I was 3 miles as the crow flies from the trailhead. I stayed in all day and covered some ground chasing elk back-and-forth. I wore the wrong pair of boots a rookie mistake and had blisters on both feet.
I was feeling tired and hungry.
Midday and in the evening I ran into a hunter I will never forget. He was 60 or 70 and had knee surgery four weeks ago. He's coming up on a hip replacement. He walks very slow with a stick and it looked painful. He was back in there with me chasing elk.
When darkness fell I had an hour-long hike out I was not looking forward to. Based on how long it took him to get in I'm guessing he had a minimum of three hours probably more like four to get out. He started at 4:30 AM that morning.
I saw him back in there the next evening too. This guy really gave it heck, and was far tougher, stronger and had more mental toughness than anyone I've seen in a long time.
My hat is off to him and I will remember meeting him every time I'm feeling tired and weak.
But...his hip replacement needed to be replaced. The metal shaft that extended into his femur was loose. From time to time when it was quiet, I could hear it click when he moved.
If I watched out of the corner of my eye, I'd catch him with a tight lipped grimace occasionally, but he never complained. Not once. And I had to practically threaten to hit him with a rock to get him to let me carry some of his gear.
My wife frequently accuses me of being a stubborn jackass, but I've got nothing on him. I aspire to having a fraction of his grit.
'nuff said
Go Paul
This season a group of guys from WI were camped near my base camp. One was only 64 but looked 80, stringy like a piece of jerky. He had a prosthetic arm from shoulder down to hold his bow with a special fitting on the end that he crafted himself.
Every morning he got up at 4:00 with the young guys and hiked 4-5 miles up into the wilderness. They would come out for mid-day, then hike back in, not as far, in the afternoon. He hung right there with them every day for two weeks straight.
Another guy camped up the road was 66. A real stud. He was doing the severe daily hikes too. He told me he had to miss a weekend of hunting to go to Tahoe for the Ironman. When I talked to him after that he was bummed because he "only" finished second, so he didn't qualify for the Worlds in Kona.
Made me feel like a weenie. I'm 61 with a metal hip and two cracked ribs from a mountain bike crash early in the hunt, so I was only hiking in a mile and a half or so for each am and pm hunt because I was concerned about getting one out alone any further in with my sore ribs. These tough guys.....
I personally just got home from another solo Wyo elk hunt and did 11.82 miles in one day, hunting up/in, harvesting, boning out, hiking out to my truck to exchange back pack for pack frame and mule cart, back in to harvest site and packing out my elk.
I can relate to this fellow you speak of----
Good luck, Robb
Helluva nice guy too.
Paul@ the fort, my hats off to you too sir!
LaGriz, looks like you & I are in the same boat, I wish you many more elk seasons sir!
ElkNut1
My most difficult hunts are easy compared to what guys like that go through.
Once again I am curious as to why you respond to almost all of my threads but yet continue to bash me whenever possible and send private messages and emails to lots of different people about me? I have not responded to At most a couple of your threads in over a decade and a half.
Please stop stalking me.
I have been banned so how can it be me?
So sorry to challenge your fragile ego but I respond to thread titles not the person starting the thread.
I respond on many, many threads period and will continue to do so for ever.
Good luck, Robb
Robb Pat L. himself PM's me and told me you were banned because of numerous complaints.
Responding to a thread is one thing, stalking is another. From webster, stalking is:
"to follow, watch, and bother (someone) constantly"
Robb you have followed and bothered me for 15 years. You have a lengthy file on me (your words not mine). You know where, when and what I am hunting and if I am successful. You know about my divorce, where I live, when my divorce was final, etc. You follow my relationships, employment etc. You even have nicknames for me. You know what my rental vehicle looks like and claim to see my driving past you.
15 years ago we both attacked each other. Since then I ignored you for almost a decade.I sent you a book with a note as a peace offering and said sorry several times and took all responsibility for our past disagreements.
You have ever NEVER admitted ANY wrong doing or accepted any responsibility for any of your actions. I have given up trying to reason with you and I am now going to simply state the facts and not let you continue to stalk me.
You have made very odd statements elsewhere about my IP address and posts etc. To go to the extent of trying to research my IP address and link it with posts/threads (incorrectly) is not what a normal person would do.
Do you deny any of the above statements?
You are clearly stalking me.
