The following is the story of Natalie O'Shaughnessy's Elk Hunt this past Thanksgiving in the National Elk Refuge just outside of Jackson, Wyoming as told by her father, Jim O'Shaughnessy.

Most importantly Natalie would like to thank the following people and entities that made her dream of shooting 2 fantastic cow elk and the biggest bull she could ever imagine come true:

  • Dr. Lance Cohen, PRIME Ammunition, Board Of Directors
  • Master Guide Mr. Matt Harbach of Salt River Range Outfitters www.saltriverrangeoutfitters.com
  • Wyoming Fish & Game
  • Wyoming Fish & Game Warden Kyle Lash
  • US Fish & Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior
  • US Fish & Wildlife Service Warden Brian Yetter
  • Mr. Harbach's assistant Mr. Brock Dunn
  • "Wreck-It Ralph" Mr. Ralph Greene from Tag & Drag www.tagndrag.com
  • Swarovski Optik www.swarovskioptik.com
  • Mr. Tom McKenna of Swarovski Optik
  • Mr. George Gardner of GA Precision www.gaprecision.net
  • Mr. Bobby West of CGS www.cgsgroup.com
  • Mr. Brendan Burns of Kuiu www.kuiu.com
  • Mr. Michael Haenel of RRS/SOAR soar.reallyrightstuff.com
  • Mr. Nick Phillips and Mr. Nick Scafidi of Sweet Cheeks www.sweetcheeksmeats.com
  • Mr. Chris of A1 Auto a1autojh.com

This hunt all started with Natalie's "Uncle Lance" discovering that this very special opportunity existed for youth hunters and then helping her navigate the Wyoming elk draw many months before the hunt. Dr. Cohen was expertly assisted by the local Wyoming Fish & Game Warden, Kyle Lash. With a ton of help from some very nice people, more good luck that can be explained, Wyoming's great focus of providing as much hunting opportunity as possible, and the U.S. Federal Government's very effective efforts to promote hunting to the Nations's youngsters, Natalie drew a "youth only" chance to harvest 2 cows and a bull. The cliche "chance of a lifetime" literally came true for her in ways we all were certainly dreaming about but no one could have expected.

One of the very best aspects of Nat's hunt is that she was able to invite Uncle Lance to join us and likely would not have gone without him. To say that it was great to be able to share these experiences with him, especially after everything he did to make it happen is a massive understatement. There is just no way this would have happened for Natalie without Dr. Cohen's significant efforts.

Nat, as her friends call her, was fortunate enough to book Master Guide Matt Harbach, the owner of Salt River Range Outfitters (www.saltriverrangeoutfitters.com) as her guide through Mr. Harbach's partnership with Tag & Drag Outfitters (www.tagndrag.com). Mr. Harbach sat down with Natalie before the hunt, told her to call him Matt, and asked her what her goals were for this unique opportunity. Natalie told Matt she wanted to shoot at least one cow as elk is her favorite meat. When the discussion turned to a bull Nat was ready with the answer she had thought about for many months: "Because of where this hunt is - a minimum of 350 inches and good mass, I don't want a spindly bull no matter how well it would score." Matt told her that the only way to shoot a great bull is to not shoot a big bull and asked if she was prepared to pass up good bulls in order to shoot a truly great bull. Natalie confirmed that was the case, Matt said that he took her seriously and we went back to our hotel for the typical restless night before a hunt's first day...

We started off early on horseback under the stars the next morning (Thanksgiving day) for what would be the first of three very exciting days. Matt and his assistant Brock Dunn had Natalie on elk right away and we spent the morning trotting up and down big hills hustling to get into position after position in an attempt to be ready to catch a group of elk in order to get a shot. At about 10 am Natalie had her first chance on a very nice, very heavy bull...it was at least 350 inches and had the mass she was looking for. We dismounted and got Natalie's rifle set up on the RRS tripod from S.O.A.R. (https://soar.reallyrightstuff.com). This was a bull Natalie would have been thrilled to take but just as she was about to shoot, another (unseen) hunter took a shot and missed, scaring the bull off for good. We regrouped and headed to look for a nice cow.

After a short break around lunchtime, Matt got Natalie on a group of cows. This is a perfect time to mention that Tom McKenna of Swarovski Optik made sure Natalie had a dS 5-25x52 P scope for her hunt. (https://www.swarovskioptik.com/us/en/hunting/products/rifle-scopes/ds) This scope is a true game-changing optic for just about any hunt and especially so for fast-paced, rapid decision making hunts.

Although Natalie trained with it for over a month before her hunt becoming very proficient with this scope, on her first cow she replicated a mistake she had only made once while training. The targeting system in the dS uses an LCD type "hold over" projected aiming point based on the firing solution calculated during the scope's ranging operation. There is a finely etched reticle that remains in the scope at all times and is the reference point for sighting in the system and the y axis also provides the hold point for the distance and wind bars in a bright red "neon sign".

