It’s nearly 7 a.m. and the cold New Mexico night is giving way to a warm morning.

It will be scorching hot soon and Ty Misitis, 13, and his father, John, are on a hunt.

And it’s not just any hunt.

Across a canyon, Ty spots a bull elk.

The shot will be from 344 yards away — not an easy one by any stretch of the imagination.

But Ty, who finds himself in an arid climate far away from the woods near his home in Penn Township, checks his breathing, trains his sights on the bull elk and fires.

“He hit it right in the bread basket,” John said. “He hit it right on the money. It’s the most ethical way. It was a heck of a shot from three-and-a-half football fields away for anyone, let alone a 13-year-old.”

Just getting to New Mexico was improbable for Ty, who entered a contest at Cabela’s and had his tag chosen from hundreds of thousands of entries.

Ty was one of just 35 youths from around the country to be chosen for the five-day guided elk hunt in rural New Mexico.

Ty found out he was going in the spring and used the four months to hone his hunting skills.

It came in handy, he said.

Ty and his father arrived in New Mexico Oct. 9 and were out hunting from Oct. 10-14.

Ty bagged his elk on Oct. 13.

They stayed in tents and walked as far as 18 miles a day on the hunt near Cloutcroft and Weed, N.M.

John has hunted in New Mexico several times and has bagged his own elk. He said nothing compares to the first harvest.

“It’s Ty’s first and he’s still very excited about it,” John said. “It was quite the moment for him.”

And Ty took time to pay homage to the fallen elk.

“I put my hand on his mane and thanked him,” Ty said. “I said a prayer to the hunting gods and thanked them, too.”

Ty intends on hanging the shoulder mount of his elk in his home.

Hunting is a part of life for the family.

John has been to Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Nevada and Arizona on hunts and tries to get out west once a year.

“I love hunting and (Pennsylvania) has a great population of animals like bear and turkey and small game,” John said. “It’s a big tradition in our family and I like to get out west. I’m a big archery hunter. I chase with stick and string. It’s a passion for us.”