DECEMBER 25, 2015, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A11
Packing preacher saves day
WRESTLE,
continued from Page A10
Keifer Smith fi nished out
the night for McNary with a
win by pin in 1:34.
“I had never wrestled him
before, but I like those match-
es better. I felt confi dent, like
I was going to win from the
start,” Smith said.
Smith said a win over Sil-
verton High School the prior
week set the table for the Mc-
Nary-McMinnville match.
“When we wrestled Sil-
verton, we weren’t expected
to win, but we won and that
fl ipped the switch for us. We
realized we are good enough
to compete with some of the
top teams,” Smith said.
Burrows said a focus on be-
ing a team also helped.
“We did a really good job
of communicating and cheer-
ing each other on, and we
were just there for each other,”
Burrows said.
At the Oregon National
Guard tournament Saturday,
Dec. 19, Phelps made it all the
way to the fi nal match and
by G.I. Wilson
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
Celt Carlos Vincent grimaces as he attempts to free his wrist
from his opponent.
fi nished second as the result
of a major decision; Brayden
Ebbs fi nished third by pinning
his fi nal opponent in the third
round.
In addition to Phelps, a
number of Celtics managed
good showings. Kibbey made
it all the way to the third round
at 120 pounds; Sean Burrows
and Gerstner won fi ve matches
in consolation rounds to fi nish
17th; and Kesler, Putnam and
Smith also made it to the third
round.
With winter break looming,
the Celts are now challenged
to keep their spirits up and
bodies in shape.
“We’ll be having some
workouts and some morning
runs, but honestly we just need
to stay in the mindset of being
as good as we are,” Smith said.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
KEIZER!
HAVE A SAFE AND MEMORABLE
H O L I D AY S E A S O N !
This year, lets remember what’s important…
Being home for the holidays with our loved ones,
and embracing the spirit of the season!
APRIL & BRIAN McVAY
503.510.6827
Two men, cling to the fro-
zen face of a mountain that
would give Lindsey Vonn
pause. They are not moun-
tain climbers or hikers, but
elk hunters, holding a dead
elk, teetering on the brink
of an abyss. One slip and
300 pounds of prime meat
becomes elk burger in the
depths of a mile-deep, road-
less canyon.
These guys are not hand-
some hunks you see on the
cover of Bugle or Field and
Stream, sporting 10-gallon
Stetsons and Danners, packing
out trophies on their backs.
We’re talking guys that are
right out of a senior citizen
Survivor episode.
Bud Sanders, of Joseph, and
G.I. Wilson, of Keizer, have
chased elk in the mountains
of Oregon and Washington
since the 1960s. They have
not hunted together over the
last fi ve years.
Sanders, 77, has survived:
two shoulder replacements,
three back vertebrae trimmed
to relieve pain, two broken
neck vertebrae, and currently
nursing a painful sprained an-
kle held fi rm by a sturdy boot.
Wilson, 83, has survived
three knee replacements, a hip
replacement, two shoulder
surgeries, three back surger-
ies, pacemaker, and currently
coping with 10 stitches in his
arm, and a torn hamstring.
Standard joke for these two
is a Mickey Mantle quote, “If
I had known I was going to
live this long, I would have
taken better care of myself.”
Sanders has tried to get
Wilson to apply for this tag
for years, but the season ended
on Thanksgiving. He always
had family commitments.
Over those years, Wilson has
become concerned about his
physical limitations to hunt
elk.
Wilson applies for the 2015
tag and is successful.
So, here we are, second day
of the season, in a situation
that was not supposed to hap-
pen. Wives and friends have
been promised, “We will not
shoot an elk unless we can get
to it with a winch or ATV.”
Sanders’ preacher, Dave
Bruce, aware of all their mala-
dies, is on standby. He has of-
fered to pack meat if needed.
Getting an elk on the
ground doesn’t go exactly as
planned.
It starts great. Not a cloud
in the sky, 17 degrees and a
herd of 50 to 60 elk walk out
of a canyon 125 yards below
us. They pause in the middle
of an ATV trail. The trail fol-
lows the top of a narrow ridge
that drops off into deep can-
yons on each side.
A young cow is selected.
At the roar of the 30.06, she
stumbles and turns downhill
as the herd stampedes uphill.
Next shot puts her down. We
stand in disbelief as she rolls,
and rolls and rolls. “We’re go-
ing to lose her,” Bud yells.
“We’ll never get her out of
that canyon.”
We hold our breath as she
comes to a stop, teeters and
settles down. One more roll
and she would be gone.
Our only hope is to get to
the carcass and secure it to a
big rock with a rope.
We navigate the 50 yards
from the trail with caution. It
is steep, rocky, frozen and cov-
ered with snow.
She has come to rest with
all fours, head and neck fold-
ed back under the body. This
is the only thing holding her
in place.
We gingerly attach a rope
to the carcass and anchor it to
a large rock 20 feet uphill.
Butchering has to begin at
the top of the back and work
down. Bud does the work as
I sit on the uphill side hold-
ing on to the rope and carcass.
Any slight push or movement
can touch off an avalanche of
prized elk meat.
Piece by piece the boning
out process is painfully com-
pleted.
Two hours later the last
piece is bagged. We cut the
rope and watch in awe as the
carcass rolls and bounces fi ve
to 10 feet in the air until out
of sight, at least a half mile be-
low.
We fi nally breathe a sigh of
relief.
Bud was an outfi tter
and hunting guide for sev-
eral years. He has butch-
ered countless elk. “This is
the most diffi cult one I have
ever done,” he hisses, through
clinched teeth. “Now we have
to climb out of here and get
help to pack this meat out. I’ll
call the preacher. He’s young,
stout and has already packed
a spike bull out of one these
canyons this year.”
Dave Bruce shows up at
Bud’s the next morning ready
to pack. “I’ll do this on one
condition, you guys stay at the
rig and I make four loads,” he
adds with a big grin.
An hour drive through
spectacular mountains, blan-
keted in snow, and we unload
the ATV. From my vantage
point at the truck I watch
Dave, almost effortless, make
the 100 yard round trip in fi ve
minutes. Twenty-fi ve minutes,
he, Bud and the meat are on
the ATV headed up the hill.
We have all heard “A friend
in need, a friend in deed.”
Preacher Dave Bruce was tru-
ly a friend in deed as he bailed
a couple of old elk hunters
out of a tough situation.
mcvaythree@gmail.com
Transforming
Keizer businesses
from the inside.
Sam Goesch
Ins Agcy Inc
Sam Goesch CLU, Agent
3975 River Road North
Keizer, OR 97303
Bus: 503-393-6252
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1211999
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