After 33 years of applying, I finally drew a Desert bighorn sheep tag in Arizona last fall! One month after drawing the tag, I noticed I was having trouble swallowing. I made an appointment with my doctor to check it out. A CAT Scan didn’t show anything, so the doctor scheduled an endoscopy as the pain and discomfort weren’t going away. The scope revealed a tumor in my esophagus with a high chance of it being cancerous. I tried to explain to the doctor that it couldn’t be cancerous because that could hinder my long-awaited sheep hunt. The doctor was on a different page, so I began a five-week series of chemo and radiation that luckily was a low-dose treatment. I endured better than expected. I was given a month to heal and then was scheduled for surgery to remove two-thirds of my esophagus. The surgery was successful and began a long road of recovery for me.
Thanks to the great staff at Huntin’ Fool as they had purchased PointGuard on my application which allowed me to keep my bonus points. I donated my 2018 tag to Wounded Warriors, and after five months of recovery, luck would have it that I drew a tag again for 2019. I took my son, Jake, with me on this hunt and was able to harvest a great Desert bighorn that scored 173 1/2" with outfitter Sam Dieringer and his wonderful crew.
With thanks to Dr. Sticca and the amazing staff at Sanford Health, I was able to complete the hunt. Thanks also to Huntin’ Fool, Arizona Fish and Game, Sam Dieringer, the Grand Slam Club for putting sheep on the mountain, and those who offered up many prayers throughout this journey.
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