A little girl's first bull

Dave Fowler and I went into the Wyoming back country last year for elk and had an amazing trip. I hoped it would be the beginning of a hunt tradition that would continue year after year. Dave is an amazing man that I enjoy hunting with. This year we talked about doing it again and decided it would be nice to invite Bob and his new 12 year old daughter, "Ollie", and his mules (of course) to be part of this hunt. 

Ollie was pretty excited to go on her first elk hunt and we all hoped she'd be successful. She did get her bull, which made the entire trip successful. As for us three men, I guess none of us really wanted to kill a bull too bad as we all passed bulls, including some dandies. A trip for the books... 

Bob wrote a short story about the trip:

12 years in the making 

The 2018 elk season was highly anticipated by a lot of hunters but I’m guessing few could have matched the excitement of my 12 year old daughter Olivia. She had heard all the stories from her two older sisters’ successful elk hunt two years prior and was eager to experience it firsthand. Pre-season was filled with hunter education classes, rifle practice and lots of questions. (A few of which had to do with nighttime and Grizzly bears.) 

I assured her we would be fine but when a couple of close friends were gracious enough to invite us along with them on their elk hunt, which happened to involve a rustic log cabin to sleep in, we jumped at the chance and a lot of her fears were put to rest. Our first hiccup of the trip involved the mule that was packing Olivia’s rifle. While crossing through a side canyon full of down timber, mud, and snow the mule slid off of a steep bank and wedged her rifle crossways between two trees. It stopped the mule’s descent. As I watched the mule thrash around and try to free itself I was sure the rifle stock and various other pieces and parts were going to break in half before I could get there. The mule popped loose before I could reach her and slid the rest of the way to the bottom where she promptly started eating grass like nothing had happened. 

Once in camp I slid the rifle out of its scabbard fearing the worst. 1,000 lbs. of mule can inflict a lot of damage on all things gun related. There was no need to worry. The Manners T5 rifle stock had taken it in stride and showed absolutely no damage, nothing. What could have ended her hunt with a broken stock turned into a rifle needing re-zeroed and we were back in business. The first part of our hunt we had a lot of low clouds and intermittent spitting snow. We were seeing elk and had a couple of fleeting chances that melted away before a shot could be fired. Olivia handled it all in stride and was having a blast. We were sitting on a ridge glassing after one such incident when one of the guys spotted a group of elk coming up through the trees and over the ridge we were sitting on! I got Olivia laid down and in position as the cows were filing over the ridge. 

I believe sometimes things are just meant to be and this appeared to be one of those times. The bull topped the ridge, then turned and stopped broadside between a small group of trees as he looked around. Olivia took her shot, but the bull disappeared so quickly we were unsure on exact shot placement. We elected to wait for 30 minutes just to be safe. After waiting what felt like a small eternity, we started downhill toward the bull’s last known location. About a hundred yards downhill from where he had been standing I thought I could see something out of place. I raised my binoculars and was staring at Olivia’s very first elk. I tried to play it cool and asked Olivia to come over and look at something for me. She just ran over to me and said, “Where is he?” (I think she knows me a little too well). 

As we made our way down to him all she could say was “Dad, I got a bull and he’s awesome!!” I couldn’t have agreed more. The rest of our trip was a lot of fun and was filled with more hunting, watching grizzlies, packing out elk, and mule rides. I would like to say thanks to all the friends who helped out on this special hunt. Not only the friends that we shared camp with but to all of you who support what matters most, our future. What a blessing it was to be able to share this hunt with my daughter. Thank you all.