—
With her pack on the ground, she unclasped it as quietly as she could and reached for Kenny’s gun, a .357 revolver, which she’d stored in one of the inside pockets. She switched off the gun’s safety and stepped around the rock. The elk lay about thirty feet in front of her. Though he was still alive, he did not flinch. With the gun held in front of her and aimed at the elk’s head, she stepped closer to him so that she could be sure of making an accurate shot. Within ten feet of the elk, she fired the gun. The bullet struck just below the right eye. The elk’s head and body jerked, and then he was still. Amy Raye slowly dropped the gun to her side. She retrieved her pack from behind the rock and rummaged inside it for her rope, hunting knife, and bone saw. She’d have to dress the elk and bag the quarters before going back for help. She was too far out from the vehicle. Even in forty-degree weather, the elk’s own body temperature would spoil the meat, and she knew the animal’s muscles could generate heat for a couple more hours.
The rain had continued to fall and was now turning to sleet. Amy Raye could not remember having ever been this wet and cold. And she could not tell how much time had passed or how late in the day it was. There were no more shadows, just a steel-gray sky and rain that was turning colder.
Her gloves, soaked through and muddy, had become a hindrance, so she removed them and placed them in her pack. Then she tied long sections of rope just above the hooves of each of the elk’s legs. She took hold of the ropes that were knotted around the left-side legs and pulled until she was able to roll the animal onto his back. She tied the other end of each rope to nearby trees, to keep the elk’s legs apart.
With her eight-inch hunting knife, she made a clean incision just above the anus and clear up to the elk’s neck. Then she pulled the hide aside and inserted her knife below the sternum. She cut through hide and muscle down to the penis, careful not to puncture the gut. Next she cut around the penis, though she left the scrotum intact for when she would turn in her tag. Using her bone saw, she cut through the sternum, and when she was done, she set the saw aside. Soaked in the elk’s warm blood and the freezing rain, Amy Raye knelt beside the large animal, and in that moment she was certain she could feel his spirit clinging to the air like the cold breath of dew.
With both hands and several attempts, she pried apart the elk’s rib cage. The steam from the elk’s organs warmed her hands, and she hesitated for almost a half minute to enjoy the relief. Again she picked up her knife. She cut around the diaphragm, cut the windpipe, and began pulling everything down, separating the organs from the wall of the cavity.
Despite her shivering, she was able to remove the organs without snagging or puncturing them. She tossed the steamy guts aside. If the weather hadn’t been so bad and she’d had more time, she would have deboned the quarters to eliminate some of the weight. But she was losing light. She wondered if there was a square inch of dry clothing on her. Instead, she’d strap one of the elk’s shoulders to the top of her pack and set the other quarters a good fifty yards away and in a depression where the cold air would pool and the meat scent would disperse. With the meat set aside, scavengers would more likely be drawn to the smell of the carcass and the offal. Once she returned to camp, she’d dress in dry clothes. She’d put new batteries in her headlamp. Kenny and Aaron would have their headlamps as well, and they’d each have their packing frames. This wouldn’t be the first time they’d hauled an animal out at night. She thought about the heat running full blast in the cab of the truck, thought about the other sandwich Kenny had prepared and how good it would taste.
She cut out the elk’s liver and heart and placed them in the gallon-size plastic bag she’d brought. She didn’t care for the taste of these organs, but her grandfather had taught her not to let anything go to waste.