Success!

As I wrote earlier in the month, I went Elk hunting with a friend of mine who guides on several ranches outside Cheyenne. We went yesterday on a neighboring ranch to his. We found the elk and they weren't on the other side of the fence.

We drove to about a mile of the elk, got out and began our stalk. We walked approximately 2 miles out around the valley , the last few hundred feet being in clear view. We walked single file very slowly, stopping at one point for 5 minutes standing completely still. The elk went back to eating. We crawled up to a rock formation, looked over the top. There they were, 100 elk bedded down or feeding just 150 yards away.

I was to shoot first. I steadied the rifle on the rock, picked one out...it turned to face me, and the herd stood up. I picked another cow who was not close to the others and fired. It was a good shot. The herd trotted 100 yard or so and stopped. My friend's wife picked one out and fired. We had two elk on the ground.

This was my first experience with stalking ending in success. Of course, my friend the guide had much to do with this. The valley was beautiful. Out of the wind, a little bit of snow on the ground. Not many people have access to this sort of hunt. Hunting elk on public land is much more difficult and with much lower success rates. My experience was truly a privilege.