Kuiu Jason Hairston RIP

Yes, I was shocked and saddened to hear of his passing. My deepest condolences to his family and friends. I enjoyed his passion for the outdoors and hunting. Very sad
 
Spent a lot of time in his show room in Dixon and bought a lot of Kuiu clothing over the years, felt like I knew him. Very sad day, prayers out to his family.
 
Very saddened by this. Jason was an amazing guy. Truly an innovator of amazing hunting gear!
Prayers for his family!
 
hmmmm.....russian colluders killed him....???


497fc2397b939f19.jpg
 
My thoughts and prayers are with his family as well. He was a very personable guy, and will be missed.

hwy
 
I talked with several buddies who knew him (I did not) and they confirmed that he shot himself. I won't go into details they shared but apparently both kids were home when he did it. Horrible tragedy and traumatic for his kids and rest of family.
 
You know, if I died and my family and friends where mourning over the tragedy, I would hope people wouldn't assume and speculate suicide. I mean how in the heck does anyone know? It's only people who say it in a thread like this then people spread the rumors. My bet is he wasn?t even close to being suicidal, and that it was an accident while sheep hunting. But if I say that, than I'm speculating as well so we should all just wait until we have more detail.

Either way it's real sad.
 
It's crazy to think from an outsiders perspective he had everything. I hope for his families sake it was an accident but very sad either way.
 
I didn't know who he was....sad deal for sure.

Hairston was then a commercial real estate agent and founded the hunting gear company Sitka in 2005. He sold the company to Gore-Tex in 2009.[2] In 2010, he founded Kuiu,[3] which had expected sales of $50 million in 2016.[1][4]
Hairston is friends with Donald Trump Jr. and in March 2017 accepted a position as liaison to the United States Department of the Interior and hunting groups on conservation and public lands issues.[
 
Sad news. He certainly fast tracked a start up business and helped move the hunting clothing/gear industry forward. Thoughts and Prayers to the family.
 
This was posted on another site, so sad. He did talk about his football head injuries a few times.

Quote Originally Posted by ElkElkGoose View Post
I think I just had a discussion with a buddy of mine of how jealous we are that he gets to live out our dream everyday. Just shows how you need to find a way to be happy with whatever current place you are at in life. We always think if I only had x in my life Id be happy. Not true, youll just want something else. Happiness comes from within. Anthony Bordain is another good example. You watch his show "Parts Unknown " and think jeez his life is amazing. There are lessons to be learned from everyone's situation and an opportunity to reflect on your current self.
 
All everybody sees is whats on the outside. You never know whats going on inside until you walk a mile in their boots. R.I.P My prayers are with his family
 
Only got to meet Jason once but he seemed like a great guy we talked hunting big blacktails like we'd hunted together our whole lives. U will be missed RIP Jason
 
No mention of suicide in this news article.

RELH
________________________________________________________


Jason Hairson, a former NFL player and Donald Trump Jr.'s friend, died at age 47.


Former NFL player Jason Hairston, who joined Donald Trump Jr. on a hunting trip just weeks ago, died at age 47, his company announced Wednesday.


KUIU, the hunting gear company that Hairston founded, announced the ?tragic passing.?

?We are shocked and saddened to announce the tragic passing of KUIU founder Jason Hairston. His legacy lives on in KUIU?s spirit of relentless innovation,? the company wrote on its social media pages.

Trump also paid tribute to his late friend, who he went hunting with in Yukon, Canada, in late August. He called his hunting partner ?an inspiration to all outdoorsmen and women for generations to come.?

?Jason, I have no words. I will always remember our adventures and sharing a campfire with you. They will be some of my fondest experiences in the outdoors. You were and will continue to be an inspiration to all outdoorsmen and women for generations to come. Thanks for the friendship and the memories buddy. I'm going to miss you. R.I.P,? Trump wrote in a tribute post on Instagram.

Hairston grew up in Orange County, Calif., and played for the San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos before he retired at 24 due to neck problems, according to KUIU?s website. He became a successful businessman after retiring from the sport and launched a company focused on hunting gear, which he was passionate about.

Hairston had posted several photos of his outings with Trump. He and his family also paid a visit to the White House last December.

The former linebacker also spoke openly about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease found in athletes and others who have repetitive brain trauma.


"I played linebacker, and the way I played the game, I led with my head. I played the way they tell us not to play now," Hairston said in a 2016 interview with CNBC. "I have all the symptoms of CTE."
 
