I have shot close to 100 whitetails with my bow. Several " book bucks" one that grosses over 175" . I only say that to put some perspective in Bow' s articulate account of his elk hunt.

There are few things that prepare one for hunting bull elk in the rut! When a huge bulls bugles in front of you at close range, you swear the ground is shaking! It can be very difficult to keep your focus and composure. Emotional melt downs are not uncommon even with the most experienced hunter. Perhaps the only thing that comes close would be to have Ursus horribilis breathing down your neck at close range, I don' t know, I have never had the privilege of hunting a grizzly. I can tell you that hunting these big animals in the setting described, especially the first few times, is almost more than a guy can stand. It is difficult for most of us flat landers to even get a shot. When a shot does finallly develop it is very easy to over react and muff the shot.

My guess is that most of the people on these forums take the shooting of an animal very seriously. Bowdacious would be no different. Although he and I may not see everything eye to eye on some issues, I can entirely understand the circumstances he found himself in. I can guarantee that a person who has so much invested in a hunt (not only financially, but also in time and effort, blood sweat and tears if you will) certainly will do everything in their power to recover a trophy of a lifetime.