Hunting

Some of you may already know that I had an Elk tag for the Anthro area. I have put in for this tag since I was 14. It is a limited entry hunt, which means they only allow so many tags per hunting season. You put in to get your name drawn out. In the 17 years I only missed 2 for putting in to try to draw a tag. This area has a lot of big Bull Elk and is special to me because my dad has drawn out for this area twice while I was in high school and shot nice bulls both times. I went with my dad on his hunts and it was always a fun time, and I always want to be like my dad. In fact when I started to make plans with my family to go hunting I said, I want this hunt to be just like Dad's. I want to be driving along see a big elk on the side of the road, get out shoot over the hood of the truck and have it fall with one shot! Everyone laughed and told me I wasn't as lucky as Dad was.


I LOVED my elk hunt!! It was so fun, not only because I shot a big elk, but because I got to spend a lot of time with my family. I started to think about why I love to hunt and the reason is FAMILY TIME.


On this hunt I spent more time with my dad than I have since I was in high school. I loved it. One day it was just me and my dad. We just spent the whole day together. We walked up one canyon called Wire Fence. (Wire Fence has a funny story with it. When my younger brother Ty and I were in high school we drove my dads new white Ford truck up Wire Fence and scratched the sides of it on the sage brush. Dad wasn't too happy with us. But now the joke is don't let Bonnie and Ty drive your truck they will take it up Wire Fence.)
Anyway as we were walking up the trail Dad found some old elk horn sheds. He picked them up and I said,  "Oh wow I have never found sheds before." Dad said he hadn't either. He put them in the trail so we could get them on our way back to the truck. When we were almost back to the truck Dad said where are the horns at. I told him I didn't see them. So he turned and walked back up the trail. He found them like 15 feet from where we stopped. He said that that was probably why we hadn't found many sheds in our life. We had a laugh over it.


Dad and I rode on the four wheeler up to the top of a mountain and down the other side. The trail got kind of scary and Dad turned around but I knew I was safe as long as I was with my dad!!!


I also got to spend a lot of time with my brother Ty. Ty and I were best friends growing up. But with us both being married and having families of our own it makes it hard to spend as much time together as we would like.  My other brother Dee and my brother in law Cole went with me too.


Tracy only had the first 2 days of the hunt off. I wanted to shoot one on one of those days so he could be with me, but when that didn't happen I was feeling bad that I might shoot one without him being with me.


The day I shot my elk Tracy had gotten off early from work. We went that day when he got home to trade in our truck on a new Ford truck. When we got home from buying our truck we talked about going out hunting. We talked about not going because we thought we would get out there too late, but then decided it was better than sitting around the house. So we got in the new truck and went out. I didn't expect so see anything just like all the other days. But I was looking hard anyway. We went up Gilsonite where we had seen the most elk sign. I was watching the side hills thinking that I would have a good shot if I saw one. We came around a turn and I said to Tracy. STOP, STOP, STOP!!! All I could see was horns!!! I got out and put my gun across the hood of the truck and thought I hope I don't scratch this. I shot the first time and I thought I hit him but he didn't fall, so I shot again and saw dirt fly. Then I shot a third time and I didn't see him fall. I started to reload and Tracy said he just fell you got him you got him. I said What and then I looked and didn't see him. I was so happy. Tracy came out and gave me a hug and my legs were shaking so bad I couldn't stand up he had to hold me up for a few minutes. Then we got Bo out of his seat and walked up to my elk.


I called and texted my family that I had shot one. They all came with in an hour and a half. Ty was the closest and he was there first. We weren't really prepared to get one. So Jessi and Cole went to our house to get our four wheeler so we could get him to the truck. Dee and Lori came and they brought the camera or else I wouldn't have had any pictures.


I was so happy that I got to shoot my elk when Tracy and Bo were with me and that I shot it like my dad shot his!  And for all the family togetherness that we all shared. I believe that we are closer as a family now after my hunt. I am so thankful for my family!!

Bo was so amazed with the whole ordeal. He loves to look at my elk horns in the garage and he tells me all the time good shot mom. Some days we have to go look at the elk meat in the freezer!