Jandal Shooting

Those Magnificent Elk! We have yet to find anything we enjoy as much as chasing these elusive

animals. Below is a short summary of each of our hunts. One great thing about hunting is that each outing has a unique story. Within each summary, there is a link to another page which will tell you the WHOLE STORY, just like we would tell you if we were all sitting around camp swapping lies!

We went on our first elk hunt in 1992, in Chama, New Mexico. We knew NOTHING about how to hunt elk! Nor on how to hire an outfitter… nor on how to make sure the hunt you are contracting for is the hunt you are expecting!. To summarize, we were unprepared, out of shape, under-rifled, and absolutely ignorant about what we were supposed to do! We feel that the outfitter did his job, we just had no idea what to expect! For more on this hunt…which could be titled “Rookie Elk Hunt..Learning the Hard Way!

The following year, on the advice of one of Janice’s clients, we booked a private land elk hunt just outside of Eagle, Colorado. Unfortunately, the outfitter didn’t bother to tell us that he failed to re-lease the private land we were to hunt…and we experienced our first time to glass the surroundings on Colorado Public land., and see more orange vests than we saw rocks. To add poison to the taste of the hunt, the guide assigned to us had NEVER hunted elk in his life, was a wrangler at a dude ranch during the summer, and had opera glasses for field glasses! This hunt did provide, on the last day, Dale’s first “shooting opportunity” …the problem was we had never practiced at more than 300 yards….and this guy was at least 500 yards away! Armed with Dale’s trusty Remington 721 chambered in .30-’06, and Laser Rangefinders still a product of the future, Dale did not even attempt the shot….but it certainly planted a seed for wanting to be able to accurately shoot at long distances! Please read the below link for a more detailed report of this hunt and this “NO” for an outfitter! Also, please see the Long Range Shooting page to learn how to get the most out of your rifle...and KNOW your LIMITATIONS.

Two years later, after meeting Dave Stuckey at a Hunting Show in Houston, Texas, we booked a pack-in, public land, bugle season rifle hunt in the River of No Return wilderness area of Idaho. The camp was great, the guides worked hard...but the weather did not cooperate, nor did the elk. Out of 4 hunters in camp, there were no shots fired at bull elk! Even though there were no bagged elk in camp, there is a story about hunting ethics which is a good lesson for all!

After being on 3 hunts, and nothing to show except some pretty bad memories …we decided that elk hunting was not for us! That is, until spring of 1999, when our friend Kelly called to see if we wanted to go on a private land, rifle elk hunt outside of Norwood, Colorado…Without hesitation, we said YES!

We decided that we were going to buy new rifles and scopes, and learn how to shoot out to 500 yards, since the outfitter felt that if we could shoot 400 yards accurately, we would be able to capitalize on any opportunities that were presented. This was the hunt that really got us going with this sport. Guided by Joe Buckley, Dale harvested a broken-rack, rag-horn bull…but he was legal…and he was down….and even though he wouldn’t score a plugged nickel B&C, he is proudly displayed on our wall! This is a fun story, with all of the joy of that first successful hunt…please click below to read the details!

Before we left Colorado Trophies in fall of 1999, we booked a hunt

for the following year. We had finally bagged a bull elk, and we were on the road to becoming pretty darn good shooters. All year long, we worked on our shooting skills. We became active in Black Powder Cartridge Silhouette, Benchrest Competition, and spent MANY hours with the Jarretts in different conditions/positions out to 600 yards. And WHAT A HUNT! We were guided again by Joe Buckley ….and have a terrific story of Janice’s first bull…a perfect strike on a very symmetrical 5x5 at 480 yards. The following day, from the same perch looking across a canyon, Dale scored his second bull, at 525 yards…..both of these kills have funny/interesting stories! We were also able to harvest 2 Mule deer bucks with our Sharps Black Powder Cartridge rifles (details on the Deer Hunting page) .

Joe (our guide) is an avid archer ...and he suggested that since we pretty much had this “sniper” business down, we needed to get up close and personal with these bulls ...and we should get into Archery! It sounded interesting to us…and another excuse to spend more time in the high country chasing our favorite food. Tom was already booked for archery the following fall, so we booked an archery hunt for fall, 2002 …and we booked another rifle hunt for 2001. The hard work we put in all year of getting into shape and developing accurate shooting skills really paid dividends for us..and we were HOOKED! Please click below for the whole story!

We went on a Spring Black Bear hunt outside Kalispell, Montana in May, 2001, on a hunt purchased at a Rocky M

ountain Elk Foundation banquet. This was a great hunt and can be reviewed in the Bear Hunting page of this site. Since we were both anxious to try the archery hunting, and did not have one planned until 2002, we decided to book a “private-land” archery elk hunt in New Mexico for the fall of 2001, with this Montana based outfitter. He promised that either his son (who guided our bear hunt) or himself would guide and call for us in New Mexico. Well…..”something came up”. The outfitter stayed in Montana and he "hired" Tom Harris from Porter, Texas to run the camp and scout the ranch for 2 weeks. Well...Tom didn't do his job, and we ended up “hunting” with the world’s biggest jack-ass, a self-proclaimed expert who basically turned the week into the “Hunt form Hell”, in Mora County, New Mexico. I was told by this "camp-boss" that the outfitter was aware of the problems and supported the "camp-boss's" judgement. In truth, the outfitter was not made aware of any problems until after the week was over, when I called him. The outfitter tried to rectify the situation after he was made aware of it..but of course the hunt was long over. This is an interesting story for outfitters to read for information on how to operate so that your clients NEVER return! Needless to say…seeing that ranch in the rear view mirror was a welcome sight! Please click below for all of the gory details!

