Well, I believe it was back in the summer of 1999, my first year as a staffer at camp. Now, one thing you need to understand is the fact that during staff week, when only the staff is at camp, there are a ton of deer, elk and every other little animal you can think of. We often ventured out into the meadows to get a good look at the elk and deer herds; one faithful trip almost got us killed. You see, the day before, myself and other staff had gone to our hiding place that looked right out into a meadow and seen a huge bull elk, maybe a 8-10 point. Huge! It walked out into the meadow and called 3 times, then, out of nowhere all these cow elk appeared. It was an awesome site to behold, so the next day, same time, myself and a few other staffers (3 if I remember right) headed out to the spot with some really nice binoculars, went to the spot and stayed there for like 2 hours waiting, then, out of no where, 3 cow elk come out of hiding and into the meadow.

They started calling--about 3 times or so--until they were no more than 20 feet away, then they high tail it out of there. We thought we had been seen, but, alas, they only ran half a mile away and were on a hill that had a bald spot just big enough for us to spot them again. They started calling again, 10-15 times, over and over again, until we hear something behind us. It was a reply, and a weak one at that. They start calling back and forth at least 3 more times we all turn around, and by now have figured it out that there is a calf somewhere behind us.

We all know that elk are nice and will run away if they ever see you, unless you get between you and a calf...that is right where we were. The calf stops calling and we all turn around to check and see if we can see it, but we can't.

I turn around and don't see the cows anymore....big problem.....then we hear them crashing through the woods at the base of the hill, and in the loudest voice I could punch out I scream "Holy Crap, RUNNNN!!!" We all take off like there is a fire in our pants and dart across some of the muddiest and rockiest part in the woods, and my friend falls into a mud patch and looses his shoe.  He screams, but I grab him and tell him there is no time, by this time the elk are in the meadow running, we all take off to Sheepeater and climb a tri pod tower that was built last summer by a high adventure group. I have never ran so fast in my life. I know that much but we were all so scared the night sleeping in our tents.

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