Originally Posted by
driftrider
I understand that you're frustrated, but getting busted happens to the best hunters in the world from time to time. I'm sure you've been busted a time or two, whether you know it or not. I know that I have.
What gets me is that you're bitching about being within a few yards of a big elk and not getting a shot. Many of us will probably never get the opportunity to ever elk hunt in our lifetimes, but you whine about missing one opportunity when you are able to hunt elk regularly. I'd be ecstatic to draw a single cow tag in my lifetime and actually get to try to fill it.
That 7x7 is still out there, man. So quit your complaining about this other guy and go get him. You sound a lot like my dad. He never took me or my brother deer hunting because he didn't want us to mess up HIS hunt. It's a very selfish attitude, and as a result, I didn't hunt deer until well after I was an adult and on my own. I hope that I have more patience and understanding with my kids than my dad had with me.
Mike
Actually, based on the situation I was in, I doubt it would have turned out to be a shot opportunity. I knew that when I was shaking like a leaf on a tree when the big boy was standing on the other side of that tree. I was hoping for a break, not expecting one. That, however, is not the nature of my complaint, I thought I was clear about that.
As for being selfish, you are barking up the wrong tree. There was nothing selfish about my actions, and there never has been. I have dropped everything I was doing and helped folks pack out elk they got, including members on this board and never asked nor expected anything in return, and I would do it for you if you called. I have taken many folks out and called, tirelessly to get them an elk. I am calling, they are in front as shooter, again, i haver asked for nothing in return.
Finally, I am not lucky to be out here hunting elk. I made the choice to move out here and be in elk country. I made the choice to hunt often as I could, to read books, study tapes, watch videos, and practice in the woods. I made the choice to put it all on the line and start a business here knowing not a soul, all for the love of the hunt. Luck has nothing to do with it. I say this not to sound arrogant, but to let others know if an idiot like me can do it, so can all. You make your own luck. What I am is fortunate that the good lord saw fit to make such beautiful country, and I am humbled and awed by it.