From time to time this year I've made mention of a moose hunt (my first) that was booked this past January. The hunt was supposed to be the first 7 days of October (last month).
My best friend of 37 years was going with me. He found out in mid-May that he had non-Hopkins lymphoma. He began aggressive treatment immediately. The doctors thought they could eliminate the cancer. I'm happy to report they did!
I kept in touch with the outfitter (SouthPaw in Alberta) throughout the spring and summer to keep them posted. As late as September 19th (his last chemo was Sept. 13) we thought we'd be piling in my truck and making the 2,200 mile trip to begin our hunt on Oct. 1st. He with a compound and me with a TT Titan.
On the 20th he went to the hospital with bronchitis. They admitted him that very day and he spent the next week there. Apparently chemo hammers they white blood cells and Jim couldn't defend himself against the bronchitis.
The outfitter let me postpone our hunt until 2014.
My buddy is getting better and has even spent a few times in his deer stands (Indiana). I think he over does it some. He has confided in me that he has to rest a lot (he is 67 years old) and threw up in the drive-way after coming in from his first hunt. I'll be (God willing) hunting with him the week of Nov. 11th.
This fellow is a carpenter and had been in terrific health. He had hardly ever been sick and definitely not in the hospital until this episode.
I'm hunting deer with the set-up I worked up for Moose. The bow is about 3 pounds heavier in draw than I had been using for white-tail. The arrow is nearly 100 grains heavier than my white-tail arrow from year's past. One doe has fallen to the Moose set-up so far.