Wife developed appendicitis...

TexasSportsman

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I am watching this program on Outdoor America. This guy is on a moose hunt in a remote part of Alaska/Canada. He took a call from his wife on a satellite phone. She explained to him that she is in the hospital because she had severe abdominal pain which turns out to be appendicitis. She's in the final months of her pregnancy. She further explains that surgery so close to her delivery date is very dangerous to the baby. If they don't operate the appendix can burst and she could lose her baby. He feels bad, is sympathetic...but doesn't feel bad enough. He apologizes. There is static on the call and is disconnected. I don't recall if he tries to call her back. He continues the hunt.

The guide is an older man who obviously has kids and grandkids. He has a puzzled look on his face as to why his client decided to keep hunting. He cautiously suggested to his client that the group head back to camp so he can make it to civilization and catch a flight back to be with his wife and future son/daughter. The guy is obviously torn. You can tell by the look on his face. He's thinking, "...should I go back to be with a woman I think I love or should I continue on the hunt that I've planned for months, forked over thousands of dollars and burned a several vacation/comp days for a hunt of a lifetime because I love hunting maybe just a little more...".

The guy tells his guide that they're going to stay the course and keep hunting. He further states that she has family by her side and that she'll be OK. So all the guys, regardless of how they really feel, agree to continue the hunt. In another scene they spy a huge moose behind thick brush and only the massive antlers are visible. The guide tells him he's a fool if he doesn't take the shot on the last day of the hunt. The moose slowly ambles out of sight.

My wife is quietly watching the program. She's checking scores of college football from yesterday. She's from the Philippines and has taken a huge interest in college football as well as hunting and fishing. She accompanies me to the range for practice and is able to shoulder and shoot the AR and Ruger 10/22. She loves the outdoors and has become an avid photographer. I can tell she's waiting for my reaction.

My reaction was an honest one and not to score points with my wife. I honestly stated that he never should have booked the hunt knowing his wife is pregnant. Sure she has family there but she wants HIM there. I realize that many of these hunts are planned several months to a year or more in advance. Deposits can be non-refundable with hundreds or thousands of dollars on the line. But life is full of unexpected events that can kill a trip; family emergencies, the supervisor cancels your vacation due to a project deadline that was moved, you were laid off, your own health that changed dramatically, etc.

If I were to book any kind of expensive hunt I'd buy insurance.

This program also got me to rethink, which is what we should do now and gain, what we value in life and what's important.

What was the outcome of his wife's medical situation? Maybe nothing. Maybe a divorce that cleaned him out and hunting anytime soon is not an option. Maybe they stayed married and she takes every chance to throw this in his face. We'll never know.

What I do know is woman have the memory of an elephant. They may not remember to let you now when 3000 miles has passed on the car for an oil change/tire rotation or when the car makes a strange noise so you can look into it. But they certainly remember every other little thing that remotely rubbed them the wrong way.

Ask me how I know....
 
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I feel sure the hunt was booked long before she became pregnant, that said I would have tried to rebook the hunt for the next year as most outfitters have family and are understanding given some notice, or I would have just cancelled the hunt or passed it to a buddy
 
Being a father and grandfather the decision would have been simple for me. Get back home ASAP or better yet not go on the hunt. However, we are missing any facts from the conversation the husband and wife obviously had before he left. Maybe they had some sort of an agreement that no matter what he would stay and hunt. Just my 2 cents.
 
Being a father and grandfather the decision would have been simple for me. Get back home ASAP or better yet not go on the hunt. However, we are missing any facts from the conversation the husband and wife obviously had before he left. Maybe they had some sort of an agreement that no matter what he would stay and hunt. Just my 2 cents.

That is possible. However in my experience women don't work with the same type of logic men do. I can recall several occasions not only with my wife but with women I briefly dated in the past. They might say its OK to go to to the game, go fishing, go hunting but what she really wants is you to stay with them.

If she says it's ok for you to go to the game, hunt, gun range or hang with the guys she'll be upset later and you'll unsuccessfully try to defend yourself by saying '...you said it was OK for me to go and now your upset because I went, I don't understand. If you didn't want me to go why didn't you just say so?' It's because she wants you to use the same reverse logic she's using. If she says she doesn't mind if you go she really means she wants you to stay. If she says she wants you to stay that really means she wants you to stay. The bottom line is she wants to be at your side no matter what you are doing or want to do.

Ask me how I know...
 
1st mistake: he didn't go home.
2nd mistake: he didn't shoot the moose.

I don't want this guy making any decisions for one of my hunting trips 😂
 
He was in a no win situation. Either way he will catch hell. He gets reamed for not coming back or for wasting the money while there was nothing he could do if there. With women there is no winning......unless they leave!
 
My son was born in Jan.Ya planned it. I went to SA on a 22 day archery trip.I was unemployed.Prepaid already and had lots of trophy fee paid and some in reserve.Called to cancel ,was going to cost me 65%.Well no way I was giving someone that kind of money for zero.I went,arrowed 20+ animals,bought my wife some tanzinite jewlery.Came home and local,shot a Booner moose,then crunched a big 6x6 at 700 yrds,last day of season shot 165'' whitetail trotting to me w/340
 
How about this predicament?

Three of us departed for our long awaited moose hunt in Newfoundland. We leased a new Suburban and hauled our 5'x8' enclosed trailer with all of our gear and coolers. We traveled from NY to Nova Scotia and took the ferry overnight, eventually landing in the central portion of Newfoundland. It essentially took 3 days to get to the lodge.

After the first day of the hunt my buddy gets a phone call that his ailing mother passed away. She had been sick for some time so it wasn't a total surprise. Now what do you do?

True story - I'll leave the conclusion off but some very difficult decisions had to be made.
 
As I was reading through it, I was wondering what the punch line was going to be, then I realized that this was serious. It will definitely make for some good jokes. Unfortunately for the guy/idiot, his life is over. I have a friend who was out duck hunting when his girlfriend's father died. Someone got in touch with him that night and told him. He decided to hunt the next morning before returning home to be with her. She was so impressed and happy that he showed up. That was until he admitted that he found out the night before and decided to go hunting that morning before heading out. Their relationship ended that day..
 

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