BEAVERTON, Ore. — Leupold & Stevens, Inc., and The Boone & Crockett Club® have presented the 2016 Hunt Fair Chase Award to Michael Swyers for his incredible solo Rocky Mountain goat hunt in British Columbia, Canada. The ram, which scored an impressive 55-6/8 B&C points, required a relentless effort to bring home.
Swyers' hunt of a lifetime got off to a rough start when his hunting partner had to pull out, leaving Swyers with the decision to cancel or make the risky hunt by himself.
With heavy snowfall and treacherous terrain, Swyers' weeklong hunt was quite the challenge. Fearing avalanche or a fatal fall from the mountainside, Swyers would find no easy day on his quest for the Rocky Mountain goat.
"Michael's story demonstrates his relentless spirit and passion for hunting, a feeling we share here at Leupold," said Rob Morrison, vice president of global marketing for Leupold & Stevens, Inc. "We're extremely proud to be able to recognize Michael for his success."
On day four, Swyers came across the ram he was after, but a race against darkness and the deep snowpack pushed him to his limits just getting into position to make the shot. A sudden fall into a freezing mountain creek could've ended his hunt, but Swyers pushed on. With little time to spare before darkness set in, Swyers made his shot and watched in satisfaction as the mature billy dropped.
But for Swyers, the adventure had only begun. After the shot, the ram had fallen into the bottom of a gorge that separated the hunter from his prey. After fashioning a harness and climbing rig, Swyers rappelled 80 feet to the bottom of the gorge where he got his first up-close look at his ram.
After dressing out his ram and getting it packed, Swyers had to work fast to make it off the mountain before total darkness. Rather than spend the night on the mountain, which he was unprepared for, Swyers took a measured risk to make his way out via an avalanche shoot.
By 11 p.m., Swyers had almost worked his way back to his snowmobile, when he broke through the snowpack above a river hidden below. Only his full pack, packed cape and game bag kept him from completely falling through.
After climbing out and stashing his ram in the snow, Swyers forded a waist-high stream to return to his snowmobile. After the 12-mile hike out, Swyers was exhausted and accidentally overturned his sled on the trip back to camp. After unhooking his gear, Swyers was able to right the sled, but when he restarted the snowmobile it shot forward at full throttle and went over a cliff. A stick, Swyers later found, had become lodged in the throttle. Swyers fortunately had unhooked all of his gear before righting the machine, averting disaster. Wearing snowshoes and toting his rifle, Swyers hiked out, eventually reaching his truck at 3 a.m.
The next morning, using the spare snowmobile intended for his hunting partner, Swyers returned to recover his ram. As a reward for his near-disastrous trek, Swyers' ram measured out at 55-6/8 B&C points, which earned him the honor of the Leupold & Stevens Hunt Fair Chase Award.
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Founded in Oregon more than a century ago, Leupold & Stevens, Inc. is a fifth generation, family owned company that designs, machines and assembles its riflescopes, mounting systems and tactical/Gold Ring® spotting scopes in the USA. The product lines include rifle, handgun and spotting scopes; binoculars; rangefinders; mounting systems; and optical tools, accessories and Pro Gear.
Leupold & Stevens, Inc., P.O. Box 688, Beaverton, OR 97075-0688, U.S.A.
Phone: (800) LEUPOLD or (503) 526-1400 • Fax: (503) 352-7621 • www.leupold.com
