So, I may be dating myself but for you older dudes......remember the "this happened to me!" segment in Outdoor Life?
This post is somewhat of an educational one but I recently had a this happened to me experience.
October 14th found myself, my brother Jeff and my buddy, Mark (elkhunter777) hiking and backpacking into an area in a state west of the Mississippi for the opener of elk season. I had scouted this area a bit earlier and had located elk although it was a new area to us all.
We were planning on setting up in a saddle between a couple of ridges and in order to get there, we had to traverse a snow covered slope that was covered with burnt trees. It was about a 40 degree slope or so, and footing was okay, but somewhat spotty in a few locations. We were about 300 yards or so from the saddle and I lost my footing. I fell head first down the slope for about 15 feet or so and my body went around one side of a standing tree and my knee and ankle wrapped around the other side. It was one of those, "damn, I really f..... Up moment."
I knew I was hurt and layed there taking the situation in and Jeff came over to help out. I tried to stand but could barely do so and tried to walk......no friggin way. The ankle was killing me with the knee also hurting. Jeff suggested I drop my pack.......and try and get to the saddle.
So I say, "I ain't no pussy!" and tried to hobble. Well apparently I'm a pussy because I just could not do it. I ended up dropping my pack and rifle and was able to painfully hobble to the saddle. Trekking poles are a godsend......we actually call them mountain canes.
Once at the saddle, Jeff and I evaluated our situation and Mark went back to get my pack. Jeff was ready to activate SAR, delta force, navy seals, coast guard, etc. and i had to bring him down a bit and suggested that I just had a bad sprain and we were very prepared so let's just spend the night and see what happens. Thank god we didn't have any cell service.........
Jeff basically took care of setting up my stuff and I elevated my leg and took some ibuprofen and a couple of hydrocodone pills which I carry. Later had a couple shots of Pendleton and I was ready to run a marathon.........whooooo hoo!
My entire ankle was swollen and I could feel tendons and ligaments stretch anytime I moved it. I had a good sleep and when morning came, it was stiff and swollen but stubborn me was ready to go huntin!!! I wait for this all year and we were here damnit. Walked along the ridge for the morning and the "intelligent" part of me finally realized that I was done. Just could not physically walk without some very un comforting pain. So we spent another night on the saddle resting and the next day I was able to hobble back to the truck with a lighter pack as Jeff and Mark carried some of my stuff.
Got into town for an X-ray and no breaks but i tore the crap out of my ankle and surrounding tissue. Still sore and stiff today even though it was two weeks ago......really put a damper on hunting season.
Couple of thoughts.....
------you just can't put a price on good gear. Buy the best. We could have spent a couple weeks there if need be.
-----plan on shit happening. Cause it does.
-----hunt with people you can rely on. Cause you do.
-----I also hunt alone a lot. I see an in reach in my future.
Randy
This post is somewhat of an educational one but I recently had a this happened to me experience.
October 14th found myself, my brother Jeff and my buddy, Mark (elkhunter777) hiking and backpacking into an area in a state west of the Mississippi for the opener of elk season. I had scouted this area a bit earlier and had located elk although it was a new area to us all.
We were planning on setting up in a saddle between a couple of ridges and in order to get there, we had to traverse a snow covered slope that was covered with burnt trees. It was about a 40 degree slope or so, and footing was okay, but somewhat spotty in a few locations. We were about 300 yards or so from the saddle and I lost my footing. I fell head first down the slope for about 15 feet or so and my body went around one side of a standing tree and my knee and ankle wrapped around the other side. It was one of those, "damn, I really f..... Up moment."
I knew I was hurt and layed there taking the situation in and Jeff came over to help out. I tried to stand but could barely do so and tried to walk......no friggin way. The ankle was killing me with the knee also hurting. Jeff suggested I drop my pack.......and try and get to the saddle.
So I say, "I ain't no pussy!" and tried to hobble. Well apparently I'm a pussy because I just could not do it. I ended up dropping my pack and rifle and was able to painfully hobble to the saddle. Trekking poles are a godsend......we actually call them mountain canes.
Once at the saddle, Jeff and I evaluated our situation and Mark went back to get my pack. Jeff was ready to activate SAR, delta force, navy seals, coast guard, etc. and i had to bring him down a bit and suggested that I just had a bad sprain and we were very prepared so let's just spend the night and see what happens. Thank god we didn't have any cell service.........
Jeff basically took care of setting up my stuff and I elevated my leg and took some ibuprofen and a couple of hydrocodone pills which I carry. Later had a couple shots of Pendleton and I was ready to run a marathon.........whooooo hoo!
My entire ankle was swollen and I could feel tendons and ligaments stretch anytime I moved it. I had a good sleep and when morning came, it was stiff and swollen but stubborn me was ready to go huntin!!! I wait for this all year and we were here damnit. Walked along the ridge for the morning and the "intelligent" part of me finally realized that I was done. Just could not physically walk without some very un comforting pain. So we spent another night on the saddle resting and the next day I was able to hobble back to the truck with a lighter pack as Jeff and Mark carried some of my stuff.
Got into town for an X-ray and no breaks but i tore the crap out of my ankle and surrounding tissue. Still sore and stiff today even though it was two weeks ago......really put a damper on hunting season.
Couple of thoughts.....
------you just can't put a price on good gear. Buy the best. We could have spent a couple weeks there if need be.
-----plan on shit happening. Cause it does.
-----hunt with people you can rely on. Cause you do.
-----I also hunt alone a lot. I see an in reach in my future.
Randy
