2 in 1 day. A 79 year old man died yesterday while dressing an elk he'd shot. It appears to have been natural causes.

Then an an 80 year old man died when his fishing boat sank yesterday. His 65 year old partner made it to shore. They located the boat last night in 100' of water. Diver got down to it today and found him still aboard. No word yet on why it sank.

We've been talking about the guy in CO who's missing. Here are 2 more who went out doing what they liked to do. I'd rather have a heart attack than drown, though.

Very sad , rest in peace fellow outdoorsmen ..

Any reports about the boat would be appreciated.

Sad both cases.

Bad deal all the way around

I'll keep my eyes open for any followup reports.

Yes it's sad. Prayers to the families.

If it's any consolation, I'd rather go out doing something I love than in a damn nursing home.

They were 79 and 80. I don't feel one bit bad for them. We should all hope to be so lucky.

Sad new for sure. They did leave this place, doing what they liked to do.

RIP fellow sportsmen.

+1

I can think of worse ways to go.....

Please ! please ! please ! let me go this way and still be getting out at 79 or 80 !

They went out doing something they liked!

Nothing has been released yet on how the boat sank. I hope it's not something like dementia and forgetting the drain plug until it's too late. My dad was still piloting his boat until his mid 80's when dementia started coming on. I can see him doing something like that. He had severe dementia when he died at 92.

Yes dying in the woods of a heart attack, while hunting, beats the hell out of spending 2 years in a damn nursing home.
Or, 2 weeks in ICU.

Proverbs 16:9 - "A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps."

Prayers lifted for the families. Ultimately, God is going to determine how each of us face eternity. But if I have any say in the matter, I would prefer the outdoors versus a nursing home as well...

my brother died last year at camp at 60 better than any other place I m op

hell it don't take dementia for that. me and dad put in one predawn morning on the ottawa river and got about 50 feet from shore when we realized we forgot the plugs. made for a real quick trip back to shore and a beached boat. kinda killed the mood for the rest of the day if know what i mean.

There's 2 kinds of boaters. Those with a story about forgetting the plug and those who lie about it.

+1

That’s why I owned three Boston Whalers. Never had to worry about a plug. Hasbeen

I read about a case in the WA Cascades several years ago. 3 hunters had gone into some real hell hole and one shot a big bull elk. As they were dressing it out, one of them had a heart attack and died. It took rescuers 3 days to pack his body out of there. I wonder how long it would have taken them to pack out an elk. Granted, they likely didn't bone out the man.

A lot of us are getting older. Its a risk, we take. Do the best you can and let the chips fall.

Not if you consider they were doing what brought them joy. We all have to die. I'd prefer to die doing something I love than to die in my recliner.

The one big problem about dying while out hunting or fishing is the cost of finding and recovering your body that someone else has to pay. Like this guy whose boat sank. They had 2 teams of divers and sonar equipment out there. They found the boat in 100' of water so there was the cost of raising it. How much have they spent on searching for the guy in CO over the last week or so? Rescuers have died trying to retrieve a body in some hellacious place. It's not so great to die having fun when someone else has to die to bring you home.

Or chainsaws either apparently, if you've ever read about the original demo they did. Cut that puppy right in two while standing on it.

How about dying in your recliner holding an empty whiskey glass after dragging out a big one, eating his backstraps, and giving Grandma one last good poke.

I think I covered it all.

Being 76, I think about this, but I can die right at home here just as easily.

Sad and condolences to the families. This August I lost my favorite cousin who was 68 to a drowning. He died while pan fishing in a spot he fished about every day. He was tethered to a small bridge and vertical jigging for gills and pumpkinseeds. A neighbor passed by and reported his boat and no fisherman. Autopsy ruled out the obvious like a heart attack. Still a big mystery and he could swim well and was very close to shore. He went out doing what he loved to do and will be missed,

My feelings exactly. I saw fresh griz tracks in the snow and have seen a wolf and heard others this week. I feel pretty alive and am getting tuned up for a winter of wolf hunting. Our kids applaud our activities, they are used to it.


mike r

RIP.

They died with their boots on. Far worse ways to go out.

So what do you suggest?

The sheriff's dept says the boat is a 22' inboard. They don't have the equipment to raise it at this time. They haven't decided if they'll try later with larger recovery equipment. We may never find out why it sank.

I was thinking maybe a small aluminum boat, interesting, wonder what went wrong?

Sad but..............better than going in a rest home or wasting away from cancer.

The old dudes went out doing what they enjoyed!!!

Here is a modern take on an a classic in theme with guys kicking the bucket doing outdoor stuff.

Long time ago in Wyoming, a guy had killed an elk and was trying to gut him out, apparantly trying to split the breast bone with a knife, being straddle of the carcass and cutting toward himself. Knife slipped, sliced his leg severing the main artery . They found him a couple days later slumped over the elk , must have bled out and died within a minute or so.

Just another reason it might not be a good idea to go hunting by yourself.

I have sympathy for the mens' families as well as the men.

I'd rather have a heart attack in the woods after a successful hunt then waste away in a nursing home. The Lord will's be done, but Lord willing I will go quick after a hearty life.

Condolences to the families and loved ones...

the departed.. well they are in a better place...

especially consider the politics and the country being taken over by communists...

I know a lot of guys split the breast bone on deer or elk but I've never found a need to do so other than trying to keep blood off the shirt sleeves. High top gloves will handle that.

I will start my fourth quarter (75) Thursday and while arthritis is crippling my hands I can still shoot, clock a crossbow, and hold my grandkids. Maybe I can check out while dressing out the big ten point I got on my trail cam last week.

