In your thoughts

[ihuntelk]

Had 2 buddies chasing Idaho bruins last weekend above Boise. 1 accidentally shot himself in the leg. They had to amputate above the knee. He's still in the hopsital awaiting another surgery on Thursday. He should be home with his wife and 3 kiddos. Please be safe out there. Send your thoughts and prayers out to CJ and his family..........

I don't know very many of the details. My other buddy is still pretty shook up and grateful he was able to get him off the mountain and out of there to the hospital. He's gotta go back this weekend and get rifle/pack/etc. off the mountain. Couple pretty experienced hunters and accidents can/do happen. Again, please be safe out there. Go hug your wife and kids (or whatever is improtant to you) and count your blessings.

Thanks
-Cade
www.HuntForeverWest.com

 

[Big Fin]

Dang, Sorry to hear that. Scary stuff.

I always worry about that with filming. It is always such chaos, two or three extra people in the area, animals moving, shooter possibly having to move to stay on the animal, a lot going on in a big hurry. As such, we are serious about safety; nothing ever in the chamber until set up for the shot, camera men always behind the shooter, never beside (even if they have set up POV cameras all around us), first comment after the shot is to check and make sure we have a cleared the rifle, etc. Not sure I could continue hunting if something like that happened in our production.

Hope your buddy is able to hunt again. Again, sorry to hear that.

 

[Mica Man]

Sorry to hear about your buddy, tough stuff for sure. Prayers for him and his family.

 

[fishing4sanity]

Like you said accidents can & do happen, I love hunting & shooting and it only takes a split second if anything goes wrong. Best of luck to your friend, good thing he had a friend nearby.

 

[Sytes]

My thoughts and prayers for your friends and their family. These events are tough pills to swallow though the ability to adapt and overcome will push recovery and rehab.
Like F4S commented, good thing his friend was with him.
Tough situation for sure! Best to his recovery and rehab!

 

[ashersdad]

Thoughts and prayers sent.

 

[LopeHunter]

Prayers sent.

 

[havgunwilltravel]

Terrible news Cade, its a good reminder to us all about safety with handling of firearms in the field. Glad it was only his lower leg, could have been better i know, but could have been a lot worse. Hope he comes through it ok and has plenty of support from family and friends over the next few years.

 

[idnative1948]

Is he still in the hospital here? Anything my family can do? Would be willing. Which hospital?
PM Welcome.

 

[ihuntelk]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. Here's a quick update and 'the rest of the story'. Here's also a link to a couple places that are trying to help him offset some of his medical costs. Self-employed with 3 kids...................enough said.
https://www.facebook.com/HuntForeverWest
http://fundly.com/curtis-jaussi

Thanks to anyone who can help, whether through donations or just thoughts and prayers. It truly is appreciated.

After 3 days of bear hunting, Carson and Curtis found a good boar and made the stalk. Curtis laid down and shot a bear across a canyon. It was feeding into big patch of conifers and ran intot he trees. 5 seconds later it came back out and sat on its haunches. He hit it directly in the chest and tipped it over. In the excitement, he jacked another shell into his 300 RUM. After confirming the bear hadn't moved, he loaded his rifle into his Eberlestock pack and threw it over his shoulders. A quick hike across the canyon towards the bear. 50 yards from the bear, he reached up behind his head to take the rifle out of his pack. It was part of the way out of his pack when it went off, through the bottom of the pack and itno his left leg - calf high.
Carson got him laid down and a tourniquet immediately on his leg below the knee. He tried to help him down the hill and they made it 200 yards before Curtis was really going into shock. The steep country coupled with rocks, downfall and loose dirt made it impossible to take him further. Carson got him comfortable, covered him and gave him a couple bottles of water. Carson then took off down the hill, crossed a raging spring creek and then had to wade the river. He made it to the truck and flew dowm the mountain to an old Forest Service cabin that had a pay phone. Called 911 and the mobilized the troops. They asked Carson to wait there for them so he could take them straight to Curtis.
When they arrived, he flew up the road and threw some waters in his pack and got ready to cross the river.
The EMT's were hesitant to cross. Finally Carson said his buddy was dying up on the hill and he had to cross again. They followed and made it up the hill. It had been over 1.5 hours since Carson had left Curtis there. They revived him and tried to stablilize him for the life flight. Something was going on with the chopper in Boise and it took a while to get up there. Obviously, there was no where to land the chopper in that rough country. They hurried and cut some logs and built a make ramp. The chopper came in and hovered, blades mere feet from the side of the mountain. They hauled Curtis up the ramp and were able to lift him into the hovering chopper.

First surgery they amputated his leg below his knee. The next day they took it above the knee but left the wound open. Thursday, they closed the wound and started a little work to be able to attach the prostethic. Yesterday he finally went home to his wife and 3 kids. I'm afraid this is where the work now begins, but he's alive and spirits are good.

Thanks everyone. Please be safe out there.

-Cade
www.HuntForeverWest.com

 

[idahofishnhunt]

Glad to hear he is at least alive after all that and back with his family. The road to recovery will be a tough one but it sounds like he has some great support.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

Continued prayers for Curtis.

Over the last dozen years or so prosthetic technology has come along way. I would think with the right motivation, your buddy should be able to get back out in the mountains. One of my best friends, lost his arm above the elbow and we hunt and fish all year round. It is a little funny to watch him tie on a new lure with one hand, but he gets it done.