On one sunny morning Dad and I got up and went hunting. We found two tracks: a big tom and a female. The female track looked a day fresher so we turned our hounds, Speck, Buster, and Sally on her. After about an hour we decided to try the big tom, because we weren't having any luck on the female. We were hunting in Bell Canyon. It is the roughest country I have ever been in. The thing we did wrong was turning the dogs out after 1 p.m. because it was the time of year where it got dark at 5:30 p.m. The track was fresh and red hot. We had the dogs in the dog box and they could smell the track. We turned the dogs loose and within an hour they had the lion jumped. They were on a chase! Dad and I drove the four-wheelers about a mile or two up the road. We saw the lion track and then came the dogs. It was about 2:30 p.m. and we were able to stop the dogs for a split second to feed them a bite to eat. My dad wanted to pull the dogs off the track and go home, but I didn't want to. All that kept going through my mind was if we pull the dogs off a track this fresh, they might  think they were doing something wrong. Dad told me it was my decision.

    The dogs kept that lion rolling until they hit the bottom of the canyon and couldn't make it up. My dad then crawled down into the canyon and he lifted the dogs up to me. Bell Canyon is mostly rock and oak brush, and the oak brush is really thick up
there. The snow was two to three feet deep.

    It was beginning to get dark and there were no dogs. We could hear them treeing off in the distance. I was so happy they had that big lion treed, but then I was angry because no dogs. Those dogs meant so much to my dad. I knew that if anything
happened to them, I would just die. We were almost out of gas so my dad sent me back to get more. I drove a few miles to get to the pickup, and then called my mom. I was very upset because it was almost dark and no dogs. I waited for my mom and sister to come, and then we went back to find my dad. He was walking up the road looking very sad. He told us he could hear the dogs, and they did have the lion treed. He told us that he could probably go get the dogs, but he didn't want to risk it in the dark. I cried on the way home because I had lost the dogs. My dad had tears in his eyes because he didn't get the lion for me.

    When we got home I went to my room and cried. It was eating me up inside because those dogs were out there by themselves. I was beside myself. My dad came into my room and spoke his last words to me. He told me that he would go back and get the dogs and the lion the next day. I didn't care about the lion. All I wanted was those dogs back. Then he said the words I will cherish for the rest of my life, "I love you Sis. Goodnight." My little sister Ashley was up the morning when he left to go get the dogs and said her last goodbyes.

    The next day a nasty blizzard hit. My mom wouldn't let me go with my dad. My dad got my Uncle Paul, and they headed to Bell Canyon. Buster, one of the dogs, had gotten turned around and lost Speck and Sally. So where we last saw the dogs is where Buster was that morning. My dad got out and began his journey. Paul took Buster back to the pickup and then he came to get me. We went to the bottom of the river to began what seemed like an endless journey. My dad was going to get the dogs and then walk to the river road and Paul and I were going to pick him up. We had radios and my dad was supposed to turn his radio on at noon so we could get his location and when he would be to the road. When we couldn't reach him by 1 p.m., we started to get worried. Paul and I drove that road for what seemed like a thousand times. At 3:30 p.m. Paul sent me back to get more gas and help. I drove about 13 miles and then called for help. My mom and Aunt Linda came.   

    We went back to where my uncle was. My mom called Garnett Weese, my dad's hunting partner. When we got back there was still no Bobby Joe. We all knew something was wrong so we decided to head home. We met Garnett coming up. Garnett had the same tracking unit as my dad did so the plan was to see which direction the dogs were in, and my dad would probably be in the same area. Garnett picked up the signal from the dogs, so we knew they were still OK.

    We went back to the top of Bell Canyon. My mom, Garnett, and Paul went to the place where my dad had gotten out, and they fired three shots, but there was no response. If my dad was alive and could hear us shooting, he would find some way to respond. But there was nothing. We then went home and called Search and Rescue and the family.

    The next morning we started searching at 6 a.m. The whole town of Dove Creek was searching. We didn't know where to begin or what to do. My cousin Dustin Daves and Les Cook followed my dad's footprints from where he started. They followed his tracks to the very last one. Dustin radioed us and told us that Dad had gotten on all fours several times. Our hearts stopped pumping when Dustin told us his tracks ended at about a 300 foot drop off. Dustin leaned over the rim and saw him. Garnett was almost to Dad and told Dustin to stay where he was. Garnett reached Dad and saw that he was already gone. He radioed us and confirmed our worst fears. The search was over, and I felt my life was over too. It was awful. The spot he was in was so steep a helicopter had to lift his body out.

    We knew that the dogs had that lion treed all night, and we think Dad was just about to the lion when he slipped and fell. The dogs weren't able to get to Dad but they weren't going to leave either. They stayed there with Dad and guarded him.

    They weren't able to get the dogs out that day so they went back the next day. They had to call in professional climbers to come get them out. Sally was the only dog seriously hurt. She dislocated her hip, but after a few vet visits she was fine. The dogs were hungry and sore, but they got through it.

    You don't know what a loving community you live in until someone close to you dies. Thank you all.

    I hope this story will make someone stop and think, "Is it really worth it?" No! It's not. Please, when you're out hunting stop and think about Bobby Joe Daves who was 41 years old when he passed away. The Score Sheet