Bagging the big bull

Cheyenne Moore knew the elk was big, but she didn't know how big.

"My hands were shaking and I could hardly stand up because my legs were shaking," said the 13-year-old from Kalispell. "I haven't been around elk that much so I wasn't sure what I had."

But her dad, Mike Moore, had a good idea as they approached the downed elk.

"I said to Cheyenne, 'You do not know what you have just done. You have just shot a monster bull elk," he recalls of the Nov. 23 hunt. "It is probably the biggest bull elk ever to be killed by a youth hunter, under the age of 16."

And now, Mike Moore believes the animal's 7-by-7 rack will rank as one of the largest ever taken by any hunter in Montana.

The antlers were scored under Safari Club International guidelines last week, coming up with a whopping 401 3/4, without deductions. The scoring formula accounts for combined antler dimensions, including 51-inch main beams, a 47-inch inside width and combined tine lengths.

By comparison, the world-record elk antlers have a 447 score.

After a 60-day drying period, the antlers will be scored under Boone & Crockett guidelines.

"He's going to be in the top 10 ever killed in Montana," Mike Moore proudly predicts.

Serendipity was with Cheyenne Moore even before the 2007 hunting season, starting with a drawing for special permits.

Out of more than 1,800 applicants, the Kalispell Middle

School eighth-grader was one of the lucky 200 to be drawn for either-sex permits in District 700, which skirts the southern Missouri Breaks.

The country is timbered, but more open than Western Montana mountains. It is known for its coulees and canyons that provide security for elk to survive and grow. Drawing a permit for elk in the district is akin to drawing a moose permit in Western Montana.

Mike Moore has applied - without success - for a District 700 elk permit for the last 29 years.

"I was putting in for 16 years before (Cheyenne) was even born, and I've never drawn one," he said, adding that he and his daughter met three Eastern Montana hunters who have tried for 43, 36 and 46 years, respectively, to draw permits in the district.

The season started with an early trip to the Breaks that could have produced a nice bull elk.

"I got her onto a 6-by-6 that would have scored 310 to 320," Moore said. "She just said, 'Dad, I'll pass. I'll wait.'"

Patience, plus a long Thanksgiving Day drive back to District 700, paid off.

Cheyenne said she was hunting with her dad and one of his friends, a Missouri Breaks rancher, when she first spotted the big elk as they walked a ridgeline. The bull was about 400 yards away on the opposing slope, prompting the hunting party to take a circuitous route to get on the ridge above the bull.

Hiking ahead of Cheyenne, Mike got a look at the bull in a bowl and was surprised to see that it was accompanied by another large bull. Cheyenne caught up just in time to see the big bull trotting out of sight over a rise. The other bull was moving off in a different direction.

She didn't have time to shoot.

But within minutes, the big bull circled back into the bowl below Cheyenne.

He stopped at about 150 yards away, Cheyenne recalls. But then the bull took off running, with Mike shouting at his daughter to shoot.

"He was on a full run when I shot at him," Cheyenne said. It was a gut shot that slowed the bull down enough for her to unleash another round that struck the bull in the back, causing him to collapse.

With her dad coaching her, Cheyenne went to a prone position, set up her .280 caliber rifle on its bipod and made a careful kill shot.

The bull was more impressive up close.

"We were just in awe over him," Mike Moore recalled.

The hunting party was able to get a pickup truck down an old prairie road, close enough to load the animal whole. Mike estimates the bull weighed close to 1,000 pounds.

In processing the elk, Mike uncovered a broadhead and part of an arrow shaft buried in scar tissue. He guesses the bull was around 15 years old, based on the poor condition of its teeth.

Cheyenne's family - even her older brother, J.R. - are impressed with her performance in the field.

"I'm pretty proud of her," he said. "She's a good shot. At 100 yards, she can shoot three bullets in a pattern that I can put my thumb over."

"She wanted to make a good shot to make her dad proud," said Cheyenne's mother, Kendra.

Mike said his daughter drew the permit, waited for the right elk, was the first to spot it and she took it down.

"It was meant to be," he said.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com