THE HUNT!!!!!!!!

Let me start off by saying this is the first time I have ever put in for a hunt, so it was the first tag I have ever had. Needless to say, my dad was thrilled that I drew a bull elk tag and he got...nothing! :) I think I found out around March(?) that I got the tag and my hunt didn't start until the day after Thanksgiving. So it was a looonnnggg time inbetween. So, the first day of the hunt we went up to Pat Knoll where a huge bull was supposed to be. It barely got light and we hear 7 shots go off not even 100 yards from us. We seriously thought the shots were directed to the truck. So we left that area afraid for our lives. :) We went around to the Big Lake highway and didn't see anything. So we went back to Pat Knoll. Oh, my cousin Michael was with us. So, my dad and I decide to go walking and let Michael pick us up somewhere. We start up this hill in the snow and cross a blood trail. So we follow it for a while and the whole time I am thinking we are going to see this bull at any time. Well, we stopped to mark where we were on the GPS and I hear something behind me, so I turn around and see Todd Workman and I'm assuming his 2 boys. HOLY CRAP they scared me!!! It turns out it was their bull that we had been tracking. So we let them take over and my dad and I went another way. We didn't see anything else the rest of that day. :(
This is a picture of one spot on Pat Knoll on Friday...it was absolutely beautful up there with all the snow.

The 2nd day of the hunt we went down past Milligan Valley and took about a 4 mile walk and saw a couple little bulls and spikes, but nothing that I was going to take on the 2nd day. So we were on our way back to town when my cousin Justin called my dad and Michael and told us to hurry to town because he and Jeremy had seen 6 big bulls. So we haul butt back to town, pick up Jeremy and Justin, and go to Flat Top. We went up this hill (that about killed me!!!) and glassed for a while and didn't see anything. Jeremy and Justin were positive that the bulls would be there, so they went back to town to go to the other side of the mountain to push the bulls my way. Well, long story short (kind of) we met up with Justin, and then Michael called us on the radio saying he saw 3 big bulls and they were on the other side of the mountain. So we somehow make it down the rockiest part of the mountain in like 2 minutes. We come up on this ridge and I see the bulls. I pull the gun up (and the gun is much bigger than the one I had been practicing with so that makes me even more nervous!) and it takes me a minute to get the bull in the scope. By that time, he had moved and I couldn't get a good shot. So we start running again. This time, we come up on 3 bulls!!! All 3 looking at me and I have a clear shot at any of them. So I shoot at the first in line, which is the biggest...and I miss and he walked off!!! :( So, I reload, can't find the first bull, get my scope on the second one, squeeze the trigger and the bull DROPPED!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy CRAP!!! that was seriously the biggest rush I have EVER had in my life! It was so cool! I was so excited that I freaking started crying. LOL. But Justin was right there, so I had to stop. :)

I will get pictures up soon. My dad says it scores around 320. He was a 6 x 6 but the 5th is broken on one side. But we took it to get mounted and they will fix that for me. Anyway...long story. sorry. I will post pictures of him soon. :)