up ribs on entry and a shoulder trying to exit. That is 87.6% retention!

Sorry so wordy, but the experience of doing it myself from start to finish...sink or swim...all on me...that gave this hunt a special meaning. That I just had thyroid surgery 2 1/2 weeks ago was another thing to deal with...couldn't let that slow me down though.

Hope you enjoy the pictures and hope everyone has a blast this fall.



Part of the ranch:



North end of ranch where I hunted:



Love my Partitions:

Great bull! Congrats on the bullet recovery

+1 on that! Thanks for the great post!

Congrats Godogs, that is a very good bull and for a diy, so much the better.
That weather front that blew thru overnight in northern NM proved to be beneficial for both of us. Thanks for the story!

Real nice bull. Conglads

Nicely done!

Nothing better then a DIY hunt that is successful!!!
Congrats on a great bull!!!

Congrats on the bull, your recovery from surgery and a great DIY hunt. I expect this one will stand out in your memories.

Great bull and hunt. Looks like a beautiful place.

Pretty terrific, Godog

What a fantastic place, and bull.

Way to go.

Great looking bull! Congratulations. I have some 210 Partitions loaded up and fly out to CO today. Hope to have the same result!

Freezer full of elk meat! Congrats

Way to go. Great job and good bullet performance!

I still like my Barnes though..210 ttsx/338-06 1200 pound bull moose, 125ish steps, broke neck and shoulder, under skin on off side... 210.7 grains.

But when you don't have time to think about things or worry about bullet choice, a partition will work all the time too. Even if they loose a bit of weight.

Congrats again, beautiful country, especially in the fall. And a nice elk to boot.

Got a pic of the ivories?

Congrats.

Will get a pic of them tomorrow and post em.

Godogs nice bull and sounds like a great hunt! The 338 worked well!

Congrats!

Nice bull and great pics!

Congratulations on a nice bull! Thanks for sharing your pictures and story.

Congratulations on a great hunt.

Congrats! Some of the most impressive kills I have seen have been by the 338 and the Nosler 210 Partition. All dead right there!

Well done, I love those 338's, they get an elk's attention.

Great bull and great write up. Northern NM is a beautiful place to hunt elk, for sure.

If I didn't have a 300 WSM that I am fond of, my .338 would be my elk rifle of choice.

donsm70

Thanks for sharing.. Beautiful bull. Congrats.. That 210 Nosler in .338 is a real elk killer.. I believe it was Bob Hagel's favorite elk bullet for that caliber.. I have killed a couple with it out of my .340, but now switched to the 225 in both the part. and accubond.. But like donsm70, my favorite elk killer is one of the .300's.. Both are out standing.. Awesome photos...

The end result was a little longer than Partitions I'm used to. I seem to remember someone (Muledeer?) saying that Nosler had tinkered with the length of the partition on a number of calibers/weights, moving it forward for more retained weight....I would hazard a guess that this was one of those.

Here are the ivories....the symmetry of the lines, color and condition were better than any of the other elk I've killed. Still remember the first old bull I shot....he needed a root canal on both of his ivories.

These ain't my fingers in the picture...I nibble mine down a little more than this:

Very cool! Thanks for sharing!

Congratulations on a nice bull, looks like a great hunt.

Great scenery and a good elk to boot...nothing wrong with that. Congratulations on the hunt.

Mate congratulations,
I am very very happy to see that you got the results you worked so hard for.

Regards,

Mog

Excellent hunt & report as well as performance from that NPT!

Congrats on an awesome DIY experience; it just doesn't get any better than that!

Veddy nice! Congrats!