Ode to Monte

[Nambaster]

This might be a long story but it’s worth sharing. I was only a fly on the wall observing the human interaction but it has become my golden standard for treating others in the outdoors.

A good friend of mine and I were planning a hunt deep in the wilderness. He arrived at our rendezvous spot a few days early and sat behind the spotter. When I arrived at the spot he mentioned he met another hunter loading up his horses into a trailer. He said they discussed life and got pretty deep in conversation. My buddy was contemplating divorce at the moment so they reflected on what was a priority.

I was eager to get hunting and I didn’t take much interest in his warm and fuzzy that he shared with a stranger. We hopped into his dads truck and we started spotting animals. As we were driving back to camp a small rock was in the road. Thinking the truck would clear it, my friend centered the truck over it. As the rear axle approached it, we heard an immediate pop and saw the rock fly off the road to the shoulder. The 3/4 ton Duramax wasn’t riding right after that. It had a serious wobble.

In a panic and being 30 miles to the nearest town we limped it to civilization. Once we got there my friend remembered that he got a business card from “the stranger”. We called him and asked for a recommendation for a mechanic. He met us in town and brought us over for an introduction. The repairs on the truck would take 3 days to replace the internals of the axle. Now my friend was really in a bind. On top of the cost of repairs, we had a trailer and canoe 30 miles from civilization and A truck stuck in the shop.

Standing outside the shop my friend was busy making bank transfers to accommodate the costly expense when we both felt a hand on our shoulders. “The stranger” named Monte offered up a solution to 2 stupid out of towners. Monte offered to let us take a 3/4 ton Cummins that he wasn’t using. It was an extra truck. Just like that our hunt was back on from a complete stranger! My friend and I looked at each other in disbelief as we jumped into his truck to his home. He fired up his back up truck and instructed my friend on how she likes,to be driven. It was November and we would have been out in the cold and paying for a hotel but instead we were in a warm Cummins headed back to camp in a “strangers truck”.

 

[Nambaster]

We arrived late at the trailer and had no trouble falling asleep. As morning came I was pumped to get out hunting, but my friend contemplating divorce and now with a broken down truck lent to him by his dad now had a second loaner from a stranger and could muster the emotions to get out of bed. I would spot deer from a picnic table and call out what I was seeing. Eventually he emerged.

He encouraged me to go hunt but I could tell he had a lot of baggage dragging him down. I raced up the hillside and killed a little 2 pt while he snapped pictures from his spotting scope.

 

[Nambaster]

As I brought my deer down from the hillside I asked him “what now?”

He replied that he was too discouraged about everything and just wanted to get the trailer and canoe back to civilization. We hooked the trailer and tied the canoe and headed back into town. As we drove cars, and trucks would honk and wave at us as if we were local celebrities. This brought life back into my friend and we soaked in the moment of all the attention we were getting. We stopped at the gas station to top off the Cummins with diesel and locals approached us and asked us where Monte was. Apparently everyone in town recognized the truck.

Monte was a legend in town and everyone appreciated him. We reflected on what an amazing stranger this man truly was.

 

[Nambaster]

As we pulled into his property we still had a few days left until the truck was ready for my friend to go home with his tail between his legs. We spent the next 2 days with Monte and his amazing wife and we sorted through all of life’s problems in front of a fire.

While those guys enjoyed their heart to heart I was going nuts with all the ducks flying right over the house. Monte told me I needed to do something about it! I made eye contact and asked him “really? I can?” I scrambled for my shotgun so fast I almost knocked over the chair I was sitting in. He instructed me where to shoot and what to avoid and just like that I had a private haven to keep me busy for the next couple days as my friend licked his wounds and healed emotionally.

His lab Creek even retrieved the ducks for me.

 

[Nambaster]

The next morning Monte got a call from a locals indicating that they had some wolves on the property. We just so happens to have some wolf tags so we jumped in his car with him and we went to investigate. We spent the day in hot pursuit of the wolves bit we were never really able to close the deal.

 

[Nambaster]

The next day the truck was done and my friend and I headed home. We both had an immense amount of gratitude for Monte. Even though it wasn’t the hunt that I had expected it was one hell of an adventure. I still got my deerling, ducks, and coot, but most importantly I gained what I considered to be a life long friend.

 

[Nambaster]

After coming home from that hunt I felt like Frodo bagging returning from the gates of Mordor. It was a blast. Winter passed and Monte called in the spring to let me know he had drawn a coveted late season mule deer tag! Excited for him I bought an elk tag for the same area that would coincide with his hunt and we would be able to hunt together.

As late fall approached I called him to schedule a time to go out and get his coveted tag filled. He responded with a broken heart and told me that he couldn’t get away from work this year and he was afraid he would be eating tag soup. My heart sunk and I decided to fill my tag anyways. He told me that if I got one down he would gather his horses and pack it out for me. When I heard him offer to help me with my over the counter elk tag at the expense of his work and also his coveted late season mule deer tag my heart sunk even deeper. Here he was putting me above himself again when I wasn’t even in need.

