On a late muzzleloader cow elk hunt, my buddy and I had been trying to chase a small herd all morning in just under two feet of snow but couldn't catch up. (Elk are a lot better at pushing through snow than we were.) My buddy decided to work smarter and not harder by meeting back at the truck and driving around to the opposite side of the long and steep hill they were headed up. We parked and split up. He went right and I went left. It was less than 10 minutes later and all hell broke loose. Just to my right I hear BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. Where the hell did these guys come from? No other trucks nearby, no one else had been on this herd. In the distance I hear my buddy giving some kind words to the other guys for shooting directly towards him. He said he heard the bullets scream over his head. During all the chaos, a cow walked right up to me as I was making my way back towards my buddy. She was between 9 to 11 yards away, facing directly at me. I quickly shouldered my rifle and put one on the center of her chest. Once the smoke cleared, she was piled up around 20 yards away. While notching my tag, I heard something moving fast towards me. I thought it was just going to be my friend but it was 2 guys I'd never seen running towards the road. Wearing camo but no rifles? I was confused. I did find some lead bullets in the hind quarters that were smaller than my .45 cal bullet. Maybe those guys used some sort of pistols? Wasn't legal if they did obviously. Bullet pictures for size comparison.