[ Home ]   Similar to 'Make a Wish,'  Hunt of a Lifetime provides memories for seriously ill children. Chronicles of Ben's journey, July-September 2004 LOTS MORE PICTURES [ Packing Up ] [ Heading Out ] [ Freeman Lake ] [ Camp ] [ Manitoba Terrain ] [ Animals ] [ Heading Home ] [ Trophies ]
Moose Trip Links "Hunt of a Lifetime" Lea Meadow Outfitters Base Camp in Thompson Weather Forecast  for Thompson Map of Freeman Lake Churchill River System,   Manitoba, Canada Estimated Donations $2287 flights $1700 motel, food, car rental, 'incidentals' $10,000 hunt for moose, bear, wolf and fishing $100 boots $300 Cabela's clothes $50 binoculars $1500 taxidermy of two animals $700 gun	A fellow WG parent, Ann Marie, told us Jarryd had applied to Make-A-Wish.  Make-A-Wish does not do wishes involving weapons but recommended that we contact Hunt of a Lifetime.  To our delight, Tina called to say Ben was accepted for an elk hunt in Wyoming. I couldn't tell anyone for awhile.  It just seemed too good to be true and I was worried that it would hit a snag along the line.   A box packed with Cabela's gear arrived. Tina called again with an opportunity for both Todd and Ben to hunt moose in Manitoba.  Gerry had donated the moose, wolf, bear hunt with Lea Meadows Outfitters.  Lyle, the outfitter, and Bryan, the guide, thoroughly explained everything. The hunt takes place around Freeman Lake which is part of the Churchill River system in Manitoba, Canada. Terry, the travel agent, made all the flight and motel arrangements for Todd and Ben to fly out  September 19 and arrive back September 30, 2004. They were to fly from Seattle, to Vancouver, to Winnipeg to Thompson, spend two nights in the Country Inn Suites, catch a float plane to the camp and spend a week hunting and camping in tents.  On the way home they were to stay in the same motel before catching a flight from Thompson to Winnipeg to Denver to Seattle.   There was a delay in the gun, donated by Savage, arriving.  Crow reassured Todd that it would all work out in time. It did work out thanks to Mac, their favorite gun dealer, and Uncle Dick, who let them sight in the gun at his house.   Randy, the taxidermy coordinator, told Todd that the taxidermist is really excited to do Ben's moose. I hope Ben doesn't let him down! Randy knew there was a 70lb per person weight limit.  He made suggestions to Todd about packing like ... don't sacrifice the camera even if you have to leave your spare underwear at base camp.  Brother John loaned Todd a double gun case which saved so much weight they can take underwear after all!  There is a ton of coordination and huge donations involved. The people organizing this dream have been so helpful, friendly and generous.  Words are so inadequate in attempting to express what this dream come true means to to Ben and to our family.

Cabela's gear arrives, July 04 

Todd suffers from Severe Anxiety over the weight limit (140lbs total)

Four days before departure, the gun arrives.
Maybe Todd will be able to sleep now?

September 20
Todd called from Vancouver yesterday and asked us to call the outfitter and the motel.  They had an hour and 25 minutes between flights, but the luggage took forever to collect and get through customs so they missed their flight to Winnipeg.  The outfitter's wife, Linda, was to meet that flight in Winnipeg to give them their tags.  Racheal contacted Linda to say the boys would be in Winnipeg at midnight, not 4:30pm as expected.  So Todd and Ben had to wait about eight hours in the Vancouver before flying out at 7pm.  They were to arrive in Winnipeg about midnight, stay the night in the airport, then catch a flight to Thompson the next morning.  They will spend tonight in the fancy motel before catching the float plane tomorrow.  Once they get to Thompson I'm sure they will just want to sleep but they need to shop for some fishing gear and felt lined rubber boots.  When I talked to Todd yesterday, they weren't smiling anymore.

By 10:30am things were going better. After an hour and a half flight they had all their shopping done in Thompson and had even eaten the motel's continental breakfast. The only thing they didn't have was fire starter that was confiscated at the airport. Todd said Linda was Very Nice and would have taken them home for the night, but she couldn't get them back to the airport in time to catch their flight.  She told them about the giant moose tracks in the area where they will be hunting.   Ben couldn't talk to me because he was busy taking the receptionists' blood pressure.

My official goodbye call was in early afternoon. Todd and Ben had been swimming and were heading to bed.  They were to be loaded in the float plane by 8am.  I asked Ben to call me the second he is back in Thompson.  At this point my biggest fear is that Todd puts in his application  for a guiding job! 

