A hard hunt, a ne'er do well & a missed bull

"Blessed is the man who expects nothing,

for he shall never be disappointed"

- Alexander Pope.

It was during the mid 1960's. I was 17 or 18, and Dan, my hunting partner, was a couple years younger.

There weren't many elk in those days. I had killed one or two, but Dan had never gotten lucky. He was getting desperate.

The way we hunted when elk were scarce was to pick up a fresh track in the snow,...