First, I’m in agreement with Albert in that I’d rather bleed out by boar-inflicted wound than die slowly of cancer, or waste away confined to a “home” somewhere. At 72, I’m impressed that this guy was still out there hunting, and even moreso that he dove into the brush for that hog, even after his friend was wounded.

As far as the armchair quarterbacking, I’ll refrain. I wasn’t there, so whatever happened will remain a mystery to me. I like to think I know how I’d have dealt with something like that if it happened to me, but I can’t say what the reality of the moment may have been.

In The Right Stuff, Tom Wolfe writes about the attitudes of the pilots whenever one of their buddies went down. There’s an urgency to identify the error, to place the blame on some mistake made by the pilot, or a failure of the machinery. They always attribute the crash to some preventable thing. It displays an unwillingness to accept the fact that Chance played any role in the incident, because that would be an admission that it could happen to them too.

I think that when we read about hunting accidents, we are also subject to this same self-defensive activity. Psychologists refer to this as the “Personal Myth,” and while it’s generally most prevalent in adolescents, it still carries over into adulthood.

Just something to consider…

That reminds me of the time I found a cormorant waddling up the street. He was dragging one wing and looking awful bedraggled. I went right over and scooped him up, grabbing his long neck and cradling his body. Back in those days we had an animal rescue operation that was run by a gentleman called “The Pelican Man.”

I told my wife to drive the truck and I would hold the bird. We got settled in the truck, having wrapped a towel around the poor birds body to keep him immobilized. I didn’t bother restraining his head and or beak…

One second hes sitting on my lap, the next, his head weaved left and right, and POW! Tried to skewer my eyeball! Fortunately I had my Oakley glasses on, otherwise I would be walking around with an eyepatch.

The SOB ended up with a hand towel wrapped around his head and beak.

Albert

Also, Red Cross First Aid Lessons……… a must for anyone who ventures out into the woods!

Might I add that ANY wounded animal is potentially dangerous. As a state park interpreter, a woman came up to me to tell me about a wounded juvenile cormorant near the pier. As I was the only one in the visitor center, I told her that I had already radioed for a ranger, and that somebody should be along to get it in about 20 minutes. I then specifically told her to stay away from it!

Of course, five minutes later, here she comes up the walkway with a juvenile cormorant in her hands, bleeding profously from her nose.

All I told her was that she needs to go get it disinfected, and that if it had been one-quarter of an inch to the right, she would have lost an eye, because that is what the bird was trying to get.

Having said that though, I’m truly sorry for the family, but had it happened to me, I would say it is better to die under the tusks of a wild boar, than in bed.

Key thing to keep in mind, is that first aid should have been better rendered. It really is hard to bleed to death, even from an arterial, if proper methods are employed. For those that aren’t prepared to render first aid, the Red Cross and other organizations give classes on it.

In this gentleman’s case he probably had the popliteal artery
severed. Yeah, that’s a bad one and it is in a bad place, but heavy direct pressure, by one guy, and a fireman’s carry by others to a vehicle, might have saved him.

Of course I’m armchair quarterbacking, for all I know they did all the right things, and the poor fellow still met St Hubert.

The point is we all need to be well prepared and ready to render aid to ourselves, and others when the need arises!

Last, Let’s all raise a glass tonight and toast a true hunter, who went in to finish the job he started!

Regards,
Albert A Rasch