ChefJeff1
Member
Last November 4th I shot my first elk, a cow. It was snowing heavily and I was in a heavily wooded area that burned a few years ago in The Castle Rock Fire in Sun Valley, ID. I fired a total of 3 times. The first shot blew through both shoulders and the cow slid toboggan style down the snow covered hillside. As she was sliding my friend looking through his binoculars yelled, "shoot again, shoot again!". I did and missed. I retrieved the second cartridge but could not find the first one as I had pressing business. We came up to my elk and I made one final shot. Since then it has bothered me that I didn't have that 1st cartridge. Today, I hiked back up to the exact location which was easy to find because of the shot circumstances. I was perched "tippy toes" on a down log that was resting against another tree with a limb that I used as a rest. I reached the log and the tree rest and looked down and my empty shell was right there. I took it and continued to retrace our footsteps all the way down the draw, down the rest of the trail and back to the car. It was kind of a magical day. My dog got up 3 grouse right near where I shot from. It was cool. I made a little pile of rocks and said a few words to respect the elk and hiked out. So, I think from now on I will rehike my hunt from the previous year and continue this tradition. It seems like a good way to honor the game. Thanks for reading, Jeff Oh yeah, I almost forgot, should I reload this cartridge to use as my first shot next year or should I just save it?
