Camper_A1
Very Active Member
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- 1,052
After 17 years my son had drawn the Early Rifle tag on the Wasatch. We were pretty excited and looking forward to finally spending some time together on a hunt. He had hunted with me when he was younger but with sports in High School and friends that didn’t hunt we didn’t get out as much as I would’ve liked. He lived out of state for 5 plus years and finally moved back a few years ago. The whole time I kept putting him in for the draws with hope that one day we could share a hunt together again. We had some trail cameras out and spent time scouting and checking cameras over the summer. We had a pretty solid game plan for the opening. We would chase bugles in the morning and sit water in the afternoon. On Tuesday before the start of the hunt I had a friend and coworker inform me he had tested positive for Covid-19, then on Thursday of that week he was hospitalized. I started to feel off on that Wednesday before the opener but kept telling myself I would be fine. My wife kept telling me I should stay home and I kept telling her no, no I have to go it’s been 17 years in the making. I struggled some on Friday but Saturday morning we were up and excited to get hunting. After a couple hours we found 5 bulls chasing cows up on a steep hill. We started after them and I could go 10 feet and it would take me 10 minutes to feel like I could finally catch my breath. We made the decision that I needed to go home. My son by now was also starting to show symptoms. I tested positive that day and was told to isolate for 10 days. My son tested positive on Monday and told to isolate for 14 days. This put an end to our hunt after about 3 hours of hunting. I debated with myself as to whether to share this or not. My wife and I were vaccinated and my son and coworker weren’t. I feel vaccinations are a personal choice and I respect that. I know there is a lot of debate between people and I don’t want to debate any of that here. I want people to know Covid-19 is real and affecting people around you. It affects each of us in different ways and we don’t know how our bodies are going to react to it. Whether you are vaccinated or not you can still pass it to others and vaccinated or not you can still get Covid-19. I’m sure I was infected by my coworker and then I infected both my wife and son before any of us knew we had it. Please make a choice to protect and respect your family, friends and coworkers from this. I know he didn’t intentionally infect me but he should have stayed home when he had symptoms. My son finally went back to work last Wednesday but he suffered with diarrhea, headaches, back aches and lost 16 pounds. My wife spent 6 days in the hospital and is now home on oxygen full time and struggling to regain her health. I have recovered but it took a while. We contacted the UDWR and returned his tag along with our medical statements. They said he may receive his points back after they review it. My hope with sharing this is someone will read it, and not put anyone thru what we have gone thru. Hope you all have some fun and successful hunts this fall.