Christophers
Story by Terry Petko
Each of these hunts shown has a story behind it, each of them
special, but one story stood out this year and I'd like to share
it with you all.....
Earlier in 2005 Tina Pattison the founder of the Hunt Of A Lifetime
Foundation, a group dedicated to providing hunting and fishing
opportunities to children with life threatening illnesses,
contacted me, their Arizona Ambassador, with a hunt request from
a youngster in Arkansas who had been battling cancer. Now in
remission, Christopher wanted to go on a Bighorn sheep hunt.
With our new tag transfer legislation in place I had been able to
place every youngster the national office sent me a request for
on a hunt but when I received this request I had to call Tina
and ask her if she knew that Bighorn sheep was a once in a
lifetime draw in Arizona and we had virtually no chance of
filling this hunt wish.
When our kids send in their wish applications they are asked for a
first and second choice. This application only had a first
choice and I had to ask Tina if he had a second choice I might
be able to help with. She said no Christopher had been asked
that and he was set on hunting Bighorn sheep or nothing, It had
been a lifelong dream of his. I hung up feeling a bit
discouraged to say the least.
Well a couple of months had passed and I was reading a thread on
another site that talked about an Arizona bowhunter named Norm
Pint who had been killed in a car wreck. You could tell from the
responses that this man had been held in high esteem by some of
Arizonas finest bowhunters and though I had never had the
pleasure of meeting him, his accident saddened me. A few weeks
later I received a call from Dick King the President of the
Arizona Bowhunters Association. He asked me if we had a
youngster who could use a Bighorn sheep tag. Well to say I was
elated would be an understatement. That is until Dick informed
me that it was due to Norm's death that the tag had become
available. You see Norm had been applying for his sheep tag for
33 years and had finely drawn one of the coveted tags. I told
Dick we did indeed have a youngster who could use the tag.
After getting off the phone with Dick I called Tina and then
Christopher. Christopher wasn't home when I first called but
walked in as I was talking to his mom. She put him on the phone
and I asked him if he still wanted to go on a Bighorn Sheep
hunt.
Now I had the pleasure of offering hunts to a lot of kids this year
but bar none Christopher was the most excited youngster I had
talked to. You could tell this hunt was truly a special dream of
his...
We got off the phone and the planning started. Don Martin with
Arizona Wildlife Outfitters agreed to guide Christopher on this
hunt and a couple of days later I got a phone call from the
Arizona Desert Bighorn Society informing me they had 16 members
who were willing to glass and scout for Christophers hunt.
Donations for Travel, Taxidermy and meat processing soon
followed. Arrangements were quickly coming together and
Christopher was set to spend a week in Arizona Desert sheep
country with some of the finest sportsmen and women I have ever
known..
Things were going well until 3 days before Christophers hunt. I
received a call from Christophers Mom and she had bad news.
Christopher had gone in for some routine blood work before his
trip and they discovered that he now had leukemia and the
doctors weren't sure if he could go on the hunt. I called Don
who was ready to head out and we decided to go ahead as if
things were going to happen and hope for the best .
Christopher's mom called me that Thursday and told me the doctors
had agreed to let Christopher come out for his hunt but now
instead of a week long hunt he would fly in on Friday, go in for
blood work at a local hospital on Saturday morning, and if
everything looked good he would meet the guys in camp and hunt
through Sunday. Christopher would need to be at St. Judes
Childrens Hospital on Monday.
I called Don Friday morning and let him know what was going on and
he agreed to have Paige with AWO pick Christopher up and take
him to the hospital and then to camp. He also told me that he
and the AZDBSS guys had been splitting up into teams of 4 and
scouring the desert for sheep since Tuesday and had not had any
sightings to speak of. He was sounding a bit discouraged but I
told him I had a feeling this hunt was meant to be and to keep
doing what they had been.
Saturday morning as Paige was driving Christopher out to camp Don
started getting calls from one group then another, by the time
Christopher got to camp all 4 groups had spotted herds of sheep
with Rams and one had a whopper Ram. When Christopher got to
camp they took him out and He and AWO guide Larry Sallee made a
one hour stalk on the Ram setting Christopher up for a 100 yard
shot....One shot was all it took and Christopher had his
Ram.....
Christopher went home having fulfilled his dream of a lifetime and
began his fight with Cancer anew. He went back in to St Judes
this last weekend for a Bone Marrow Transplant and I'd like to
ask all of you to pray for him.
I was invited to Speak at the Arizona Bowhunters Association's
Annual Banquet last night and tell the story of this hunt for
Norm Pints Family and the Association Membership...this was
quite an honor. Don had sent down the horns from Christophers
hunt so that Norm's family could see them at the banquet. I have
them at the house today and am in awe at their beauty and more
so by what they represent.
This event wasn't about trad hunter vs compound hunter or bowhunter
vs rifle hunter; it was about people sharing a common concern
for a fellow hunter and pitching in together to achieve a noble
end.
I am truly humbled to have been a part of all this and offer my
sincerest thanks to each and every one of you.... Terry
Christophers
Story by Terry Petko
