The reason for the primer not going off is really quite simple, though it could have been disaterous had the elk been more spooked or pressured.

The day before I shot my hunting load out, cleaned the gun, and then did another fowling shot. After the fowling shot, I forgot to clean the nipple off. Therefore, the primer didn't set all the way on the nipple, and it took the first throw to set the primer all of the way.

Yeah, andmy dad yelling at me was really quite comical. I was trying to find my elk, but my dad had his eye on her the whole time. I couldn't see anything because of the smoke, so he's telling me to reload, it was kind of a confusing situation, lol.

Oh, and the elk WAS VERY GOOD!!! Had bbq'd steaks, taters, corn and rolls for dinner tonight! Nothing better!!