A Colorado family is lucky to be alive after a close call with an elk. The elk attacked the family’s car while they were visiting Elk Herds.
However, it is fair to say that Matt Dixon knows what he’s doing around wildlife.
"I hunt about 30 days a year," said Matt.
He has the trophies in his living room to prove it.
"I usually get one every year," Matt said about elk, his favorite game.
However, this year the elk got him. Matt described the encounter.
"He came from up here and he just started charging at us and he came …. Just BOOM! And his horns went in right here," he said.
Their son Cameron and his sister were in the backseat. The family went to a local park to learn about the animals.
"We were trying to keep our distance you know we don`t want to teach the kids like oh you go up to them and take pictures. They`re wild animals," he explained.
The animals are also totally unpredictable as the family witnessed first hand. They say that the elk started about 40 yards up the road.
"He looked like he was just gonna cross it, but instead he went (crash!)," Cameron explained.
The elk ripped off the side view mirror and pierced a hole in the driver’s seat.
"This car might be trashed," said Cameron. But, luckily, no one was hurt. The family says, they can laugh about the whole thing now, knowing this could have ended a lot worse.
"It could have easily hurt somebody seriously or killed somebody," said Matt.
Now the family has a different kind of trophy which serves as a reminder of how lucky they were.
"He just didn’t hit as hard as he could. Not as hard as he could but he sure did hit hard," said Cameron.
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