My Car and an Elk

Usually a herd of elk will find its way into the Bitterroot Valley and hang for a while in the Stevensville to Hamilton area. And early  yesterday a bunch of them found themselves on Highway 93 a couple miles south of Stevi. With the dear fencing up on that stretch, they were having a hard time trying to figure out where to go and panic obviously set in.

As I was northbound I could see a lot of flashing lights from patrol cars. So I started to slow down. I'm seeing vehicles pulled over, big blood stain on the road...just enough distraction to pull my eyes from the road in front of me, just long enough not to see the adult cow elk come up out of the ditch and start to cross the highway. Because I could see all the emergency vehicles I had slowed down to about 45.  As it came from my right to left, I slammed the breaks, swerved slightly, but it wasn't enough to avoid catching a hind leg. It didn't go down and even though it was a "knick" it was an elk...so I pulled over and got out of my car expecting the worst....not a scratch or a ding. Shaken but unstirred I continued on...guess I was being watched over.