We have all had close calls of one sort or another while on our hunts. What are some of yours? Maybe a close call with wildlife, the elements or transportation to your hunting area. Would love to hear some of your tales...
Bill
Posts: 98 | Location: Tennessee | Registered: June 30, 2006
OK, I'll go first...Years ago I was hunting 14C in AK (I was a resident then). I hiked in from the Girdwood side over Crow Pass. I had two choices to get into the drainage I wanted to hunt. The first was a long sidehill trek about two miles. I had done it before and it was a real killer. The second choice was to stay on the main trail a little longer and then take an old rockslide straight up and break out on top. I chose that one. I climbed up that rockslide for an hour or so and eventually started into a narrow chute. I thought I could make it over the top, but could not. I had been climbing in a real tight spot with very little to grip and of course I had a full pack as well. My dog (a Black Lab) was with me and had his little pack with dog food and a few light weight extras. He did a real good job of following me in the mountains and never caused any problems.
Well, when I hit a dead end there in the chute, I could not get out on either side. My only choice was to go back down about 100'. That was easier said than done. With my full pack hitting the side walls of the chute, I was unable to turn around. I had to back my way down with very little to hold onto. One slip and I would have been in bad shape. I made my dog stay at the point where I began my retreat and worked my way down slowly...sweating as if it were 100 degrees out when it was probably in the high 40's or low 50's.
Anyway, when I fianlly got down to a place where I could take off my pack and catch my breath, I looked up and my dog was still sitting where I left him. I called him to me and he started running straight down the mountain to me. He kept building up speed and when he went by me, he was just a blur! He could not stop and went by by and out of sight down the mountain! I thought for sure I had just lost the best dog I ever had. I sat there for a few minutes and was getting ready to go look for what was left of my dog when he came chugging back up the mountain with his toungue hanging out! He had cuts on his feet from trying to stop on those rocks, but nothing too serious. We were able to find a way around that chute and into the drainage and ending up having a great time...but that sure was a frightening moment for me. I could have killed myself in that rockslide or my dog. That was many years ago, hopefully I'm a little wiser for the experience. I sure do miss that dog though, he was a good one.
OK, lets hear some of yours. There is a lot of experience on this forum, share some of your tales...Bill
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Huntinman,
Posts: 98 | Location: Tennessee | Registered: June 30, 2006
In the early 70s I was hunting in Andy Russells stomping grounds.Andy was a old time hunting guide and author. Horns in the High Country.Frank a Park Warden had told me about seeing a ram in a upper basin out of the Park a couple of weeks earlier.The area could be described as rough and tough.But a lead was a lead even if the trail was cold.So my brother and I set out to track this ram down.We seperated telling each other where we were going.Just about as I was going to leave to our prearranged meeting spot I spoted the Ram In fact there were 2.There were about 2 hours of daylight left a just befoe dark I shot the largest Ram. After quickly field dressing the Ram I left to join my brother. In the dark I decended to high on the mountain and ended up on some steep cliff bands.I was almost off the mountain except I had a 100 foot cliff below me and cliffs above me.I could see below but visabity to left or right was restricted.The ledge I was on was perhaps 6 inches at its widest point and when daylight broke visability up right left was no better.I could Climb up but that could put me in a worse position.You climb up where you may not be able to come down and if I went up it was less likly I would be spotted by my brother.About 10am my brother spotted me and directed me to a location where the cliff narrowed to about 40 feet. I had a 50 foot nylon cord with and was able to secure the rope and get off the cliff.It was the end of october and I have never been that cold ever.Rubbing your arms and legs to stay warm is no fun.Never again would I take a chance on cliffs in the dark.Had I climbed up even in the daylight I might still be on the the cliffs for going up was not the solution.I am thankful I was not hunting alone and my partner knew where I went and went looking for me the next day.HAVE RESPECT FOR CLIFFS AND TAKE NO CHANCES.No sheep is worth risking serious injury and it is best to hunt with caution so you can hunt another day. That is hard for a gun ho teenager to comprehend which I was at the time but it was a lesson which Stayed with me and I have never taken a chance with a Cliff again. Once bitten twice SHY.Yes we retrieved the rsm and it was a good one but that is another story.
Hunting in BC, my guide and I were setting up camp in a small meadow at dusk. My guide went to get wood at the edge of the meadow just yards away, glanced up an say a Grizzly charging down the side of the mountain straight toward us. He yelled, ran toward me, I had my rifle close, picked it up and remember asking if it was a Black or Grizz. I heard Grizzly as he pointed to the meadow edge where the bear had to pass through some trees to enter the meadow. I had not seen him to this point, my guide was pointing to where he would come out of the trees onto the meadow. I saw him as he had to slow down and come around a big spruce tree. When he was still angled I put one bullett through his shoulder and remember the flame coming out of the rifle as it was nearly dark. It all happened so fast there was not time to experience fear. Afterward we knew what would have happened if my guide had not been walking the right direction and looked up.
In 2004, my partner and I splurged on a moose hunt in the very northwest corner of Alberta. Upon arriving at our schedule departure point for the jetboat ride in, we found out that we would be flown in. Arriving in camp, the first thing we did was go down river to help right the flipped over jetboat. The next day, within minutes of leaving camp, the guied flipped us at the same exact spot, breaking my leg (I didn't know it at the time), bones in my face, and other assorted trauma. Even worse, my partner ended up with two broken vertabre. Being it was our first real outfitted hunt, my partner came back into camp after medivac and a short hospital stay. We fixed the boat with a rock, JB Weld and a prayer. I then operated the boat, but the guide forgot to put gas in it and we ran out of gas 10 miles downriver. That is when I found out my leg was broken and my partner was probably the toughest man I will ever hunt with. We walked all the way back to camp, and he did it with two broken vertabre. Also found out APOS is a self-serving organization not worth the paper its charter is written on.
Posts: 4 | Location: Wyoming | Registered: December 22, 2007
Huntinman: the Grizzly was a dry sow, she was in good condition and just mad we were in her territory. With an attitude like hers no wonder she did not find a mate. As I mentioned it all happened so fast it seemed like a blur I did not feel fear but right after and for a while it felt surreal.
Ovisslam You are not the first nor will you be the last to be unhappy with APOS. The good thing about APOS is that there members are required to have liability insurance.If the Outfitter will not make things right and if APOS does nothing to make things right then the last resort is a lawsuit. In Alberta most lawsuits must be commenced within 2 years of the occurance.Had you approached the insurer within the 2 year period they may have settled your claim without you commencing a lawsuit.That failing there are the Courts.You just should not let bad Outfitters get away with gross misconduct as they will only go on to abuse other hunters.
Brutus: Have you considered the practical (i.e., time, effort, costs, etc.) ramifications of suing someone in Alberta if you do not live in Alberta in the same court jurisdiction where the outfitter lives? You can bet that the insurance company looks at the hunter's individual situation when deciding whether to pay or stall. A U. S. resident client facing the described situation needs to find out if the outfitter does business in the U. S. Doing ANY business in the U. S. [or having an alternate residence in the U. S.], even visiting a past or future client, could subject the outfitter to a lawsuit in the jurisdiction where the business is/was conducted, even if the hunt in issue was not specifically contracted in that jurisdiction. Litigation in the U. S. could possibly negate the bothersome liability waiver clause that appears in so many Canadian outfitter contracts as it is against public policy in many of the United States. As an attorney, I guarantee you that the insurer takes all these practical factors into consideration in deciding whether to pay, stall and/or fight.
