My good friend (and unbelievable guide-let me know if you are looking for one) Ian and I embarked on yet another season of trying to outsmart the Rocky Mountain Elk. We loaded up our trucks and headed out of Bozeman for a 2 1/2 hour drive around 3am to one of Ian's top secret Elk hang outs. As we ventured down a narrow muddy road flinging mud all over the truck in hopes of not loosing our momentum we crested a hill and found ourselves taunted by 3 bull elk running in front of us. Yeah right, it's never that easy. I gun the truck in hopes of catching up to them but end up just covering the truck with so much mud that not even the $10 car wash could completely reveal the original paint job and we watched all three jump the fence from public to private land frolicking and laughing at us as the sun was starting to peek over the mountains. That day ended up being a long day of walking our rifles as we couldn't get close enough to empty the chamber on any elk. The next morning we awoke with sore legs, dehydration, and to 30 degree weather. We quickly fired up the truck to venture down the road to a new area and thaw out a bit on the ride. As the sun came up we positioned ourselves on a nice bluff overlooking the (what we were hoping to be) over-populated land of elk. We could hear them bugle but had no luck on getting a shot off. As the late morning approached we headed over to the other side of this tract of land in search of greater prosperity. Walking in the noon sun we cut over to soak in a view off another bluff. As we summited a large boulder we startled (and were startled) the above bull elk. This 6X6 elk jumped up and ran for the trees. My good friend Ian was just ahead of me and jumped out of the way, flexed his golden pipes yelling "SHOOT"! "SHOOT"! I drew the rifle up to shoot but the elk was so close that the scope was filled with green fuzz from all the pine trees. The elk almost made a clean exit while in the background I still have Ian yelling "SHOOT"! so I followed the movement of the pine trees and fired one off before the disappeared down the draw. Ian and I look at eachother and he asks if I shot it? Still startled by the sudden event the elk ran down the hill and up the next draw then stopped in the open. The bull turned broadside and looked around probably thinking-what in the hell just happened and why does my knee hurt? Ian once again screams out his favorite word "SHOOT"! I take my time, site him in, and let the 30.06 sing. The 250 yard shot with snow blowing sideways thru a large revene resulted in a clean hit that brought him down. I stayed put as Ian ran down and then up the draw in hopes that if the elk was injured it would return to the bald spot leaving me with another clean shot. Once I caught up with Ian and the bull (now above our fireplace) we celebrated the sweet success of stocking my freezer for an entire year. This past year (2008) Ian and I went out again and both took a cow elk on the opener. It wasn't quite as entertaining as the previously mentioned hunt but please don't hesitate to ask me about it as behind every hunt is an exciting story!
