So yesterday I was up at 5 AM, I had eaten what I could of breakfast and was waiting to head up on the mountain. You see, yesterday was the last day of Elk season and one of my good friends had yet to fill their tag.

I watched the minutes slowly tick by until it was about 5:30, then I heard the rumble of a diesel pickup and knew they had made it. I grabbed my rifle and slung it over my shoulder and headed out the door.

We grabbed two quads among the three of us and headed up the valley, as we crested the rise, three elk came into view, however we happened to be on the wrong side of them. My friend and I gently stepped off the quad but as soon as we moved the elk darted down into the western draw.

We decided to try for another group and while one friend stayed on the ridge to spot, my other friend and I took the other quad and started over towards the far western pasture and the herd of elk we had seen from the opposite ridge.

As we neared the group we began to hear muffled gun shots from behind us, just a group of eager hunters hoping for a lucky shot.

However these eager hunters had alerted our once naive herd of elk to nearing danger and they were now warily looking about for the sound of the shots. Instead of seeing the source of the weapon, they saw my friend and I. This was enough to spook any herd and they darted down the valley to a place we didn’t want to follow.

We were thinking our luck had all but run out and we were going to be heading home empty handed, then a phone rang. When my friend answered it, it was our scout on the other side. He had spotted the group of three that had ran down earlier and had seen them up at the top.

I hopped on the quad and my other friend and I drove over to where the three elk had been spotted. As we hiked down the draw, hoping for a clear shot, the scout began motioning for us. The distance was too far and we couldn’t see what he was trying to explain so he began making his way towards us. He dropped out of sight to cross the draw when suddenly we heard a rifle shot.

Silence reigned for but a few moments before we heard a victorious shout.

The tag had now been filled.

Thinking about this later last night I realized that if we had called it quits after we lost sight of the second group, we never would have filled the tag. We had been hiking around every morning for about a week without getting a clear shot, if we had just decided to call it quits and let the dice fall where they may, we would have never gotten the elk.

That is kind of what it’s like with this life, it gets rough sometimes and the waters and very rarely calm. But we cannot give up. Instead of being dismayed at the distance you have yet to travel, look at the distance you have already covered and realize how capable you truly are. Never give in and in the words of my favorite bow hunter, Cameron Hanes, “Just Keep Hammering!”