Fifty-some years ago the USMC turned Russ Barkman into a lean, mean fighting machine.
Now, not as lean, not as mean, but still a Marine, 71-year-old Barkman wanted to hunt elk in the wilderness. His neighbor and friend, Karl Findling, would help.
Growing up in Michigan, Barkman didn’t hunt elk until he moved to Oregon in his late 50s. Elk eluded him.
Two years before, Findling and Barkman had packed into Hells Canyon, but Barkman had not been ready, physically or mentally. When he had a chance to close the deal on a spike bull, he missed. The experience haunted him.