ncounter, as we found out this week. 

On the way down in the rental car, Kels and I argued who would be up to shoot first… I was plotting for Kelsy to start off, so I could then spend the rest of the week searching for the "BIG ONE" once we got her bull, and a good show in the can… Just like a little rainbow trout dashes in for the first nibble at a worm, she was on the stringer. 

It seemed like a great plan, until the week started playing out… On day one, just after a heavy snow storm cleared, our guide Kyle lead us right into the middle of a heard of 400 MIGRATING ELK!!! This was one of the most amazing moments I have ever had in the wild!!! Sneaking through the timber, we could barely hear each other whispering for the chirps and chattering coming from cows calling their calves, the clicking of hooves, and even though it was now November, the bulls were being just as vocal. They were screaming all around us!!! Cows would bump into us as they were weaving through the timber, but the whole scene was so crazy, with animals parading on either side of us, they wouldn't even spook!!! At one point we had three shooter bulls in sight at once, all screaming, growling, and chuckling with trails of their breath drifting through the crisp air, but with the mass of elk bodies passing by, there was no way to get a clear shot. 

Every day since has been a rock show, with Kelsy taking her safety off at least three times a day, coming within inches of getting a shot at a giant bull. All of the miles we put on, the hours of footage we recorded, and all the emotions that snowballed into yesterdays final kick at the cat… Kyle, Kelsy and I set out to get a bull on the final afternoon of the hunt. At this point I had already excepted that my chances of shooting my very first elk had passed, and now just the pressure of getting one bull on the ground, were making my sweat beads dance! 

Right at sunset, Kyle got Kelsy within 120 yards of a couple bulls about to cross a cutline, I hit record and waited for the big guy to step out… He appeared, Kels clicked her safetly off and her NOSLER CUSTOM RIFLE broke the silence!!! We ran up the cutline to see what happened!!! Before we reached the scene, another bull ran by through the timber… Kelsy handed me the gun and took the camera. I picked a window through the trees and squeezed as this gorgeous bull walked through… He dropped on the spot, and we just got ourselves a DOUBLE on monster bull elk, in the last ten minutes of our hunt!!!… So we thought.

We did my recovery first before going to find Kelsy's bull… Arriving at the scene, we could find no blood. After watching the footage we realized that Kels had completely missed her bull. Twenty feet in front of us from where she shot, there was a ridge that we were peaking over… Kelsy's sight picture in here VORTEX scope was completely clear, but two inches below, her barrel wasn't clear of the ridge, and her bullet spayed up dirt and leaves through the frame of the camera as the bull ran out of the picture, untouched. 

Its hard to know how to feel right now… I should be on cloud nine, but my poor little wifey has a broken heart and I feel her pain. My bull is every elk hunters dream and I couldn't be more appreciative of such a majestic animal. 

It's amazing how fast emotions and luck can turn, either way, in the sport of hunting. It just goes to show you, every minute your out there, you gotta believe…