Tim Brady writes, "So the evening started out real slow. I got into my open clearing early and had at least three hours to wait until sundown. So I had time to think. It was the third day of our season. The snow was melting fast, and the weather was getting warmer by the day. I knew I had less and less time each day to shoot an elk, let alone find them. Once the snow is gone, those darn elk are hard to find.

So I sat alone on my rock overlooking a meadow that is 100 yards wide by 300 yards deep. I was at the top of this meadow looking down into the hole. As the sun slowly made its way to the mountain horizon, I reflected on how many times I have been on this spot looking down the hill and never seeing a thing. A couple of years before this year, I had spotted a 6x6 bull walking up the edge of the forest line to my left right around dusk. So I knew there was possibility, but very unlikely.

Right around 15 minutes before sunset, I noticed movement at the bottom of the hill I was sitting on. The sun reflected on the elk's back like gold reflecting in a pool of water. It caught my attention right away. I went from an almost dead heartbeat, to a 160 BPM! I grabbed my bino’s to take my first look at what I didn’t know at the time was a bull. His head was down eating and he was facing directly toward me at 250 yards. As I focused on him, he lifted his head and I realized it was a good size bull. So I took the next few minutes to focus my breathing, and steady my aim. As I watched him, waiting for him to turn broadside, I realized he wasn’t going to cooperate. So, I decided to take the dreaded downhill neck shot. My target size went from a square foot to 3 square inches at 225 yards, DOWNHILL!! As I set my finger of the trigger of my CZ 7mm magnum and gently touched the trigger, the resounding sound of the gun going off filled the valley I was sitting in. I refocused in my scope to see where the bull would be running, but nothing. I then realized he dropped in his tracks, and I made a perfect shot.

He’s a 6x6 with a non typical 7th point on his browtines. I love elk hunting!!!!!"