utah400elk
Well-known member
Sorry this might be a little long. I have had one life long hunting buddy. We met on an ill fated fly fishing trip in Utah on the Provo river in winter. We were both attending University of Utah and a mutual friend brought us together. He was annoying as hell and dropped his reel into the water during the winter fishing. When we got into the car his real was a solid block of ice. Like any true friend, he can be as annoying as hell. He is probably the smartest man I have ever met and a true MENSA member. He can be socially ackward and sometimes dosent even know that he is being rude.
We have been hunting together for over 35 years and was the best man in both my weddings. Our sons are almost the same age and are thick as thieves as well.
I was remembering a hunt today that really made me think of all our times hunting together.
We were helping a mutual friend on a San Juan Elk Ridge archery elk hunt in Utah. We had ridden quads for more than 20 miles to get to our starting point. We’re were in the canyons that are just right of the “rock pile” (for those that know the San Juan unit). It was one of those miserable hunts were we started above 10k and hiked down chasing elk. We never got it done but we’re into elk all morning. We were about to start a brutal hike back out and had just shed several layers before our hike. I told everybody to make sure they had all their gear because we were in a hole and nobody wanted to hike back down for a piece of gear. I bet several people can already guess that somebody forgot something.
It was a miserable hour long hike out straight up the spine of a finger ridge. We were 25 yards from the top and my buddy somehow realized that he forgot his favorite vest at the bottom. I reminded him that I actually cautioned him to grab all his gear. He decided that he was going to “run back down” and grab his favorite vest. We waited at the top. As we were waiting (about a hour and a half) a serious dark cloud rolled over the peaks to the north west. My friend with the tag waited until my buddy was within eyesight 200-300 yards away. He decided to race back to camp to try and avoid the impending down pour.
I stayed to wait for my buddy. I was clearly going to get soaked but…I was not going to leave him. The last 200-300 yards took him 20 mins. He was spent after the double hike. Just about the time he got to the top it started to sprinkle. We were going to have a 20 mile quad ride in the rain. By the time we hit the main road it was coming down hard. I was being stubborn and at first refused to put on rain gear. Now soaked, we stopped and put in the rain gear.
His happy ass said “well at least it can’t get worse!” Just as he said that the rain turned to hail. We didn’t have helmets or goggles. (This was over 25 years ago so I didn’t think I needed a helmet or goggles). The hail was pelting us and it started pilling up. We had to go across a open ridge by the twin peaks (again for those that know the area). The hail had accumulated to about 5 inches and it was miserable, I had welts all over my legs, chest, face from the hail. My buddy then said “ well, at least the worst is behind us!” As he said that, lightning started hitting all around us. The hair on my arms was standing up. There was 5 plus inches of driving hail on the road and we had a lightning strike less than 200 yards from the quads. We didn’t have a choice. We hopped off the quads and dashed into the trees. We ran down hill a couple hundred yards and hunkered down under a small pine.
We were stuck in an extreme lightning and hail storm, soaked to the bone. We had lightning striking all around us. I vividly remember looking all around and being convinced we were not going to make it. It was surreal, I was not upset at all. I simply thought to myself that if there was ever a person I would go through this with or for, it was my friend Randy. He kept trying to apologize. I said there was no need.
Needless to say, by some miracle we made it through. Still probably my scariest outdoor expirience. Once the storm passed we got back on the quads and drove the rest of the way to camp. The tag holder had not done much better than us. He was convinced we had been killed on the exposed ridge.
The worst part. He never found his vest. He was so upset about his vest, that I gave him mine.
He has had a terrible year. As we are both north of 50, he is pushing 60, he has has a very tough year. He lost both his parents this year, his uncle and his brother in law is not looking good. He is going through some medical issues and is really worried after his tough year.
This is just simple reminder, cherish you friends. I would still go through a lightning and hail storm for him. However, now I would simply do that in a truck or SUV (we live and learn). I would drop everything to help him. Hunting buddies like him are hard to find and count yourselves lucky if you have one in you life.
We have been hunting together for over 35 years and was the best man in both my weddings. Our sons are almost the same age and are thick as thieves as well.
I was remembering a hunt today that really made me think of all our times hunting together.
We were helping a mutual friend on a San Juan Elk Ridge archery elk hunt in Utah. We had ridden quads for more than 20 miles to get to our starting point. We’re were in the canyons that are just right of the “rock pile” (for those that know the San Juan unit). It was one of those miserable hunts were we started above 10k and hiked down chasing elk. We never got it done but we’re into elk all morning. We were about to start a brutal hike back out and had just shed several layers before our hike. I told everybody to make sure they had all their gear because we were in a hole and nobody wanted to hike back down for a piece of gear. I bet several people can already guess that somebody forgot something.
It was a miserable hour long hike out straight up the spine of a finger ridge. We were 25 yards from the top and my buddy somehow realized that he forgot his favorite vest at the bottom. I reminded him that I actually cautioned him to grab all his gear. He decided that he was going to “run back down” and grab his favorite vest. We waited at the top. As we were waiting (about a hour and a half) a serious dark cloud rolled over the peaks to the north west. My friend with the tag waited until my buddy was within eyesight 200-300 yards away. He decided to race back to camp to try and avoid the impending down pour.
I stayed to wait for my buddy. I was clearly going to get soaked but…I was not going to leave him. The last 200-300 yards took him 20 mins. He was spent after the double hike. Just about the time he got to the top it started to sprinkle. We were going to have a 20 mile quad ride in the rain. By the time we hit the main road it was coming down hard. I was being stubborn and at first refused to put on rain gear. Now soaked, we stopped and put in the rain gear.
His happy ass said “well at least it can’t get worse!” Just as he said that the rain turned to hail. We didn’t have helmets or goggles. (This was over 25 years ago so I didn’t think I needed a helmet or goggles). The hail was pelting us and it started pilling up. We had to go across a open ridge by the twin peaks (again for those that know the area). The hail had accumulated to about 5 inches and it was miserable, I had welts all over my legs, chest, face from the hail. My buddy then said “ well, at least the worst is behind us!” As he said that, lightning started hitting all around us. The hair on my arms was standing up. There was 5 plus inches of driving hail on the road and we had a lightning strike less than 200 yards from the quads. We didn’t have a choice. We hopped off the quads and dashed into the trees. We ran down hill a couple hundred yards and hunkered down under a small pine.
We were stuck in an extreme lightning and hail storm, soaked to the bone. We had lightning striking all around us. I vividly remember looking all around and being convinced we were not going to make it. It was surreal, I was not upset at all. I simply thought to myself that if there was ever a person I would go through this with or for, it was my friend Randy. He kept trying to apologize. I said there was no need.
Needless to say, by some miracle we made it through. Still probably my scariest outdoor expirience. Once the storm passed we got back on the quads and drove the rest of the way to camp. The tag holder had not done much better than us. He was convinced we had been killed on the exposed ridge.
The worst part. He never found his vest. He was so upset about his vest, that I gave him mine.
He has had a terrible year. As we are both north of 50, he is pushing 60, he has has a very tough year. He lost both his parents this year, his uncle and his brother in law is not looking good. He is going through some medical issues and is really worried after his tough year.
This is just simple reminder, cherish you friends. I would still go through a lightning and hail storm for him. However, now I would simply do that in a truck or SUV (we live and learn). I would drop everything to help him. Hunting buddies like him are hard to find and count yourselves lucky if you have one in you life.
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