A Close Call

A Close Call

Matt Rice
Matt Rice
Last night I received a phone call from a family friend, who had the quite the experience while out feeding his horse. He happens to live about 15 miles outside of town at the base of a mountain amongst the deer and elk. Which, generally makes for great scenery and premium hunting. But this time he wasn't calling to tell me about how beautiful the wild game were. I began to chuckle as he started into his replay of events from the night before.

Well last night, I went out to feed my horses like I do every night when I get home from work. And like always there's usually a few deer and elk bedded down either in the horse pen or not too far off in the distance. So, I put on my head lamp so I could so my way and headed up to the hay shed. I got about 50 ft. from the barn when I noticed my 10 yr old lab was barking at something off in the distance. I looked over and saw a mature cow elk with her head down coming right at us. So I did what any wise man would do, I found the nearest tree and started climbing. She went for the dog first, which gave me a little extra time before she turned and came after me. It took me a few seconds to get up a big enough tree but it wasn't long after and she was circling the base. After about 30 or 40 seconds of my waving and shouting, she finally turned and went along her way.

There's something about a dog, most of the time they can be a pretty good tool to have by your side when you're out in the wild, but there's always a chance they stir up a little more trouble than you're looking for. This probably isn't the first time this has happened out in the wilderness, but it might be the first time it's happened to a farmer trying to feed his horses.

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