Using her new crossbow, a Powell grandmother took down a massive bull last week. It was her once in a lifetime chance to harvest a moose. Starla Craig didn’t waste time; with 12 active grandchildren and a long list of volunteer work on her schedule, there isn’t a lot of time to waste.

Craig has been teaching 4-H kids to shoot for the past four decades. She’s the first instructor many local kids have. She teaches air rifle and pistol skills, often the first guns kids as young as 8 will handle. Now, with so many years of leadership under her belt, she may have earned some street cred with kids that, even at young ages, often tower over the 5-foot-10-inch para educator at Powell Middle School.

“I had to practice what I preach with the shooting, yeah, so I went out and used my practice,” Craig said.

Drawing one of eight tags in her Bighorn Mountains hunt area, Craig immediately started practicing with the crossbow, first used in Asia and Europe as early as the fifth century B.C. At the same time she started making scouting trips to the mountain range. Craig and husband Lee have a cabin in the Beartooths, so they didn’t have a lot of experience in the highly sought after limited quota lottery draw area known for abundant moose.

Craig traded in her years of preference points for the chance of a lifetime. A local game warden suggested she try putting in for the area due to the lower odds in hunt areas for which they had a bunch of experience. It worked.

“The chances of me drawing in our area with 29 preference points was 34% chance. The area I put in for with 29 preference points was 100% chance of drawing,” she said.

So, at the young age of 61 (her 62nd birthday is Sept. 10) the Craigs went to a foreign place with a foreign weapon and scored enough meat for the freezer to help feed the huge family, as well as a new shoulder mount for their home.

Harvesting a moose — or any big game animal — is never a given, but moose hunters in the Cowboy State have a high rate of success, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. While harvest success has remained consistent, tag allocations vary, and the odds of drawing a bull or an any-moose tag are pretty slim.

Craig had a bigger bull in her sight on Monday. However, when that bull was taken by another hunter, she got over it and went out the following day with the same resolve as opening day.

“I thought about the lessons I teach while I was up there. I was like, ‘OK, stay steady. Take a deep breath.’ Just what I teach my kids to do. Stay on your target, concentrate, and just be calm,” she said. “But afterwards I wasn’t calm. I was shaking.”

From about 30 yards, her shot was perfect — hitting the big-bodied moose behind the shoulder. Lee was right by her side to assist, letting her know that it was a perfect shot with the bolt passing all the way through the animal.

It wasn’t the first time Starla has had a once-in-a-lifetime tag, sort of. She drew a bighorn sheep tag in 2000, but back then it wasn’t a one-and-done hunt. Interestingly, her friend and co-volunteer at 4-H, Brad Erickson, ended his once-in-a-lifetime sheep hunt on Tuesday as well, taking a beautiful ram.

Erickson’s hunt happened near Wood River, an 8-10-mile horse ride from the trailhead and another 2-mile hike to the peaks about 1,500-vertical-feet above where they left the horses. The 54-year-old was thrilled to harvest the ram after spending about 15 days scouting the mountainous area and months getting into shape for the climb.

Erickson volunteers to teach .22 caliber and black powder shooting. While he’ll never forget his successful sheep hunt, he said he finds teaching just as rewarding.

“The best thing is when the students get that smile on their face when they realize they can do it. Maybe they can’t throw a ball or shoot a basket, but they can hunt. Watching them learn is the best feeling,” he said.

He has volunteered with the 4-H for the past 20 years and is a big fan of Craig, who has also taught sewing and gymnastics for the past 40 years.

“She’s the face of 4-H in Park County,” he said.

Teaching comes naturally for Craig. Both of her parents and brother are teachers.

“It runs in the family,” she said.

Craig has five children; three daughters and two sons. There has always been opportunities to teach — now it’s her grandchildren’s turn to learn from her. Several of her grandchildren have won state championships in shooting and uncountable other Park County Fair awards, including in the summer event’s fashion show where contestants show off their sewing prowess.

Craig’s grandchildren Russell and Rowdee Goolsbey are both 2024 Park County and State Fair fashion show champions (where they show off their own sewing projects) and Rhett has been a reserve champion at both summer events.

Craig hasn’t even mentioned retiring from her duties at 4-H despite her four decades of service. Now she gets a kick out of seeing her former students now returning to the classroom to bring their own children to compete, she said.

Meanwhile, Craig is probably trying to come up with a fair trade with Erickson; she’ll offer some moose meat for some bighorn sheep.

“My favorite is bighorn sheep,” she said. “Oh, it’s the best!”