With the excitement and stress of shooting her first cow, Natalie mistakenly held the etched crosshairs on the cow instead of holding over by putting the projected aiming point on the target and shot just under the cow at 350 yards.  I've included a screenshot from the Swarovski website to illustrate what I'm trying to depict.  Natalie quickly realized her mistake, corrected to use the aiming solution calculated by the scope, and took her first cow with a single shot from the GA Precision 6.5 SAUM 4s. She did not make this mistake again.

Matt and his team made very fast work of getting the cow to the butcher quickly. Natalie was ecstatic to have taken her very first elk. The two Nick's of Sweet Cheeks made highly skilled, custom butchering look easy (which it is not) and could not have treated us any better.  They truly "get it" when it comes to being contributing members of a community focused on healthy living through knowing where your food comes from.  Visions of tomahawk elk chops danced in our heads and Natalie was on cloud 9! We hiked and glassed for some bulls and then ran out of daylight before Matt & Brock could get Nat on another stalk.

A quick note here on Natalie's clothing...all Kuiu (www.kuiu.com), we had temperatures from -9 to 34.  The layered system from Kuiu (both wool and down products) delivered a warm, dry, and safe hunt for her.  We always liked and respected Kuiu, but when their, at the time, new co-CEO walked up to us in an airport (we were on our way to a different elk hunt a couple of years ago) and struck up a friendly conversation with us; as Natalie was head to toe in Kuiu gear, we knew the company was something quite special.  Put it this way, my business partner and I have enough trust in Kuiu to put our children in it and it has never even come close to failing from Alaska to Wyoming to Colorado.

The second day of Natalie's hunt had several very memorable moments we'll never forget, including:

  • Seeing bighorn sheep close up
  • Stalking bulls in a large herd of elk
  • Natalie passing on a 350-inch bull that didn't have the mass she was looking for
  • Our hunting party, working with US Federal Game Warden Brian Yetter who kindly brought us a tow strap strong enough to pull her out, saved this cow elk that was hopelessly stuck in a mud pit from a certain and hideous death:

At the end of day two, we scouted an area that we wanted to hunt in the morning on the final day of Natalie's hunt. Everything looked good with plenty of nice bulls Matt thought could be in a position for an early morning stalk. Back to the hotel for one more restless night, dreaming of giant bulls.

Day three found us once again on horseback, crossing a river before daybreak and hiking up a hill and into position. Sure enough, there were some very nice bulls within range and after a small adjustment to our position, Matt had Natalie on her bull. We waited a couple of minutes for legal shooting time...yes, they seemed like hours. As soon as it was legal to shoot, Natalie sent the first of several shots that went 331 yards and all did their job on what is very likely the biggest bull she will ever know.  By the way, hunting with a hearing safe suppressor is magical and Bobby West at CGS (www.cgsgroup.com) makes the best in the business, we are beyond fortunate to know him and his dedicated team. 

As Natalie, Matt, Brock, Lance and I made our way to the fallen bull (the very bull Natalie would quickly name "Matt" in honor of our guide) we literally couldn't believe our eyes...We experienced the glorious delight of "reverse ground shrinkage" - every hunter's dream come true. None of us truly understood what we had been looking at through the optics only a short few minutes ago and that really hit home as we walked up on "Matt". Intense emotions of gratitude and disbelief began spilling out of everyone...unless you've experienced it first hand, it's very hard to explain. As a parent, it is wonderful to see your child work hard for something, achieve it, then have your child both sincerely appreciate it and be truly happy, there is nothing better.

As all the people on Matt and Ralph's team made their way to us and took in the scene, they all said the same thing: "That is the biggest bull I have ever seen, in person on the ground."  None of us could believe it.  After about an hour of photos and taking in what for most any "mere mortal hunter" is the experience of two lifetimes, Natalie made sure we did a group photo of everyone who had helped make a distant dream into a reality that will likely take years to fully sink in.

After getting "Matt the bull" into the butcher and scoring his antlers, which produced a mind-popping, unofficial, green, and gross score that none of us even dared to guess (we all guessed low) we took a break and enjoyed a very nice lunch.

After lunch, we headed back out on horseback to fill Natalie's final cow tag. The weather was as perfect as perfect gets - the scenery indescribably beautiful. It was, beyond a doubt, one of the most intensely wonderful afternoons of my life. Before we knew it, Matt spotted a cow, Natalie set up, and with one well-placed shot at 283 yards, she harvested one more magnificent cow.

The ride back to the horse trailers was surreal. Thinking about all the things that had just happened in the last 2 1/2 days combined with being in arguably the most stunning place in America with the person that means the most to you in this world is a feeling I hope everyone gets to experience at least once in their lifetime. Like all things truly wonderful, it was over way too soon.

I think it fitting to conclude this recounting of Natalie's hunt of a lifetime with a quote from our guide, he very much earned the last word:

"Tyler Thomas was the one helping spot that morning.  He is one of my top hands and is usually there for me.  Brock Dunn was my helper for Natalie's hunt.  Ian Spotts and Ralph Greene came up to help retrieve and to marvel. Not in the picture but another team member that was there earlier is Mitchell Hurtinga. I may have guided to the biggest bull this year but you know as well as I do that it takes the whole team to make it work." Well said Matt, well said!