10-14 SS Elk on a Cliff

10-14 SS Elk on a Cliff

 What does a bull elk do when it’s got its back against a… can’t give it away, we’ll do that in a minute.

Alton Howell is a North Idaho cattleman who also enjoys elk hunting. If you listen to his story, you’ll understand why. I was hunting over in the St. Joe area in a place called Packsaddle Campground, the trail ran about 4 miles right straight up the hill before it curved back in so I walked up the road and then I cut up a ridge and when I got there about half way there was a huge Ponderosa tree. I looked at the tree, it was just cracking daylight, and I thought, you know, on Ponderosa trees don’t have limbs down quite that far. I watched it and then I got disinterested and I looked off to the side and then I looked back and I saw this eye come out from behind the tree and I shot and missed and he took off going up the hill and I took off after him. I got up to the top of the ridge and here was the bull standing there. I took the shot and I missed and he disappeared. So I looked around and couldn’t see anything and finally got down on my hands and knees and looked under the brush and there he was about 10 or 12 feet from me and he was watching me. So I just eased the rifle around and he never bolted and I fired and I hit him and knocked him down. When I got over there I realized that if he had stepped back another  maybe two to 3 feet, he would have gone off a cliff.

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