My elk hunt ended up lasting 4 hours. A 5pt bull followed the script that I had written and I managed to kill him and pack him out by noon.

 

[Nambaster]

I pulled into Montes driveway and showed him my bull. He was genuinely happy for me. He confronted me about not calling him for help with the pack out and I told him “it would have taken me longer to drive into reception and call you than just packing out the elk myself”

As we shared the moment we got to talking and I let him know that I had 5 days left before I was expected home. Monte has reservations about what he had going on but eventually he regurgitated a list of things he needed done. I immediately volunteered for everything he was willing to let me do. The next few days I ended up wiring trailer lights, swapping headlights on a truck, and visiting local agricultural co-ops for deliveries and retrieving heavy duty equipment. On the 5th day we were ready to hunt! We packed up his truck and as we were pulling out of the driveway the check engine light illuminated in his dash!

We drove into the parts store and hooked up the obd2 sensor and found out that it was the alternator. He recently replaced that and it was under warranty but the part was out of stock. It was going to be a few days until it was going to come in. A bad alternator is a scary thing to hunt with so he decided since his work truck was still working he had better do some work. We both knew that meant that my 5 days would be up but at least all of the chores we got done would afford him a couple days to hunt alone.

My last day I decided to go scout for rutting activity and to check out a local hot spring. I never found a worthy buck for him but still sent him a report to know where I did check. Here’s a few bucks I was seeing. And the hot spring was absolutely amazing after packing out an elk.

 

[Nambaster]

A few days after being home I received a picture text from Monte and sure enough, he harvested an amazing buck! He sent a picture of it loaded on the trailer with lights lit and all!

 

[Nambaster]

This last year I decided to hunt in September which is the busy season for Monte. He mentioned that he would always help me pack an elk out but I didn’t bother to call him before heading off to my elk hunt knowing he would be busy.

After 2 days I anchored a 6x6 bull in the steepest nastiest country I had ever stepped foot in. As I quartered the bull and hung all the meat in a shady canyon along a creek, I packed out a hind quarter and headed to my van to drive into town to see if Monte could help me with this one.

 

[Nambaster]

As I rolled into the familiar drive I couldn’t wait to tell Monte what had happened. His truck was parked in the drive way and my heart was racing. He just might be home! I knocked on the door and the dogs were barking. His other truck was also in the drive. The only car missing was his wife’s.

As I stood on his porch I found his number in my contacts and dialed it. It was then that I realized something had happened. I got a prompt telling me that the number had been disconnected. Confused I ran to my van and grabbed a pen and paper and composed a note asking what had happened leaving my number and attaching it to the door. I heard the neighbors lawn mower fire up a few acres away so I ran over and asked if he had seen Monte. The neighbor shut off the mower and humbly walked over and informed me that Monte has suffered a major heart attack passed away less than a month ago.

I was speechless and we both looked at the ground and went separate ways without exchanging any other words.

 

[Nambaster]

As I arrived back at the base of the mountain I was overcome with emotions. I went from the high of shooting a great bull to the low of losing the greatest stranger that I had ever known. On top of that I had the longest pack out to do solo. My camp was a full day from the base of the mountain and my elk was a day from that camp. Tears filled my eyes as I began my hike up the steep rocks. The animal path leading up the mountain was blurry from my tears. I labored into camp and rested for the night to regain composure and come up with a plan.

As soon as morning came I decided I would spend the next 2 days packing the rest of the bull to camp so that leg of my journey would be closed. I struggled side hilling and the weight of my pack was so heavy I felt like I was going to be an entire foot shorter after this hunt. After getting the bull to camp I slept.

The next morning I decided to pack half the meat down and return back to camp with water using a headlamp to illuminate my path. Packing up camp and strapping the elk head to my pack was also an emotional and making moment for me. I will never forget the challenge of doing that pack without Monti. While I have packed several bulls out alone, that distance was incredible.

 

[Nambaster]

My mind stayed busy the entire drive home. As I drove home I realized that I had left the note at the door. A few months later I got a somber voicemail from Montes wife. She had mentioned that she got the note but didn’t know what to say. She had gathered the courage to call and was leaving a voicemail. I called her back and we celebrated Monte together. We both cried.

 

[timberman56]

wow- the kind of guy we all want to call a friend

 

[The Yetti]

Such a moving story, and one that can definitely restore your hope in mankind with everything going on.

 

[mdeerjunkie]

Wow, great story. He truly sounded like an amazing friend.

 

[Scott85]

What a great story to remember your friend by!!!

 

[Deleted member 16014]

Great story, thanks for taking the time.

 

[2rocky]

That is one of the Riches of hunting. You make friendships worth being grateful for. Monte must have seen a quality in you as well. i hope we all look out for the Monte's in our lives.

 

[Mica Man]

Thanks for sharing, a much better read then some more recent threads on here.