I had forgotten about this incident !
Got very lucky during my sheep hunt!
I meet another hunter, that like myself was on a DIY hunt in Sunlight Basin, Wy. He had a friend helping him that was very experienced and very knowledgeable about the area……that had taken a Ram just missing B&C several years before.
The friend had to go back to work leaving him alone…..so we teamed-up. The friend left him with a brand new Honda Rancher 4 wheeler to use.
My new hunt'n partner was going to take us to a saddle that his friend had shown him. We could take the Honda part of the way to to saddle. We loaded all of our gear on the Honda……his stuff up front, mine on the rear, with he and I very cozy (a bit too cozy
) between.
On the way up a narrow, curvy, quite steep trail in was then he told me that this was only his second time to drive a 4 wheeler. I should have gotten off then……I'm not that "bright"!
He was at least one gear too high as we attempted the steepest point so far, in a fairly tight left hand turn. The Honda "bogged", he downshifted and gassed!
The Honda reared and started a "barrel roll" to our right. I tried to quickly get off on the uphill side…..impossible because of the tight quarters plus I would to have been quite an athlete to get up and over the rolling 4 wheeler.
On the first roll, I was somewhat protected be my gear and my buddy. I got pushed, rather forcefully into the hillside by the seat ……my buddy not so fortunate. I looked up just in time to see the handlebars/tank hit him in the head/neck area. Luckily, we both were unloaded right there. Our gear, which was tied on, wasn't so fortunate.
He yelled "catch it" as it was just a few feet away begging to barrelroll at at accelerated rate.
As mentioned before, I ain't too bright. I caught the 4 wheeler, timed my grab perfectly as the rear rack was passing my face in a upward direction. I firmly grabbed it, and was immediately jerked quite aggressively from my feet. I ain't too bright…..but I very quickly determined that holding on was a good idea.
I watched the Honda barrel roll, gaining a great deal of speed while launch our gear pretty darn forcefully along the slope. The Honda came to rest about 180 to 200 yards downslope on it's wheels.
The handlebars badly bent, the electronic display destroyed, several wheels bent, grass forced between rim and tire bead (surprisingly not flat), and later found out that the frame was bent as well. The Honda was called "totaled" by Honda.
My buddy's rifle and scope badly damaged, as was his spotting scope…..he also injured his neck and shoulder. He later had to get surgery.
I was much more fortunate, no personal injuries, very minor scope damage, very minor spotting scope damage, with my metal pack frame receiving the most damage …..but still useable.
We both went home to return several days later along with his buddy to help him again. He was hurt'n pretty good, had another rifle and perhaps other new stuff. His buddy helped him get a sheep a few days later……leaving me to hunt alone.
While I was at home I checked the zero on my rifle, this was before I started carrying two scopes on a hunt. The Leupold Vari X III 2.5-8 was off a little bit @100 , otherwise, no significant damage.
About a week later, I got my sheep. My sheep is "nothing to write home about"! In fact, the taxidermist had an additional charge to keeping the "mother's milk" on the mouth of my sheep!
memtb
