海角社区

ELY, Nev. — 2020 was my lottery year. Not only did I draw a late rifle bull elk tag out of Ely with zero points, I also drew a PIW Mule Deer tag. Little did I know at the time, the PIW tag was a love-hate relationship.

Long story short, in 2015, I drew a bull elk for area 07. I shot my bull, but someone else tagged it. It left me feeling defeated and wondering how someone could do that to someone else. I ended up not filling my tag that year. Somewhere around this time, NDOW changed the requirements for the eligibility waiting period to apply, but I was grandfathered into the old eligibility waiting period of being able to apply in five open seasons since I did not harvest an animal.

Back to my 2020 bull elk tag. My husband and I pulled our trailer to Ely on opening day. We got up early the next morning to start my hunt. We hunted long and hard. Typically during the late rifle hunt, the animals have been hunted so hard they are more spooky and a lot smarter than early season. The lack of weather didn’t help either. They were hanging out real high and deep in the mountains. These variables made it difficult to hunt. The quality of bulls we were finding was not what I was interested in shooting. They were smaller than average, and the main beam’s mass was small or had broken horns.

We hunted for about five days before deciding to reach out to Mossback Nevada to assist with my hunt. To my surprise, they were available. I hung up the phone with Mossback coming in two days to help me out for a five-day hunt.

Let me tell you, this hunt was brutal. On my last day with Mossback Nevada and my second to last day of the season for my bull elk, my husband woke up that morning telling me, “This is the day. Today, you are going to kill your first Nevada Bull Elk.” If you know me, I am very optimistic.

I laughed and shrugged him off. That morning we had a plan. The spotters were to take position a couple of miles away, and I would climb up to the shooting spot to be ready for anything. It didn’t take long to find Elk on the mountain. It took longer to get the correct view at our shooting spot, with the mountain steepness being a disadvantage.

Corbin was behind the binos, and I was behind the rifle scope. We had Danton and my husband on the radio, spotting. The picture difference between the spotter location and the shooting location was night and day. The spotter location could see the whole body of the elk versus my shooting location, where I could see about a 10-inch square of his front shoulder. I was
comfortable with my shooting window; I told, “Corbin, let’s do it!” I shot. As I was racking in another bullet and trying to find the Elk in my scope, I panicked. I picked up my head and told Corbin I couldn’t find the Elk in my scope. He looked at me and said, “He is down.” These three words meant so much to me. I shot him at 858 yards, DEAD! The hike to him was steep and gnarly. We were fighting daylight at this point. We were rushed to take photos, dress him out, and distribute the weight between the four of us before it was dark. Unfortunately, we were unable to pack him out in the daylight, but what a memory!

What was your favorite snack during the hunt?

Sierra Brewer: We get our animals processed by Shining K Meats out of Fernley, NV. He makes this amazing jalape帽o flavored meat stick that is to die for.

What is your favorite apparel?

Brewer: I have tried many brands of women’s and men’s clothing, and my favorite is Sitka brand. Their women’s cut fits my body perfectly, plus their moisture-wicking, breathable, and light material makes for a very comfortable hunt. It’s expensive but worth it. My favorite accessory during chilly hunts is their Dakota headband. It keeps my ears warm.

What weapon did you use?

Brewer: I used a lightweight, Boring 300 PRC to shoot my Elk.

What general area did you kill your Elk?

Brewer: I shot my elk out of the Ely, NV area.

Did anything funny happen?

Brewer: Nothing really funny happened, but our water and sewer lines in our camper trailer froze even though the heater was on full blast.

This is an unedited user writing submission. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Best Version Media or its employees.