This elk was an amazing and personal gift from the Lord.

It had been years since I had elk hunted with my dad and so we planned a 3 day hunt in our old elk hunting stomping grounds.

I traveled from Spokane to meet him in Centralia Chehalis area for the hunt. My dad had done some initial scouting and the area had changed significantly, nor was there the elk sign that we had seen in the past.

Our first day of the hunt brought nothing except some old elk sign, probably from the summer. The areas we were accustomed to hunt were not promising.

That night my dad spoke with a co-worker and avid elk hunter who kindly disclosed a specific area he had been scouting elk.

We got there the next morning and 4 of us in the hunting party, split up to look over a clearcut.

I was just finding myself a nice stump to set up on as the sun was beginning to rise (not more than 5 minutes from leaving the truck).

Suddenly, about 200 yards away this bull elk came trotting out of some jack firs at the edge of the clearing on the top of a ridge. I got a shot of adrenaline and could hardly hold my binoculars steady enough as I attempted to get a clear look at his size. I finally leaned against the stump and could clearly see through the scope that he qualified as I prepared for my first shot.

I waited for him as he was trotting closer to me and took my first shot when he gave me a broad side view. Simultaneous to the shot he disappeared completely.

I thought he dropped right down. I took my time and slowly made my way toward him only to discover he was gone.

I began looking for blood or some sign that I had hit him, but could find nothing. Movement caught my eye and I looked up at the ridge above me, and there he was standing broadside about 100 yards away watching me. I'll never forget the sight. I could see him from the ankles up silhouetted in the sun rising behind him. It was a Kodak moment - only I had the gun, not the camera. I shot again with no doubt of a miss. Again he simply disappeared. When I got to where he was standing, there was no sign that I had hit him. I was confident in my rifle as it was well tuned, so I was very puzzled.

I walked a couple hundred yards up the ridge slowly when I saw him laying down across a ravine. He stood up when he saw me and began walking up toward the top of the next ridge. I quickly found a stump to rest on and fired 4 more shots.

After emptying the magazine and frantically trying to reload a couple cartriges, he continued walking up toward the ridge. As I prepared for the next shot, he suddenly dropped without any further movement.

I was praising the Lord! In field dressing him I discovered he was hit at least 4 of the 6 times. The strength in this animal was amazing as he went that distance with virtually no lungs. There was also no meat damage.

The meat has been God's provision for our family this winter - He knew we would need it.

I've hunted many years and have worked very hard to get elk in the past. In this case the Lord directed me to the right place, set me up on the perfect stump, and then told His chosen elk to walk out in front of me.