Sunday of opening weekend, my very first elk! I was out on a solo hunt that evening on Boyd, in our usual spot, and after I bumped a small group of cows, this little raghorn bugled just 40 yards away from me, tucked inside a ring of Christmas trees. He was bedded and bugled lazily two more times; I had to wait him out for 30 minutes, then he finally stood up out of his bed. I couldn't see him the whole time. But when he did stand, I only saw his rear end; he stood in place for 15 minutes, then slowly walked away, out of sight. I waited and contemplated what to do, then started down a game trail toward him, went about 30 yards, climbed over some trees, then looked up and saw him standing broadside 50 yards ahead of me. He was looking right at me, so I couldn't tell if he was legal; then he turned his head, and I could tell he had brow tines. I never pulled a trigger so quickly. Made a great double lung shot, but he was still standing and turned toward me; shot him once more in the neck/chest and hit his heart. He went down right away. Then the pack out began! Got him out of the woods by 10pm, I shot him around 5:00. My pack was probably around 80 pounds. Whew! (Amy Quinlivan/Mineral Independent)

(Amy Quinlivan/Mineral Independent)

(Amy Quinlivan/Mineral Independent)