The fact that no news reports or official posts on social media are stating it was a ?hunting accident? leads me to believe that is was very possibly suicide. People usually always try to skirt the subject on how people died when it was self inflicted, and almost always forthcoming when it was indeed an accident. When Roy Roth died a few years ago, immediately in every post I read, it stated it was an accident. None of the official posts concerning Jason has even hinted that an accident took place
 
>The KUIU website says he took
>his own life on Sept.
>4th.


----"We are incredibly saddened to report that Jason Hairston, the visionary leader and founder of KUIU, was found dead at his home in Dixon, CA on Sept. 4, 2018. He took his own life. He is survived by his wife Kirstyn and 2 children. The family has requested that donations be made to support CTE-related research at the Boston University Concussion Legacy Foundation in lieu of sending flowers."
 
>>The KUIU website says he took
>>his own life on Sept.
>>4th.
>
>
>----"We are incredibly saddened to report
>that Jason Hairston, the visionary
>leader and founder of KUIU,
>was found dead at his
>home in Dixon, CA on
>Sept. 4, 2018. He took
>his own life. He is
>survived by his wife Kirstyn
>and 2 children. The family
>has requested that donations be
>made to support CTE-related research
>at the Boston University Concussion
>Legacy Foundation in lieu of
>sending flowers."


Do you have a link to this? I can't find it on their website.
 
>>>The KUIU website says he took
>>>his own life on Sept.
>>>4th.
>>
>>
>>----"We are incredibly saddened to report
>>that Jason Hairston, the visionary
>>leader and founder of KUIU,
>>was found dead at his
>>home in Dixon, CA on
>>Sept. 4, 2018. He took
>>his own life. He is
>>survived by his wife Kirstyn
>>and 2 children. The family
>>has requested that donations be
>>made to support CTE-related research
>>at the Boston University Concussion
>>Legacy Foundation in lieu of
>>sending flowers."
>
>
>Do you have a link to
>this? I can't find it
>on their website.

https://www.kuiu.com/about-us.html

BOHNTR )))---------->
 
I hate to agree with Homer but yeah, making good hunting jackets doesn't make you a hero. he made his choice.

My biggest concern is where does the company go from here.









Stay Thirsty My Friends
 
>
>I hate to agree with Homer
>but yeah, making good
>hunting jackets doesn't make you
>a hero. he made
>his choice.
>
>My biggest concern is where does
>the company go from here.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Stay Thirsty My Friends

who cares....I still wear carharts and wranglers....




497fc2397b939f19.jpg
 
My biggest concern is his wife and kids. And it's pretty common for people to send flowers at a funeral, all they are saying is they'd rather see any money people would plan to spend on that be sent to a good cause instead.

A man I dead and a family is left to pick up the pieces, and some on here are critical. What the heck have we become? Some people ought to be ashamed of themselves right now.
 
I did not know the person, but I would not be quick to judge him or his actions due to him taking his own life.
We do not know what his medical conditions were with the brain injury. Maybe it was getting worse where he was facing a painful lingering death and decided to end the suffering before he became a vegetable laying comatose in a bed until death.

I have seen this happen a few times in my law enforcement career as a Deputy-coroner where the victim had a terminal illness such as cancer.

RELH
 
-1 Homer

+1 Vanilla

Asking for donations to a worthy cause is a class act during what is likely the most difficult time in his family's life. Two young kids lost a father to a horrible disease and that should be remembered.

Requesting donations to study brain trauma and the lasting effects, which are only recently becoming known, is a selfless request and the intention should be respected.

Grizzly
 
RELH, I get where you're coming from but he wasn?t anywhere near dying from CTE. A few weeks ago, he was hunting in the Yukon with Trump Jr. and killed a fabulous ram. After that, he took his son caribou hunting in Alaska, returning just a couple days before the end. Before that it was Bora Bora and St. Tropez. He was living large these last few months.
 
>He was living
>large these last few months.

Maybe on the outside. He has described himself in the past as having the symptoms of CTE, which include depression.

I get the feeling that those critical of people who take their own life after fighting depression have been fortunate to not deal with mental illness in their own lives.

I've seen it firsthand and it can be as real and damaging as cancer, chronic pain, and a myriad of other ailments.

And the poor kids left behind will wonder what they did to cause their dad to leave them. When in fact there was nothing they could do to help him.

It's a horrible disease. It's real. And its too often fatal.

