THE MIRACLE

In 2004 Bert Brundige was running grader on a logging road in the rugged Oregon coast range. That is what Bert has always done for a living. He carves roads out of some of the steepest, thickest, roughest country they make so that log trucks weighing as much as 90,000 pounds can bring their payload out of those mountains. He was in a spot that had service when My brother David Backen called him.

“Want some good news Brundige?” Bert needed some good news. His wife had only a short time left to live, and we all knew it.

“Sure,” Bert said, not expecting anything like he was about to hear.

“You drew a desert sheep tag in Nevada.” Having all but given up on ever hunting sheep, Bert had drawn one of the most sought after and difficult tags in the country. With only six points he had drawn unit 263 in southern Nevada. Miracle number one.

Bert booked with outfitter and friend Ron Biggs of Wild West Taxidermy and Guide Service of Fallon Nevada. Accompanied by friends David Backen, Darren Paschke, Mike Jackson and Darrel Mitchell, Bert headed south of Las Vegas in December of 2004 for his first attempt at a wild sheep. Nobody could ask for a better crew. They are all close friends and all very skilled hunters. Bert took a beautiful 167-inch Nelson desert bighorn. He was hooked. That special spell that only wild sheep can cast had taken hold. Having what is arguably the most difficult sheep of the four under his belt, thoughts of completing a FNAWS began to germinate.

In 2006, Bert booked a hunt with Terry Overly of Pioneer Outfitters in the St. Elias Mountains in Alaska. In 2007, with son Blair and good friend Andy Kahn, Bert rode horseback deep into the Alaskan mountains. His Dall’s sheep required an elevenhour hike both ways.

According to the tape measure this Dall’s would not have broken any records, but there is something about what a sheep puts you through and where he takes you that makes every sheep a true trophy. This was a hunt that holds a special place for Bert.

In 2014, Bert booked a hunt for Stone’s sheep with the Collingwood Brothers of British Columbia. In 2016, he made a solo trip with guide Reg Collingwood into Bug Lake and rode horseback into Ice Breaker Camp. On the third day, Bert took a beautiful 12½-year-old Stone’s ram. This FNAWS thing was starting to come together.

As is often the case, about the time a man thinks he has the world by the tail, the world will challenge him and do its best to defeat him. The entire list of challenges is too long to list, but to give you the gist, after losing his wife to cancer, Bert fell victim to ruptured disks in his lower back, ever worsening arthritis, intestinal issues and above all, an unstoppable degeneration of his eyesight. Many times, Bert was close to giving up on hunting altogether, let alone sheep hunting. But his lifelong love of the hunt and wild places was too strong. With help and encouragement from friends and family and a solid faith in God, Bert kept finding ways to make it work.

By 2018, Bert’s right eye had become so dim that he had to learn to shoot left-handed. If there was to be any hope of this FNAWS working out, it would have to be sooner rather than later.

So, in 2019, alongside his son Blair and nephew Brandon Stokes, he bid on and won a Rocky Mountain bighorn hunt with Chad Lentz of Savage Encounters of Alberta, Canada. Well, you probably know where this is going. Good old Covid-19 came and the Canadian border was closed for nearly two years. Meanwhile, Bert’s physical challenges continued to get worse.

A ruptured disk meant that horses, and therefore Alberta, were out of the question.

As I mentioned, Bert has a strong group of family and friends that encouraged him to stay with it and provided the help necessary. During these years, Bert had done some hunting and fishing trips with friend and outfitter Jerrod Farr of White Cloud Outfitting in Challis, Idaho.

Jerrod’s father Scott Farr of Farr Better Gunworks builds very excellent, very accurate rifles. Bert purchased a 6.5 PRC with a muzzle break. Even though it meant giving up his beloved 300 Win Mag, this light-recoiling, precision rifle made it much easier for Bert to execute shots from the left shoulder. Jerrod and Bert talked a few times about how special it would be if Bert could finish his FNAWS with the rifle built by Jerrod’s father. Jerrod and Bert had become close friends and Jerrod assured him that if he could get a tag in his part of Idaho, he would get Bert an opportunity at a ram despite the physical challenges.

So one last time, Bert applied for Rocky Mountain sheep in Oregon, Nevada, and Idaho. In June of 2022 Bert was blessed with miracle number two. His son Blair called to tell him he himself had not drawn, “but by the way Dad, you did.” The news struck Bert with an overwhelming mix of emotions. Truly unsure if he still had what it would take, he was in tears.

Sheep hunts have a way of bringing out your friends. Not the kind you never knew you had, but the kind you always knew you could count on. They show up and prove it. Despite the pain and poor eyesight, Bert and his son Blair worked out a system that required the two of them working together to make a rifle shot. I watched this process. It required a tremendous amount of focus and patience on both of their parts. At first, I had my doubts but as the hunt grew closer, I began to see that there was a chance. If given the time, Bert was scoring consistent hits out to 400 yards.

A week before the hunt, Bert’s back was becoming more and more of a problem. Trying to walk it out, a quarter mile from his house he had to call his wife to come pick him up. The pain was simply too bad to make it back. If you have ever had a disc blow out and mash your nerves against the bones in your spine, then I need to say no more. If you have never been treated to that special experience, just know, there are no words in the English language that do it justice. Nearly blind and immobilized by pain, this last sheep did not seem possible.

At some point, out of desperation Bert took a couple of Advil. A significant portion of the pain disappeared. Now Advil might be a fine product, but Bert will be the first to tell you that it was a much higher power than anything contained in those little pills that took that pain from him. Miracle number three.

The drive to Idaho would surely be too much to ask of Bert’s back, so

Bert, Blair and David boarded good friend Blake Kennerly’s Cessna 414A and flew to Salmon, Idaho. They were met there by nephew Brandon Stokes and his wife Kristi. Everyone was ready and anxious to help Bert fulfill this dream. Remember what I said about friends you can count on.

Jerrod Farr had advised Bert to apply for an area in Idaho which had some roads that made the sheep more accessible. A few days before the hunt a huge wildfire caused the Forest Service to close most of the roads to vehicle traffic. Jerrod knew where there was a group of 13 rams that a few days prior would have been an easy drive. Now they would have to walk. A ten-mile hike resulted in a failed stalk. When you cannot see well and your legs don’t respond due to pinched nerves, it is hard to be stealthy on rough ground.

Fortunately, Jerrod had been seeing another ram in another accessible piece of country.

They all hiked back out to try an evening attempt on this ram. David and Blake went in above the area where the ram had been seen. It wasn’t long before they had him spotted. They signaled the others to come in from below. In an outstanding bit of luck, Bert was able to work his way to a spot below the ram where he was only visible through one narrow gap in the brush and rocks.

Bert was able to get the rifle set up and with Blair’s help he was confident that what he could see was the crosshairs on the sheep. Shooting form your non-dominant side can feel incredibly awkward. Bert focused and squeezed the trigger. The ram fell on the edge of a ledge 200 yards above. One last kick sent the ram rolling down through the rockslide, nearly stopping at Bert’s feet. Jerrod simply said, “This just doesn’t happen. Somebody really loves you.” A wonderful 11-½ year old ram scoring 169 inches was testament to that. Miracle number four.

Nearly everything that could go wrong in this quest did. However, everything that had to go right, also did. It was a lesson in perseverance, a lesson in suffering and a lesson in blessings. It all Happened the way it did for a reason. Maybe someday we will know the reason. For now, we simply accept it for the miracle it was. Hopefully we can all draw some inspiration from Bert’s miracle. WS recent