Did You Get an Elk, Caleb?

Chris and I stopped, we were ready to take a break, and we needed to figure out what our game plan was. "So," Chris says in his thick, Wisconsin accent, looking around, "we can follow the fence line back and just head to camp; we can go back to Ruth, make a loop, and head back to camp; or we can loop around here and head back to camp. We haven't been back here yet, so."

I thought for a second. "We might as well go that way. Try somethin' new."

"It's as good a choice as any," he said, then waves me to take the lead. 

I walked into the aspens and scanned the area, occasionally looking at my feet to ensure I wasn't stepping on anything.

"Psst! Caleb!" Chris whispered frantically after we had walked thirty or so yards into the aspens.

I looked at him and noticed that he was looking through his binoculars. 

He pulled down the binoculars and looked at me, "Caleb, c'm'ere!" he whispered even more frantically. 

Quickly, but as quietly as the crunchy snow let me, I sped walked to him. 

"There's a cow elk right over there, see 'er?"

"I see 'er," I whispered, crouching to the ground and taking aim. The calm that washed over me was incredible, my heart skipped a beat and returned to normal. Breathing stayed steady. I was calm as could be. 

I got her in my sights. She was just standing there, head behind a tree. She wasn't looking at us, she was looking straight ahead. 

"Take your time, and shoot when you're ready."

I pushed the safety in. 

Click!

What the... I thought to myself, double checking my safety. It was still off, I had turned it off. I opened the chamber, ejecting the bullet as Chris said "Eject it."

I pushed the lever back into place. 

Click!

"Dang it!" I half whispered. 

I opened the chamber and nothing ejected. I hit the bottom of the magazine to make sure it was in all the way. I watched as my lever slid over the top of the second bullet "What in the world!!!" I half whispered.

"Stop," Chris whispered as I went to check the magazine again. He stuck his finger into the open chamber and slid the bullet slightly forward. "Try it now."

I closed the chamber and took my aim again.

BANG!

The elk ran, and I followed her with the sight on my rifle. Her butt came into view then vanished behind the aspens.

"Can you get another shot at 'er?" 

"No, she's gone," I said, putting my gun down, unsure what to think. She seemed to be running just fine, but she was just standing there! How could I have missed?

We walked over to the area in which I had shot her. As we passed a dead tree that she was standing near (not the tree her head was hiding behind), I noticed a spot in the tree. That kinda looks like a bullet’s entry point, I thought to myself. I checked the other side of that tree, the top of which had fallen off in years past, and, sure enough, there was the exit wound. She was standing behind this tree, and the bullet went through. How is there no blood on the ground? I thought to myself.

Chris looked around for blood. "I hit the tree," I informed him. 

"You did?"

He walked over to the tree and inspected both sides. "Well, you went through. Let's follow 'er trail and see if we can find something."

We walked a few feet and I pointed to a sprinkling of blood. A smile came across my face, then quickly faded when I realized how little blood there was. 

"It's not lookin' good," he said, confirming my doubts. "We'll keep lookin' though. See what we find."

It quickly became evident, at least to me, that I had shot her leg. I was no expert, but I believed it was her hind leg. The amount of dirt she kicked up in her tracks led me to this conclusion.

After we had walked 50 yards, we reached a large spot of dirt. It was very obvious she had fallen down. We continued our walk, my hope slowly dying as blood became less and farther apart. 

A few hundred yards later, we walked up on her, lying in the snow. I had shot her in the leg, alright. Through the front leg, and right through the heart.