Only 3 Bullets

Let the reader be warned, stupid hunting stories are about to commence so read forward only if that sort of thing interests you.

I finally shot an elk and I finally shot an animal in less than 15 bullets.

Storytime:

When I was 13 I shot my first deer. I got a little excited and ran up to the edge of a gully and saw deer on the other side about 900 yards away. After opening fire (at 900 yards) on any animal that I saw in my scope (otherwise known as flock shooting) I had expended 6 bullets and, as far as I could tell, had not actually hit anything. We ran down the canyon to where the animals had run and they were all waiting nicely to see what we were and why we were chasing them (deer are stupid doncha know?) so I opened fire again (at about 200 yards this time) and expended 6 more bullets...without visibly hitting anything. So the deer got the point that time and all we saw was a rather large grey streak (the whole herd) vanish away over a ridge some 2000 yards away. I didn't try to shoot that time. We went up on the hillside to look down and see if I had hit anything for some bizarre reason and, voila, I had...7 times...in various random places. I will never know how I hit the same animal 7 times when I was flock shooting but hey, I was 13, and it was amazin.

Sadly...the stories of my quick trigger finger don't end there. Like the time I did the exact same thing the next year and somehow managed to get a deer shooting wildly at 1000 yards, uphill, across a canyon. Or the time I gut shot a 5 point buck at 50 yards and then subsequently missed every shot I tried to make up as it ran away (missed at 100, then 150, then 200, then 250, then it vanished into the trees.) Or the time I aimed 8 feet over the back of an elk because I thought it was 800 yards away when it was really only about 100. Or the time I did finally shoot an antelope in 15+ bullets as it ran away from me.

So...I actually killed my animal in 3 bullets this time...and 1 of them wasn't necessary.

I was tracking through the woods at a place I knew there were elk way up in a huge mess of trees, fallen trees, and undergrowth. You really couldn't see more than 200 yards at best in that mess so I wasn't more hopeful than sneaking up on their beds (I had done it before in this specific place...unsuccessfully of course after I made an errant shot that hit nothing but trees.) I had left my dad and brother about 15 minutes earlier on the road when I heard gunshots ring out just over the hill from me...right where dad and brother were...dang. But then the herd that they had shot at ran over the hill...right at me. Unfortunately, the animals had my wind so before I could see anything more than the lead bull (7 points of gorgeousness that I couldn't shoot) charge through the tree 20 yards away from me they had scattered into 2 herds and run away from me. But that wasn't the end by any means. Dad and brother had taken a number of animals out of the herd so this herd was in confusion looking for its lost members. That meant it was a great time for me to make a calf call. THAT confused them. Was I the missing calf or was I a dangerous hunter? The cows of the herd proceeded to check out my credentials by repeatedly calling me to the herd and the bulls furiously bugled back and forth to try and get the herd reunited. No animals would walk to me though. That meant I had to go find them...in thick undergrowth...with a top visibility of 200 yards at best and a low visibility of about 10 yards at worst. Elk are smart, they know (somehow) to stay just out of sight ahead of you and make calls back at you as they try and figure out what you are. I had the wind this time and moved slowly towards them. However, every time I would set to shoot one of the blasted things they would prance another 50 yards away out of sight. This happened about 10 times when a calf made the unfortunate mistake of standing in a gap in the trees about 200 yards away from me. Now, this had happened 6 times in the proceeding nonsense but I could never see a head. Number one rule while hunting in undergrowth: if you can't see a head, don't shoot it. The DOW doesn't accept stories about how you accidentally shot a 7 point bull in the forest when you meant to shoot a cow because you couldn't see the head. Anyway, this elk had made the unfortunate mistake of NOT prancing away just as I got set to shoot. I took my deep sniper breath and calmly (for the first time in my life) squeezed the trigger. After the shot rang out...the animal didn't move...it just looked at me. I took another shot and didn't see the animal in my scope anymore. Something similar had happened last time I was in these woods so I cautiously walked up the hill in case it was standing there looking at me still. I figured that, as usual, I had entirely missed the beast and it had run away and I would expend ANOTHER 12 bullets before I would actually kill anything. As I walked up and looked around I spotted it. I almost couldn't believe it...it was laying down, looking at me, obviously wounded. Well it was still alive so I had to finishe the job, which I did, and then stood in utter disbelief. I had actually harvested my animal in 3 bullets and when I had quatered the animal I found out that 1 of the shots wasn't necessary as I had hit the first time in the front quarter and the second time in the back quarter.

My hunting friends (dad, brother, and grandpa) couldn't believe it. Their jaws dropped. Their standard fun making for my trigger happy days are ended.

I had a good weekend :) This was also the first time I praised the Lord for providing meat for me and my family. That note was always missing in past trips.

soli deo gloria (even in the simple things like hunting!),

R.D. Thompson