The Elk Hunt

Dustin may be the luckiest man in the world (obviously, he's married to me! Just joking)! With only eight points, he drew out for bull elk in Utah's West Desert, one of,(if not the best) places to hunt elk. Seriously, people wait their whole lives to hunt elk there and Dustin didn't even know that he was building up points for that hunt, thanks Ryan! I'm not sure who was more excited for this hunt, My Dad, My Uncle Tom, Dustin's brother Ryan, Dustin's Dad, Trevin, Three or four ward members, or the entire Albrecht family from Minersville (my Uncle Tom's inlaws). Notice I didn't include Dustin in that list. A hunt of a life time plus everyone in the world knowing he has a tag, carried with it a lot pressure! He kept saying, "I like to hunt, but I don't really like being the one with the gun." He was excited but also really nervous.

Once opening day came around there was no need for nerves. The Albrechts, especially Jed had been tracking the elk for weeks. They pretty much just guided Dustin right to them every morning. They spent so much time out in the desert with Dustin and Ryan. I was so nice of  them (although I think they really liked it)! They had a few mishaps the first few days and unfortunately the Minersville crew couldn't go out again so they didn't get to see any success. But eventually Ryan was able to call in this big bull and Dustin got a good shot at it.

It had five points on one side and six on the other and scored somewhere around 315.

A couple days after he shot it, Dustin's friend Ben caped it on his front lawn. He did a really good job. It was quite a site for the neighbors I'm sure! Then a day or so later Dustin, Ryan, and their dad butchered up all the meat.

After this hunt Trevin is obsessed with hunting. The only channel he knows how to turn it to is the hunting channel. Dustin no longer has any desire to hunt deer. It just doesn't compare to elk in anyway. You get way less meat, it doesn't taste as good and the hunt is not nearly as fun. Speaking of the meat. We may be eating elk for years to come so if you have always wanted to try elk you know where to get some!

Thanks to everyone that helped out, especially Ryan and Jed, you guys truly made it a hunt of a lifetime!