So for my first elk hunt I went on a semi guided hunt with 2 OTC cow tags just past Meeker. Second morning in my wife and I were in a blind and just after sun up we heard a rustling coming down into the draw near a water source close by. As we lowered the partition we saw 6 elk as 3 cows and 3 spikes were leading the herd down and the range finder put the lead cow at 43 yards away. There was still more rustling in the wild sage from behind the blind as I lined up the shot and tried to control my breathing, which wasn't working well. As I moved slightly to adjust for their walking the stopped and stared right at me as I squeezed the trigger. The lead cow shuddered and stumbled as the other 5 ran down past the water and around the oak scrub going back up the other side of the draw. I heard noise out the back and lowered the partition on that side and ranged another good sized cow running back up with two calves. As the calves went back over she turned broadside to look back down at the blind and I was able to hit her in the shoulder enough that she fell down and then tumbled down the side into some dead fall. I then looked back over at the first cow and saw she had moved about 20 yards and was now down. The one back up the mountainside was still popping her head up and down and I put a second round into her neck. The rangefinder put her at 261 yards and the level app on my phone aimed up said it was a 39 degree incline from the blind, which made it a rough trek through dead fall and sage to get her down without damaging the hide. All in all it was a good time and my wife got a lot of pictures of the area and some wildlife once my tags were punched. Fortunately they had some Polaris Rangers to get the game out and bring to the camp for cleaning at a stand. Pic below is me with my two cows.
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