September 29
They boys are back to civilization with a 'gorgeous, huge' moose and a trophy bear.  First thing they plan to do at the hotel is shower. Then they need to buy coolers for the meat, figure out where to cut it up, and make contact with the taxidermist.  Sounds like a full evening.  Now the hunting stories...

They arrived in camp and needed to shoot to make sure their guns were still on target.  Todd had told the guide that Ben 'does a lot of shooting.'  Todd shot first at a charcoal moose that Ben drew.  His gun was fine.  Todd put his spent casing in the hole that he just shot.  Ben hit the casing.  Whew!  They could only bring one box of shells so they were hoping the scopes wouldn't be out of adjustment.  Bryan was pleasantly surprised by Ben's sharp shooting capabilities.

The Northern Lights were gorgeous.  The bugs were miserable, but Bryan had some toxic bug juice. Strong enough that if the bugs just look at the bottle it stops the hatch!  At one point Ben's eye was swollen almost closed from fly bites.  One night Todd was sleeping on the floor because their tent was packed. The permafrost was 2 feet down, but he was comfortable until there was all this hollering in the tent when a mouse ran across his head! 

Ben said he got the bear early in the week on the longest hunt of his life.  As they pulled the boat into the spot where the bait was, Todd saw the bear sleeping behind the bait barrel just 5 yards away.  Ben complained to me that Todd had to load his gun before he would even give Ben his.  This sounds like a pay back from the time Ben put a bead on a coyote when Todd was panicking because his gun was locked in the cabinet.  Anyway as Todd was trying to load his gun, the bear ambled off. 

The guide dropped Todd and Ben off on some rocks and was going to fish while they sat.   Ben was settling in, sitting on his life jacket, scanning the area through the scope.   The bear walked right into his sites. He said 'there's the bear.'  They both shot.  I asked where they hit it. Ben told me the guide said the taxidermist is going to take 100 years to sew up the holes in the hide. He's never heard such a fuss over a bear.   They hit in in the front shoulder, the belly, the back leg and the neck.   I'm told it is a trophy bear, should qualify for the Manitoba record book, and the hunt lasted all of 35 seconds.   The guide never even got his line in the water when he thought WWIII had begun.  They skinned out the bear and saved the skull.  He was about 20 years old and his teeth were very rotten. 

They shot the moose at 6pm on the second to the last day of hunting. They didn't see any moose before this.  Bryan said "getting the moose was "pure persistence" in that we knew if we kept up the pace, we would eventually get our opportunity & although it finally came on the last evening, that's moose hunting."    Ben saw a white horn first and was shaking with buck fever by the time Todd saw it about 100 yards away.  When the moose took the next step Ben said 'Dad, count to three and then we'll both shoot.' They both hit it; it dropped in its tracks.  After posing for pictures and packing it out, they didn't get to bed until midnight.  Todd says that 7mm really rips things apart.  This is a Really Good Thing.  They are bringing home the cape and horns and a quarter.  Todd said that quarter equals about three island deer.  It has 8 points with a 54 3/4" spread.  Ben said it isn't a typical antler so it looks a bit like a musk ox.  

Todd warned me that if he had any problem getting his rifle back in the states he wouldn't be coming home.  I'll keep you posted.   

October 1
They missed their flight to Denver but avoided paying an extra $480 in luggage fees when the credit card wouldn't work.   This would have been in addition to the $300 they had to pay for three coolers to get the hides and 100lbs of meat home. There were no problems with customs.  We decided to go pick them up at Sea-Tac. The taxidermist met us at the airport. His wife said she would take pictures of the mounting process.  I could see it was hard to let the horns go but at least Ben can pet his bear skin for a few more days while it is stored in the freezer before being processed into a rug.

It was a HUNT OF A LIFETIME.  Not just for Ben, but for Todd, too.  Sharing these experiences created irreplaceable memories for a lifetime of stories.  Now we pray that Ben has a l-o-n-g time to tell them.  This has been an emotional gift that is hard to define. After spending the last year joined at the hip sharing the difficult times, it was difficult for me to be left home. The financial donations equal three years of groceries for my family!  You bet I fully appreciate every penny.  But what gets to me even more than the money is the compassion behind it. And the reason for it.  

...THANK YOU...
Tina, founder of Hunt of a Lifetime
Gerry, donation of  hunt
Lyle and Linda, Lea Meadow Outfitters
Bryan, guide
Crow, arranging gun
Savage, gun
Mac, gun dealer
Randy, taxidermy coordinator
Dan, moose taxidermy
Cabela's, clothes and binoculars
Terry, travel agent
...THANK YOU...


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