Lamell and the beaver

[.270]

any o' you guys ever know Lamell Ellsworth? if you look through the Az record book you'll see his name a buncha times. i'll give ya a little bit of background on him before the story. he was born, raised and lived his whole life in showlow. the big meadow across from the movie theater and rick's appliances is the old family homestead. that old barn was his. his house is just northeast of it. anyway, he was one of the last of the real hunters. usually used an old long barrelled .30/30 he inherited from his dad. in fact, it seems like he killed what they used to be called the big 10 with it. he liked to use an 18 foot cane pole to fish with and caught more and bigger trout than anyone in Az with it. i got to fish with him using the stupid things a couple times. he used 2 lb line, yes 2 lb line. one gold salmon egg hook and one fireball. when he hooked up a real big one he'd get it going in a figure 8 to tire it out. if it was too big, he'd chunk the pole in the water and let the fish drag it around while he followed it with the boat, until it tuckered out. he was an absolute master tracker and you could learn more just listening to him for an hour than you could in a lifetime in the field. he did what worked and he could out think any animal. he passed away a few years ago of complications from a stroke that kept him a wheelchair for several years. Lamell was about 5'10" i'd guess. barrel chested, skinny hipped, red freckled complection, blonde hair, had arms like popeye and was strong as h e l l. i mean real strong. and even when he was old he could walk young guys in shape right into the dirt. while packin' a bucket fulla traps. oh yeah, he was a h e l luva trapper too. there will never be another hunter like him. when i was driving up to his funeral i pulled over down by courdory creek to take a leak and walked back in the trees a ways and heard a buncha funny sounds and it was a buncha critters havin' a party because they heard he had died and they are happy as h e l l about it because they were a lot safer. he killed 8 pronghorns with horns over 16 inches. he did a lotta stuff that won't be duplicated. he has the #2 typical muley in Az and a 260+ inch nontypical too. he sold a lotta racks that were b&c too. anyway, to the beaver.

 

Lamell had to irrigate his pasture. he went up and turned the water down the ditch and was driving back down the ditch to his pasture to make sure it wasn't blocked with anything. he seen this ol' buck beaver waddlin' down the ditch. this was probly in the late 60's and beavers were worth a fair price. he didn't have a gun but figgerd he could rassle it down, smack it in the head and kill it. so that's what he did. chased the beaver down the ditch, got on top of it and with his popeye jackhammer arms, smashed it's head into the dirt. it went limp. he figgerd, Ha, i got ya, ya ol' beaver. he said he was all proud o' hisself and grabbed the beaver right under it's little arms and hoisted it up to pack it to the truck. now you fellers gotta realize that a big ol' buck beaver is a lot bigger than ya think. a big one might go well over 50 pounds. anyway, he picked up this ol' beaver and it's tail was down about groin level. he said heard this big ol'"SMACK" and realized right off he was hurt cuzz the smack was his bag takin' a h e l l uva beatin'. said it almost knocked him plum out. lost his breath. hurt worse than you could even imagine. he said he was layin' in the ditch heavin' for breath and watchin' the ol' beaver waddle off down the ditch. said he was paralyzed. and he knew the water was comin' and he had to get out or he was gonna drown. he was off work for about a week with an ice pack in his groinal area. he said it hit him so hard that blood came out the pores of his skin. and that is sensitive skin. so, if ha ever decide to box a beaver, be carefull. this really happened. sometime i'll tell ya about Lamell and bobcat. Lark.

[palivs2hnt]

I'm from Show Low. I remember Lamell and the family well. Funny story right there! Thanks for sharing.

[DesertBull]

many a man has felt the pain of an angry beaver.

[WHT_MTNMAN]

Funny story Lark, I know the family well also.

[izquik72]

That was definately a unforgettable experince.

Thanks for sharing

[FlyingW]

That's hilarious !!! They could write a pile of books on Lamell's adventures...