We let him walk.

The fact that I had let a "probably" legal elk walk on heavily hunted public land (Trevin counted well over 20 shots total by the end of the day), within 1/2 mile of our pickup (all downhill), in some of the most pleasant weather conditions you could ever ask to take a skinny 12 year old out in- was weighing heavy on me. I was consoled knowing we still had a few minutes of light and there were more elk around. If he passed through the opening, maybe something else would also.

They did not.

We had a debrief with Travis after dark. He had actually seen the same bull before we did but at 70 yards. He was also unsure if it would make 4" but at 70 yards thought it probably would. He had also held fire, not sure on the tine length and not wanting to risk Trevin's chances at an elk. The fact that he was also unsure made me feel we made the right call.

The short hike out brought the hunt to a bittersweet end. I would have loved to have had Trevin kill his first bull but am grateful he got to learn about making tough, but ethical, calls. Our season is long and there will be other chances to fill deer tags and possibly elk tags. Either way, we made some great memories and can't wait to do it again.


[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]


Thanks for riding along with us...