My toughest hunt was the very first elk I killed.
I was 13 years old and had split up with my dad,well being a kid I figured the farther I walk the better chance I had.It was late December at the tail end of x-mass vacation.The snow was about butt-cheek high on a kid and the wind was blowing about 30 miles and hour and the temp was -40 something below zero.I had walked across a big falt and at the far end about a mile away I saw 2 cows walk into some timber.
Well I got down wind and snuck into the timber,about 150 yds in I saw a cow about 60 yds away,I grabbed a tree for a rest,put the cross-hairs of my 30-06 on her head and BAM!! down like a ton of bricks.
I then walked up and realized how big she was,rolled her on back and dressed her wich took about 30 minutes.I walked back to the pick-up that took 3 hours and found my dad(who shot one by the road)and told him of the excitement and my first elk.We then grabbed a WWII pack board and a tarp,rope and a two bladed axe,we 1/4 the elk and I took the first load both hind-quarters,droped them at the road,walked back only to discover my dad had had a mild-heart attack and was unconsiouse.
I paniced,I rolled him in the tarp and tied him up with rope and dragged him I swear 20 miles,but more like 3 to the pick-up,stuffed him in the front seat and hauled butt to my uncles in Ovando,40 miles away and called a ambulance.He went to the hospital that night and fully recoved and he still hunts like a banshee at 70 years old.
The next day with the aid of my cousins and the frostbit fingers we got the rest of the elk out.After trhet day I swore I would never kill another elk,well that was 18 years ago and I have killed 15-16 elk since,and last year was the first one I ever got out whole.
Now that was my hardest hunt I have ever been on.
BBJ