If i'm in the backcountry and happen to pass, i'd prefer they leave me there and let nature run it's course.

packing for the shaft maybe.

I didn't expect to read anything about the cause of the boat sinking for a while but here's the latest. I don't know how many gpm a jet will pump but apparently it filled the boat in a hurry.

I’ve forgotten to put my plug in once so far, saw the water coming in an fired up the motor. We cruised around to let the water drain and then I stopped long enough to put the plug in.

I live only a few miles from where the elk hunter died & I've hunted that exact spot for many years. Last year on opening day of deer season one of my very best friends got stuck just a couple of miles from there. He started walking out & a couple of locals came by & helped him get out. As they were putting their tools away my buddy fell over dead from a heart attack.
It hit my pretty hard because we almost always spend opening today together, I'm 74, he was a bit younger.We shared a lot of campfires together.

True story now, one of the guys that rescued him had a heart attack on opening day THIS year! He survived but just barely. They lived about 3-4 blocks apart.

Dick

Unless it's a simple matter of the guy being too old and helpless to be on the water without wearing flotation, there seems to be a lot missing from this story.

Not gutting even better.

As a final followup to answer questions on the boat sinking...
They got it out of the water. It took 18 men, 3 boats, and 10 hours to raise it 100', tow it to shore, and winch it onto a trailer.
Now we know what happened. The exhaust manifold blew up and knocked a 5" hole in the hull. Water rushed in and tilted it, throwing the guy down in the water inside the cabin where he drowned. He was 80 and likely didn't have the balance or strength to deal with it. It was just one of those accidents that you can't predict. They didn't say how far from shore it was. That reservoir fills a very steep, deep canyon so even a couple hundred feet out could be as deep as 100', even now at low water. They didn't post a photo showing the hole.

That's great! A knockoff of Hatchet Jack from Jeremiah Johnson. "Jacknife Jessee." I love it.
I know that movie, Auswendig.

Here is the story of a guy who "died with his boots on."

https://www.mooresfuneralhome.com/obituary/jarrell-tomlin

Jerry was a friend of mine in Milledgeville Georgia. Jerry was my roommate in college for a year. He got an RN degree in 1976. That is a solid gold career for a guy, but Jerry was not content. He was an avid hunter, I went deer hunting with him at least a hundred times.
And, I must say, Jerry was a little weird. He got in to crow hunting, big time. He figured out a way to call crows in for a kill and he made a video on the subject, "Eating Crow."

Here ya go, if you want to have your own copy of "Eating Crow" now is your chance.

https://www.gamecalls.net/huntingproducts/jerry_tomlin_eating_crow_dvd_videos.html

Jerry made a lot of money on the video, and he gave guided crow hunts in central Georgia. He had the ex governor of Louisiana fly in for a guided crow hunts. He made a lot of money off of crow hunting.
Like I said, not my cup of tea, a little nutty, but that was what floated Jerry's boat.

And, a year ago, he was on a guided crow hunt one sunny October morning, went out into the pecan orchard to retrieve a dead crow, came back to the blind with his clients, sat down, and he keeled over with a massive heart attack. Died right there.
Remember, Jerry had 40 years experience as an ER nurse, when he hit the dirt, he knew he was having a heart attack. And he knew he was dying. For the last two minutes of consciousness, Jerry knew that he was headed for the funeral home.

Anyway, he died "with his boots on" doing something he loved to do, as I said above beats hell out of 2 years in the nursing home, or, two weeks in ICU. Warm sunny October day, leaves turning, shotgun in one hand and Dead Right There.

Rest In Peace Jerry, I miss you.




Jerry flying his Goldwing ultralight, Washington County Georgia, 1983.
I was 200 feet away, and a little above, flying my Goldwing.

Me too, around here I'd be et by feral hogs pretty quick, prob'ly save a lot on funeral expenses tho....

I have always said to die hunting, fishing or enjoying being OUT would be my preference.

Don't wanta die where I inconvenience folks that have to come look for my carcass though.

Very recently a 55 year old living outside of Lander WY went out to scout elk on his 4 wheeler. He apparantly got too sideways on a hill and rolled it down into a gully, killing him. Search and Rescue finally found him 3 days later, IIRC . This an experienced person, not a nimrod by any means. Points out again the folly of going out by yourself.

Well, that explains it.

Yeah, we wouldn't want to go outside without help. That would be scary and stuff.

I had a friend who died in his early fifties. He and some friends were hunting whitetails in the black hills part of Wyoming. He sat down after lunch to take a nap in a recliner in an old house they were using as a hunting camp. He never woke up. It was hard on us as friends and his family but I've always thought that would be about as good a way to check out as possible.

Getting old ain’t worth a damn!!

all great true stories , and at my age of 66 and my health problems: i might start wearing my boots to bed just in case ? "nothing golden about Golden years" .anyway hope you all have great safe hunts this fall 2019 and keep your boots on ! Pete53

If I happen to kick off while hunting or fishing (and I am out by myself all the time) and society wants to spend a bunch of money searching for the carcass, that's society's problem; it's not mine. As I get older, I suppose the risk is greater but I figure to push it. I'm ashamed that I didn't try for my sheep this year but the new pup is interfereing with my lifestyle a bit. I figure I might be able to look forward to ten more years in the mountains ( if I'm optimistic) and I hope to get as much time in as I can. GD

We have a penchant for bringing them home. Our whole military system says that nobody's left behind. That's a major change from 2 world wars where we left graves by the thousands. It started around the Vietnam era. We don't leave bodies out there where they die anymore. The families always want them back for a 'proper' burial.