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I always seem to find some kind of controversy no matter what path I take. Last year I was keen to go on a mountain lion hunt and booked a hunt in New Mexico with Global Sporting Safaris for this year. Being about 7 hours drive from the hunting area I booked this hunt to be an on call hunt so that I could be hunting as the first snow fell. The agent I worked with was Damon Engel and the owner of GSS was Rick Kennerknect. During the last year and specifically sometime around August, GSS went out of business taking everyones deposit down with them.
I posted about this at the time: https://www.africahunting.com/threads/agent-ripped-off.51980/
After speaking to David Martinez, the outfitter and owner of DMV Outfitters in Espanola, NM, we decided to keep the hunt on schedule. We were hoping to get some of my deposit back from GSS as there was still some time left. As the hunt approached I realized that David was a standup guy and he was going to absorb the lost deposit and allow my hunt to continue as planned. I don't know that most people would do this.
Over Thanksgiving David had called me and texted me pics of some cats that they had run that week as they were getting the dogs some working time in. The snow had fallen quite a bit in places but very little in others. He said I should leave the day after Thanksgiving and we would hunt Saturday morning. After clearing this departure with my lovely wife and family I packed up and got everything ready. Friday evening I met up with the outfitter at my hotel and we made plans for the morning hunt. He picked me up at 5:30AM and we drove about an hour and a half up into the mountains North of Espanola. His two sons and others will go out in the night and look for tracks in the mountains. When they find a large track they will wait there with the hounds until everyone arrives. The wind overnight had blown dead trees in the road and we had to move a few out of the way. We slipped and slided in the deep snow not knowing where we were going. We could not get either of his sons on the phone or radio. We weren't lost but we had no idea where we were going! Finally his son Vince phoned us as he had trouble with his brakes an had to head back to town. He relayed to us where his other son Michael and the hounds were and that he was certain it was a big tom. He also told us we could not keep going the way we were trying to go to get off the mountain as a big tree was blocking the road. David said to him "we barely made it this far and now you're telling me we have to go back through all that deep snow?". Vince said "yes either that or get out the chain saw and cut this big tree that is blocking the road!" What to do..... We decided to try to stay in our tracks and go back through the deep snow on top of the mountain and then head toward Michael and the hounds. Finally arriving at the location where the big cat had crossed the road in the night it was already 10AM. Now the fun begins as we get to see these fantastic hounds do their thing. It was 18 degrees and forecast to have quite a bit of wind. There was about a foot of snow in this area and the forest was dense and had quite a bit of thorn bushes in addition to everything else. As the hounds work the tracks we get everything ready to go. The climb was very steep and difficult but Michael says it's only 3/4 of a mile to where the hounds are. Well let me tell you this was the longest, hardest, and most difficult 3/4 of a mile I've seen in a long time! The high altitude is kicking my butt and I am trying my best to keep up with these '20 somethings in this 18 degree weather. The only good thing was that the wind never got up like we were expecting it to.
It seemed like forever but we finally arrived to where the hounds had the big tom treed. I marvel at this great creature and prepare for a shot with my .45/70. I try to shoot but nothing. I check the safety and double check that I am loaded and nothing. The gun is frozen up somehow. Michael says I can use his .45 so I take a shot and the can bales out of the tree hit but not that well. We get back on him and get my gun unloaded and dry fired to ensure it is not frozen and finally the cat is mine.
This hunt was exciting and in an extremely scenic place in the mountains of New Mexico. I can say with confidence that David Martinez and his sons are not only great hunters but also great people. I can highly recommend DMV Outfitters for lion and bear hunts in New Mexico.
I posted about this at the time: https://www.africahunting.com/threads/agent-ripped-off.51980/
After speaking to David Martinez, the outfitter and owner of DMV Outfitters in Espanola, NM, we decided to keep the hunt on schedule. We were hoping to get some of my deposit back from GSS as there was still some time left. As the hunt approached I realized that David was a standup guy and he was going to absorb the lost deposit and allow my hunt to continue as planned. I don't know that most people would do this.
Over Thanksgiving David had called me and texted me pics of some cats that they had run that week as they were getting the dogs some working time in. The snow had fallen quite a bit in places but very little in others. He said I should leave the day after Thanksgiving and we would hunt Saturday morning. After clearing this departure with my lovely wife and family I packed up and got everything ready. Friday evening I met up with the outfitter at my hotel and we made plans for the morning hunt. He picked me up at 5:30AM and we drove about an hour and a half up into the mountains North of Espanola. His two sons and others will go out in the night and look for tracks in the mountains. When they find a large track they will wait there with the hounds until everyone arrives. The wind overnight had blown dead trees in the road and we had to move a few out of the way. We slipped and slided in the deep snow not knowing where we were going. We could not get either of his sons on the phone or radio. We weren't lost but we had no idea where we were going! Finally his son Vince phoned us as he had trouble with his brakes an had to head back to town. He relayed to us where his other son Michael and the hounds were and that he was certain it was a big tom. He also told us we could not keep going the way we were trying to go to get off the mountain as a big tree was blocking the road. David said to him "we barely made it this far and now you're telling me we have to go back through all that deep snow?". Vince said "yes either that or get out the chain saw and cut this big tree that is blocking the road!" What to do..... We decided to try to stay in our tracks and go back through the deep snow on top of the mountain and then head toward Michael and the hounds. Finally arriving at the location where the big cat had crossed the road in the night it was already 10AM. Now the fun begins as we get to see these fantastic hounds do their thing. It was 18 degrees and forecast to have quite a bit of wind. There was about a foot of snow in this area and the forest was dense and had quite a bit of thorn bushes in addition to everything else. As the hounds work the tracks we get everything ready to go. The climb was very steep and difficult but Michael says it's only 3/4 of a mile to where the hounds are. Well let me tell you this was the longest, hardest, and most difficult 3/4 of a mile I've seen in a long time! The high altitude is kicking my butt and I am trying my best to keep up with these '20 somethings in this 18 degree weather. The only good thing was that the wind never got up like we were expecting it to.
It seemed like forever but we finally arrived to where the hounds had the big tom treed. I marvel at this great creature and prepare for a shot with my .45/70. I try to shoot but nothing. I check the safety and double check that I am loaded and nothing. The gun is frozen up somehow. Michael says I can use his .45 so I take a shot and the can bales out of the tree hit but not that well. We get back on him and get my gun unloaded and dry fired to ensure it is not frozen and finally the cat is mine.
This hunt was exciting and in an extremely scenic place in the mountains of New Mexico. I can say with confidence that David Martinez and his sons are not only great hunters but also great people. I can highly recommend DMV Outfitters for lion and bear hunts in New Mexico.
