It must have been a week after returning to my home in Texas when I gave Gerald a call. I knew he had a round of chemo scheduled during the week and I was anxious to see how things had gone, let him know I was thinking of him and wishing him well. Instead of Gerald it was his wife who answered the telephone. She had great news. It seemed that the morning prior to his trip to the hospital for additional chemo Gerald snuck out in the dark of morning with bow in hand to chase elk and had scored on Mr. Big--the biggest bull he had ever taken! With a few phone calls to family and friends to help take care of his downed elk Gerald was able to keep his chemo appointment. I couldn’t help but glance westward toward New Mexico, imagining the glow I could see in the sky was Gerald’s huge and bright smile reflecting across his bald head yet again!
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I understood how lucky I was to have met and hunted with a person of Gerald’s character, something I sincerely wish all reading this could have the opportunity to experience. Gerald was a truly good person and it was an honor to have gotten to know him. I absolutely looked forward to sharing time both in and out of the woods with Gerald and his family once more.
With so much focus today placed on how fast bows are, how big antlers are or how many record book animals are in a trophy room, it’s an honor to meet someone like Gerald who really knows what’s important in life. Spending time with Gerald in a blind during our first turkey hunt together, as well as with his family, left an indelible impression on me, an impression that, although I’m not a writer, prompted me to commit some of my memories to words after that first hunt. Over the course of the year to come I never knew just how important writing down my feelings would become. The year 2006 won’t be my most memorable because I shot a trophy with a broadhead it took years to develop, or of my first-ever elk that was well above Pope and Young minimums. It will be treasured because of the time spent with Gerald and the entire Ortega family; and the friendship that had grown to Boone and Crockett proportions. That is the essence of what I hunt for. Meeting new friends and building relationships that last a lifetime.
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New Years day, 1 January 2007: Yesterday I received the phone call. Gerald had lost his fight with cancer. It left me with such a heavy heart that I was at a loss as to what to write in an effort to describe my thoughts and feelings. I did know that for Gerald to have been taken from our lives so early meant that God must have truly needed a right-hand man for assisting in accomplishing all He does. There could be no better choice than Gerald Ortega. While for some it may take years to get to truly know someone, to appreciate the full scope of their character, in Gerald’s case--for those fortunate enough to have met him--it took less than one day. Gerald simply resonated with an appreciation for life, family and care for his community. He carried with him the faith and the determination to enjoy every single day of life and all the experiences it brought, all with an incessant sense of humor and an easy smile on his face. I knew the first day I met Gerald just how blessed I was to spend time with him. That was what compelled me to write a story about the time I spent with Gerald, sharing this with the world. As would have been clearly seen in the tall, wet grass that Gerald Ortega hiked through while chasing the elk he so loved to hunt, he had left big tracks on my heart as well.
May he rest in peace--when he’s not chasing elk in the lush meadows of heaven.…
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