Story by Shane Jahn

Jill Jahn is an accomplished huntress and usually takes good representatives of the animals she’s hunting. I’m often amazed at how her precision plans seem to work out, as if she’s checking off one of her daily lists of things to do! When she decides she wants a certain animal, she hunts hard, finds a big one, and kills it. A zebra, kudu bull, nyala, a huge-racked wapiti, whatever her heart desires, she gets the job done.

None of this should surprise me. May will mark 30 years of marriage to this lovely lady. I’ve watched her become a mother, a successful businesswoman, and somewhere along the way she blossomed into being quite a hunter plus my best friend. I can only take credit for introducing her to hunting early on when we were dating. The rest has been accomplished by her determination to pursue game in the great outdoors.

Normally we go on hunts together.  Although we have hunted separately in Africa at times, only once has she gone on a hunt by herself. That quest was for a mule deer buck, while I stayed home with our young daughters out of convenience. Jill headed out with a guide on a ranch near Alpine and brought home an ancient, white-faced buck. It was a proud and notable moment for both of us.

Last summer while attending the annual Shootists Holiday held at the National Rifle Association’s Whittington Center Near Raton, New Mexico, that facility auctioned off a bull elk hunt. Normally hunters wait for years for their turn at a chance to hunt a trophy bull there. The auction hunt would negate the wait.

The bidding started and it was soon apparent my wife wanted this elk hunt. I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you I was encouraging her all the way!

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