My Tribute to Superman
by Don Martin - Outdoors Writer
Hunt Of A Lifetime - Guide
and Outfitter Coordinator
It is with great sadness that I must report the loss of
Christopher Reeves, whom we all knew as “Superman”.
Superman was just 17-years-old when he succumbed to cancer on
Saturday, August 4 at his home in Jonesboro, AR.
I met Superman a couple of years ago when he was given the
unique opportunity to go on a donated Arizona desert bighorn
sheep hunt. As far as I can tell, it is the only time in Arizona
wildlife history that a desert sheep tag has been donated to
another person.
Arizona resident Norm Pint had been applying for a desert
bighorn sheep tag for over 30 years and as fate would have it,
the year he drew a coveted desert sheep tag for Game Management
Unit 16A, he was taken from his family and the conservation
community in a tragic single vehicle traffic accident.
Through the efforts of the family of Norm Pint, the Arizona Game
& Fish Department and Hunt Of A Lifetime, Norm’s tag was
transferred to a terrific young sportsman from Arkansas who was
16 at the time and whose dream it was to go on a desert sheep
hunt.
It all came together and Superman’s odyssey began in December
2005.
I became involved in the hunt when I was contacted by Terry
Petko, the Arizona Ambassador for Hunt Of A Lifetime, who asked
if I could organize and guide on the hunt.
Others quickly stepped up to help out. First came the offer of
support from the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society. The ADBSS
agreed to cover all of the food expenses associated with the
hunt and committed to send up society members to help on the
hunt.
Other caring individuals from Kingman and even supportive
sportsmen from neighboring Nevada offered to donate their time
and efforts to make Superman’s dream come true.
Members of my business, Arizona Wildlife Outfitters including
head guide Larry Sallee, Dan Reed, Kevin Rodgers and Page
McDonald all agreed to help out on the hunt.
We spent almost a week in the field doing pre-season scouting.
The Arizona Game & Fish Department (Region III) personnel were
very helpful as was Pat Feldt, who owns a guiding business and
had assisted a hunter just a few weeks before in this unit.
Initially we planned to hunt for a week, but due to some
unforeseen medical issues, we learned we would have just two
days to find Reeves a good ram, something that most of us didn’t
think could really happen. But the good Lord stepped in as he
often does to help his children. Bill Luffy from the ADBSS found
the magnificent ram on a far away mesa just after daylight on
the first day out.
Later that day, with AWO guide Larry Sallee at his side, and the
rest of the team watching through spotting scopes and
binoculars, Christopher bagged the ram with one well-placed
shot.
It was interesting to note that no one had ever seen this ram in
this unit before. Not Game & Fish- not any of the guides. But
this day he was there for Superman to take.
His ram was magnificent- and was “green scored” by veteran guide
and ADBSS member Ignacio Beltram at over 162 B&C points, good
enough to make the Arizona record book.
Superman, his family and everyone associated with the hunt were
very happy with the results. It had been a team effort and we
were all pleased that we had a hand in making this young
sportsman’s dream come true.
The very next day Superman was headed back home and to St.
Jude’s Children Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. where he would stay
for most of the remainder of his life.
In August of 2006, I got a call from Cheryl Reeves,
Christopher’s mother, who said he was coming home for a few days
to visit.
Local taxidermist Henry Aguilar, who had donated the costs of
doing the expert taxidermy work on the ram, finished up the
mount and made a special crate to ship it back to the young
sportsman.
I cleared my schedule to take the ram back to Arkansas and
deliver it to Superman, who would be making his first trip home
in over eight months. The ADBSS and Hunt Of A Lifetime made the
trip possible and the ram was delivered to one very surprised,
and yet very ill young man at his Jonesboro home.
The trip back to Kingman was especially hard for me personally
as I pondered if I would ever get to see my special friend and
my new Arkansas family again.
After coming back to Kingman I maintained contact with the
Reeves family and even got to speak to Superman about an elk
hunt we were planning to do as soon as he was able.
Now we’ll never do that hunt here on earth, but at some point in
the future I’m confident I’ll be sitting next to Christopher
when we call in his big bull.
At these times we all ask ourselves why did a great young man
like this get stricken down and ultimately taken from us at such
a young age?
I can’t say I know the answer to those questions. All I can do
is think about what a strong and courageous young man he was,
and despite his youth, what an inspiration he was to all of us.
Christopher loved his family and friends and was a young man who
loved the outdoors.
That love of the outdoors forged a bond with many of us that
transcended state lines and family names. We were all family.
There are a lot of people in Arizona who never had the
opportunity to meet Superman in person, but his loss is as real
to them as it is for me.
One family who signed the guest book at the funeral home said it
perfectly; “We will miss him dearly, but will remember him
always.”