Fortunately, we still had our rifle elk hunt at Tom and Lynn Colander’s Colorado Trophies ...and with our super-guide, Joe Buckley, we again returned to what was becoming our favorite place in the west!

Janice harvested a beautiful 6x5 at 332 yards at last light….(thank goodness for great optics, as you could not see the bull without higher-end binoculars or scope!) ...but Dale did not have as good of luck in

his elk hunting. Dale did get an opportunity…and a learning experience….He and Joe RAN about 1 mile straight up (its always that way, isn’t it?)..to get to where they were within 650 yards of this bull... Janice stayed behind (first mistake) acting as a safety valve... Joe is a great guide, but he is not a great spotter, nor had he and Dale worked together in this respect. (second mistake) Dale missed the shot(s) clean….not finding out until later that there was a strong cross-wind at the top of the hill where the bull was. An interesting story to learn by…..Dale did harvest a high, wide and handsome mule deer buck, after crawling 500 yards thru an irrigation ditch to get within 435 yards of this big boy. Please click below to read the details of our 2001 Colorado Elk/Deer hunt.

After having a t

errible Archery hunt in New Mexico, and Dale’s disappointing hunt in Colorado, Dale wanted another opportunity at a bull before the following fall (since we would be archery hunting, with no rifle hunt scheduled). Dale searched the internet, and came across Elite Outfitters, of Ruidoso, New Mexico… Johnny Hughes and Brian Newell. Dale talked to Johnny at length on the telephone, liked what he heard, and booked a private land, late season hunt for January 2002. This was another GREAT HUNT, with great outfitters. Dale harvested a magnificent 6x5 bull that scored 360! It would have been Janice’s bull except we only had the 1 tag...so Janice spotted for Dale, and a quick, clean kill at 214 yards put our beautiful and biggest bull to date , in the bag! ….a great story, and a great hunt. Before we left, we booked a rifle hunt on the same ranch for the fall.

ARCHERY IS TOUGH! Our first archery hunt with Joe Buckley and Colora

do Trophies; a great hunt, but with LOTS of rain. Joe got us into the elk, but as we are learning with archery, there are many a slip between the setup and the harvest! Dale did get a shooting opportunity at a cow, but no meat in the bag! Janice, at very last light, on the very last day, got to within 25 yards of a nice bull ...only to draw and not be able to see the sight pin! We have since learned about the light sticks that can light the pins in our sights….but much like rifle hunting. ..it is a LEARNING EXPERIENCE….nice stories of rookie mistakes in the world of archery hunting….click below.

With the bloodless bows back in their cases, and our new Nesika custome action .300 Jarretts ready to go, we headed back to Ruidoso fo

r our Rifle Elk Hunt with Johnny and Brian from Elite Outfitters. We also had some friends of ours make the trip after seeing the quality animal Dale had harvested the previous January. We spent 2 days at the NRA Whittington Center in Raton, New Mexico, tuning up our skills out to 1000 yards….then once we arrived in Ruidoso, we checked our rifles again for zero (300 yards) and muzzle velocity at the same elevation of our hunt. We were READY!

The first morning out, we spotted a very symmetrical 6x6, He was a beautiful bull…exactly what Dale had said he was looking for. Janice went into to spotting mode and Dale placed a perfect shot at 409 yards….He finally had a symmetrical bull! There is a story here about high-dollar custom rifles and keeping your cool!

Janice was holding out for a bull that would top the 360 bull Dale had harvested in January. Brian got us into elk several times …but MR. BULL was still doing a good job of eluding us.

Finally, on the 4th morning, Janice and Brian spotted a magnificent bull feeding his way to bed. The wind was calm, there was no way to get closer and keep him in view. Dale had all the confidence in the world in Janice’s skills to

make this shot. Dale went into spotting mode …he got the distance, and the angle of elevation, then converted those readings to clicks of elevation on the scope. He took a wind check at the target, midway, and where we were, then converted that to clicks of windage (almost dead calm). Janice in the meantime extended the bi-pods and got in a comfortable position, and checked her field of fire for obstructions such as tall weeds directly in front of the rifle. Dale double checked all the readings again, Janice signaled ready. Dale called the wind as read and concentrated on the bull thru his field glasses, ready to observe the shot down range without flinching from the noise. BOOM….and Mr. Bull fell immediately…585 yards!

Everyone in this camp saw trophy animals from 400 to 600 yards…but we were the only 2 hunters to take shots. The other hunters were interested in how we learned to shoot accurately at these distances…which is what gave us the idea to put together this website!
It was a great trip home…very rewarding that all the hours of preparation, and work to put us in shape and our rifles in shape had paid-off handsomely! Click below for the whole story.

What a great hunt! We spent 3 weeks in the high country! We spent the first week in Estes Park, Colorado, acclimating to altitud

e while hiking every day in Rocky Mountain National Park. We then hunted for 1 week with our friend, Joe Buckley, at Colorado Trophies. Finally, spending a week with Brian Newell of Elite Outfitters.

Dale scored this excellent Colorado 6x6 on the second evening, from 22 yards! It was pouring rain, and from the first bugle, until the shot, was not more than 2 minutes of pure excitement! We didn't believe it until now, but Archery Does Work! Read about the enitre trip by clicking here!