It's one of the worst things a family can go through as the questions and hurt can never be answered. My heart breaks for those kids. Nobody should have to go through that.

Grizzly
 
We do not know if a doctor may have given him bad news about his medical condition that would result in drastic changes to his health in the near future. Maybe and that is a big maybe is why he decided to get these last hunts in with people he enjoyed being with. I will not judge him and hope the best for his family that must suffer though this lost.

RELH
 
From "Quicksand" by Bill Heavey in Field & Stream

"Your altered brain believes these distortions. You should loathe yourself. You are weak. Then, as the quicksand reaches your chin, depression unveils its ultimate seduction. There is a way to stop the pain. Suicide, once unthinkable, becomes not just possible but logical. At my worst, I remember standing on a subway platform, feeling the column of cool air pushing ahead of the inbound train, thinking how two steps forward would end the suffering. I couldn't tell you what stopped me. I guess I wasn?t done fighting that particular day.

A few months back, I was fishing the Potomac with a guy I know only casually, one of the best all-around outdoorsmen I've ever met. He?s a loner and supremely capable. I'm not sure why he thinks well of me, but I treasure the fact that he seems to. This day, I noticed him staring at the water as much as casting. That surprised me. I knew little about him, but I sensed the colors under which depression travels. The vacuum of emptiness and despair. We weren't tight, but we were friends. I realized that maybe this was the one place I had more experience. And that to say nothing would be a betrayal of that friendship.

I kept fishing, not looking at him, and told him my story. How it had taken too long for me to recognize my depression. The full horror it had visited upon me. My certainty that if anyone had seen the real me, they couldn't have gotten away fast enough. I told him about the subway platform. That acknowledging my depression had been the hardest thing I'd ever done but had likely saved my life. How seeking help had shown me that I wasn?t alone, that hope was real.

And then, for once, I shut up. Twice Tommy started to speak, choked it back. Finally, he croaked the words, ?How long?? Almost 40 years now, I said. ?How?d?​you get through?? Therapy, medication, and a few close friends. The shadow never went away but could be controlled. But that's just me.

Hope, I thought, really is a miracle. And it's as real as the river itself."

https://www.fieldandstream.com/sportsmans-life-quicksand
 
Grizz
Good post!
Sometimes we could maybe help if we just truly understood and maybe if we listened to what is being said even when it is silence.
 
>The fact that no news reports
>or official posts on social
>media are stating it was
>a ?hunting accident? leads me
>to believe that is was
>very possibly suicide. People usually
>always try to skirt the
>subject on how people died
>when it was self inflicted,
>and almost always forthcoming when
>it was indeed an accident.
>When Roy Roth died a
>few years ago, immediately in
>every post I read, it
>stated it was an accident.
>None of the official posts
>concerning Jason has even hinted
>that an accident took place
>

So so so so very true!!!
 
Human decency used to be a thing.

Whether it was CTE, depression, or any number of other reasons, or no reason at all, there is a man dead and a wife and kids left behind to pick up the pieces of their lives.

But I guess according to some, since they have a lot of money, it's no big deal. They?re rich...so, who cares? I ask again, what have we become?

Prayers to the friends and family that lost a loved one. These are hard times, for sure.
 
"Human decency used to be a thing."

Very true. Only a chuckle-head would be obtuse in a situation like this.

Yeah, you know who you are...
 
Of the various sites I frequent, this is the only one where Hairston's death took this kind of turn. Sometimes it's best to just not say anything at all. Prayers for his family. mtmuley
 
Playing football is a choice too. nobody put a gun to his head besides him.

Nobody is laughing, nobody is saying it's good. some of us just don't think he's anymore special than the other 121 people who'll kill themselves today in America.











Stay Thirsty My Friends
 
You are right ocho he is just 1 of maybe 121 that committed suicide that day and he is no more important than any other of the 121 but he is the one we new about or new in a way so he was important to some on this site.
 
To many people Jason was important.To his wife and 2 kids and friends I'm sure he was very important and a hero.
Jason IMO revolutionized a standard for extremely well made and comfortable hunting gear. From Sitka to KUIU he changed hunting gear for me forever. He pushed many other brands to compete at new levels and develop products that they might not have even considered.
RIP Jason!!
 
