Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting My best hunting story so far this year.

I think I got a better one:

I get up this morning kinda moping around, ain’t been seeing any. It’s 15 degrees. I finally get it together and get my bike outta the garage. Oh snap! I need my rifle! I went back into the dark man cave to grab a model 70 7 mm mag outta the rack. I only had my dim hat light on.


I go grab it and mount up. The road ain’t as slick as I figure. The full moon lets me ride with no lights.Trying to dismount the e-bike my rifle begins clunking around. Snap! My bolt is open, holding it with my left mitten, I close the bolt ( it chamber’s flawless) and swing the model 70 on safety. I really like the safety. In cold weather when done hunting I open the bolt so moisture drys out of the barrel. I didn’t notice it still open when I grabbed from the dark room.

As I am walking up the fence line in the moon light the snow and frozen gravel is crunchy. On my left I hear a light crunchy trot. I am face to face with a yearling or 1.5 year old mule deer. It appears to have a collar.
I stare at it awhile. Then walk on working uphill. I stop to rest……..it’s following me.

Finally I gain enough elevation to see my destination, The fence corner has elk standing next to it. I take a knee. The deer stands on the other side of the fence next to me. It then jumps the fence and walks right up to me.The elk are about 100 yards away. The moon went behind a cloud I could tell then it wasn’t legal shoot time. I didn’t have a time piece. So as I rubbed the deers ears the five elk wandered past us.

The deers collar was old vet wrap and I could tell it was constricting her neck. I opened my Fanny pack to cut it off and she buried her nose in it. When I cut them off her she started to eat one. I jerked it outta her mouth.

It was Erie in the moonlight with my new friend. It’s claimed where I was is loaded with unmarked Native American graves. Up to the corner posts we went. A coyote howled, then below me a bull bugeled!

I looked to the east, still dark. I could see them, my new buddy was gazing their way. They were 170 yards. I waited, waited, waited. My friend wanders off, I ease my binoculars out. Pick a cow, it’s hard to tell they aren’t spikes as they are in medium height sagebrush below me . The moon has set.

Finally I take off my mittens, use them as a rest, setting them across the horizontal fence cross rail. I take the rifle off safety, nestle the Burris ballistic plex on the intersection of the front leg and center of the cows neck.

Squeeze……………..nothing!

Pull the rifle down check the chamber……it cocks!

The elk are milling now, I choose to not to shoot.They are bunched up tight. Try to catch up to their escape but I have only long shots with no backstop.

I must have had the trigger engaged with my mitten when I chambered the round.