This was another 3-elk year. Friend Ken killed a bull and a cow early in the season, while we were away in California. The bull had been severely injured in a fight and would not have lasted through the winter. He also got a deer on the last day of the season.

Toward the end of the season cousin Francis came from Kansas to try his hand at elk hunting and Ken agreed to help him out. A week of sunrise forays produced a few sightings of lone elk but no legal or safe shots. Finally, over 200 elk appeared below the Main House near sunset. It was too late in the day to shoot (we did not want to be dealing with a dead elk in the dark at 0°F). Next morning, the elk herd was no longer below the house but Francis got his choice of 200 elk one hundred yards above the house. He picked a nice, fat cow and killed her with one well-placed shot.

We got a small share of each elk; we have not finished all the meat from last year, so our freezer is full!

The seeds for this hunt were planted by Gary's cousin Wanda Jo (Gary's mother's namesake). She applied for a permit on husband Francis's behalf after she saw how herds of elk liked to hang around our property. Wanda Jo died unexpectedly before the permit was granted; we all said a word of thanks over the elk in her memory.