Not a Kuiu fan, but I appreciate that he drove the industry to keep making clothing and gear better!
This is so sad for his family and friends. I pray for his children who will pay the most through there life, trying to understand this tragedy? My children fight to understand the lose of there mother from suicide also... (if it was actually suicide)
And as my father has always told me, be glad we don't understand when people do selfish or terrible things, or we most certainly are in the same place as they are...
I'm sure we all have had some bad times, but I'm blessed to know that ?life, isn't that bad?!
Again this is terrible!
And again my prayers go to his children who will suffer the most...
R.I.P. Jason Hairston
 
I was very sad when I heard of this. I have met Jason and he seemed very nice and driven. I was Mad when I heard he took his life as I couldn't believe he would do that to his wife and kids but the more I thought about it the more it only made since that his brain was not functioning like a normal brain does and I cannot judge his actions as I have no idea what was going through his head. I believe he loved his family very much and would never intend to cause them any pain had his mind been working correctly.
Jason may you RIP!
 
Prayers for his family as they work through this.

Asking for donations to an organization that is doing good work in lieu of flowers is normal and appropriate. Don't be a douche because you are a hater.

I hate that anyone has to face the demons that he was apparently facing. But if reports are true and he killed himself when he was alone at home with his two kids and his son is the one who found him..........that is freaking self-centered as hell. Taking your own life is going to have a profound effect on the lives of your children. But doing so in that manner is unforgivable for me. Suicide is self-centered. Doing it that way shows zero love for his children.
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-07-18 AT 06:41PM (MST)[p]Outstanding link Griz.
Almost daily, my profession put me in the path of many who were in a "bad place". Unfortunately at some point, most all of us will find ourselves in that same local. Unless you know someone you love and respect who has sunk into the depths of despair, it is easy to make a harsh judgement.
A solemn reminder that we all need to more frequently take in the vistas of life and let it sink in a bit deeper.
Prayers to Jason's loved ones.
 
>donations???....really???
>
>
>all this hero worship bores me
>to tears....
>
>
>
497fc2397b939f19.jpg


You might be the worlds biggest ******** prick




))))----------->
 
>
>
>Playing football is a choice too.
> nobody put a
>gun to his head besides
>him.
>
>Nobody is laughing, nobody is saying
>it's good. some of us
>just don't think he's anymore
>special than the other 121
>people who'll kill themselves today
>in America.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Stay Thirsty My Friends

And nobody said he was any more special than any other suicide victim. A couple of posters tried to. mtmuley
 
>RELH, I get where you're
>coming from but he wasn?t
>anywhere near dying from CTE.
>A few weeks ago, he
>was hunting in the Yukon
>with Trump Jr. and killed
>a fabulous ram. After
>that, he took his son
>caribou hunting in Alaska, returning
>just a couple days before
>the end. Before that it
>was Bora Bora and St.
>Tropez. He was living
>large these last few months.
>


Will say you have absolutely zero clue what was going through his mind. If you dont or havent dealt with severe depression i recommend keeping your comments about what people do and dont go through to yourself.

Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"
 
Sad sad deal for sure!

Jason was a good man. He helped change, and create a new hunting clothing market: Light Weight and Comfortable.

He was gracious, always willing to chat and share knowledge.

RIP Jason, and prayers for your family.
 
Ocho, I thought you had some decency, I was wrong. Homer just needs to shut his pie hole, or just go away. Jason was a good man, way better than the both of you will ever be. I have very little respect for someone who takes their life when they have young kids, but he had issues I'll never understand.

hwy
 
Thanks for sharing, fleshy.

Hopefully it helps us all to be introspective. I know it's easy to pop off anonymously online, but as I said above, human decency is still an acceptable quality.
 
After reading that article I cant help but feel heartbroken for his son! Yes, we cant put ourselves in anyone's shoes that commits suicide, but damn, to kill yourself while your own child is home.... That's messed up. The trauma that kid now has is most likely incurable. At 10 years old to find your dad dead, by his own hands and to have to call 911. It makes me feel sick.
 
I read it....it's moving. CTE must be awful...
...but at this point in human history, I'm betting alot more men have blown their brains out from having to endure a bad relationship than being hit on the head multiple times.....

chew me up for this....I can take it.




497fc2397b939f19.jpg
 
Homer I seem to remember when Yelum passed you pledged to be a little kinder.


I know you are saying he's not a hero, but he was a fellow hunter and a family man. That deserves some respect.
 
Met Jason at the hunt Expo years ago, you could tell he truly loved what he did and truly loved his product. Stand up guy that was very humble did not seem full of his self one bit. I admired that about him. His vision change the outdoor world
 

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