It was fourth-season mule deer for friends Darick, Bo, and Jesse in northwest Colorado. The camp was an enclosed trailer, and the quads were staged for the 5am push to fill their third tag. Standard procedure when not spiked out, it was a comfortable rhythm of a crew that’s done this a dozen times before. Flush with confidence after filling two tags by Friday, they fired up the grill inside the trailer and talked through the next morning’s plan over a few beers. When they wrapped up, they turned off the BBQ valve but missed the tank valve. A one-time oversight that nearly killed two of them. |