I never go expecting help from anyone, and if an elk goes down from my rifle or bow it is my problem. However, with that being said, I have not, nor will I walk away from good folks in need, and I have instilled that in my daughters. Twice my middle daughter has been along when this has happened hunting elk. I do have a conversation with them, and if they are an azz hat, I will carry on. If they are simply down to earth honest folks, I'll set aside my endeavors and spend generally what amounts to half a day with them.
My daughter and I jumped some elk but couldn't get a shot. When we came out we found a guy and his pregnant wife with a cow down out in the middle of a flat. His pickup was on the road and you could see it from where the cow was down. We walked over and learned that we had run those elk right to him. He was not about to let his wife touch one piece of that elk, (I'm sure it was their first kid). I asked if he wanted help and he declined. I basically said to him, look, we're all here, if you get the guts dumped out, whack her in half, we can have her in the back of the pickup in an hour or less. That is exactly what happened. The daughter and I grabbed the front and took off and he started with the hinds. Once we were at the pickup I went back and helped him finish with the hind, and after a thank you they were on their way.
The next was the most fulfilling for me as it made me realize how proud I am of my kid. I have always known that she has a heart of gold, but she proved it on a hunt two years ago. We both had cow tags but we're having trouble finding the skinheads. I put up a tree stand in the bottom for her to get into and see if something would come by. After dropping her off one afternoon I ran into two older guys one of which had a coveted either sex tag for the area. He had been putting in for years and finally got drawn. They couldn't find any bulls, but that was all I could find. He simply wanted to shoot a respectable six as it would be his biggest bull. After talking with them for some time and learning they were really good guys, I offered to take him along with me for what I had planned for an evening hunt. We all went in but didn't find the bulls till we were coming out and it was past shooting light. I had heard a shot from below, so I told them I would go get my daughter and see if she had killed, but I would stop by their camp and see what the plan was for the morning. Found my daughter sitting on the road in the dark playing on her phone, but it wasn't her that had shot. She asked why it took so long for me to come get her and I explained it to her. I told her that I planned to do. I told her I'd take her to the bottom in the morning or she could come along with us.
Even though she had seen elk where she was she elected to come along. The following morning it was my daughter who spotted the elk first. We found a respectable bull. It was not one that I would have shot in that area and I told the tag holder (Steve) that, but he told me he would be happy with it. I left my daughter and his pard on the hill to watch the show while Steve and I made the move. Steve killed the bull he was after that morning and while he and I got it ready my daughter and his pard moved the pickup to where we would come out and then brought the packs in to us. As the crow flies the distance was not great, about a mile, but it was straight up. We sent Steves pard with a front. My daughter got a front and Steves rifle. Steve took a hind, and I grabbed a hind and the loose meat. We had that bull in the back of the pickup by 11 am and I had a kid that was grinning from ear to ear. Steve was in his early seventies and his pard was pushing 80. Because they had packs that they had probably had since the sixties I sent them back in for the head with my pack. I told Steve to just drop it at my camp on his way out.
My kid killed her cow (first elk) that evening, and Steve offered to help bring it out the following morning. I turned him down simply because it was easy, 1/2 mile and flat. He offered me a quarter from the bull and I turned that down too, we had two cow tags. He insisted on my address so I finally relented, and I have never seen Steve again. However, shortly after returning from that trip two envelopes arrived from Steve, one for me, and one for her. Mine simply told me what a great kid I had and how much he appreciated all the help. Hers also held a thank you and a 75 dollar check. She looked at me, held up the check and said, "what's this for?, he didn't have to do that". I will have to say, that is probably far and away the most fulfilling hunt I have ever been on, and I didn't trip the trigger on anything!
As a side note, I killed a cow the following week with no one else around. Got her out, and into the pickup whole by myself, lmao, the 60 bucks on that otter sled was the best money I ever spent!
Long and short of it, this world is too full of self centeredness, stop and lend a hand to those in need and are deserving of it. Teach your kids to do the same. You never know when you might be in a situation where you get way more out of it than simply a critter on the ground. The rewards can be much greater!
