a moose caused a truck to hit me head-on at 70mph

02-22-221 min read

“I’m just happy I walked away alive. But I can tell you this, if that dog of mine was in my back seat she would be dead. That’s exactly why I have her ride in my bed in that Gunner. The kennel took a little beating, but she made it alright as well.”

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Words by Ryan Barton | As Told By GUNNER | Road Warrior Series

 

"It was our first week in the Peace Country and we had our first group of clients in from Texas.

The night before, my good friend and business partner, Bradley, was sitting on a field that we had permission to hunt that was just absolutely loaded with Mallards, Pintails, Specks, and Honkers. This field had every bit of 10k birds in it. We knew the next morning was going to be one of those hunts that you only get in Canada.

That morning started just like any other. At 5 AM, we were on our way to meet our clients, when a moose ran out in front of Bradley’s truck and just missed it. However, a truck from the oncoming lane didn’t have time to react and struck the moose. With the moose stuck in his windshield, the oncoming truck swerved wildly into my lane and hit my truck head-on going about 70 mph. 

Even more frightening, I was on the phone with my wife and 4-year old son at the time of the accident. They heard the entire thing, including the 3-min pause between the accident and when I finally was able to call them back. 

According to Bradley, my truck lifted off the ground and spun a few times. After Bradley saw the collision, he thought he was going to have to make the worst call anyone would have to make to my wife.

By the grace of God, I was able to get out of the truck! I wasn’t bleeding and outside of some residual soreness, the only injury I sustained was a minor concussion. After realizing that I was alright, I immediately thought about my 2-year-old Lab, Power. I ran to get the busted tailgate open and much to my amazement, she was ALIVE!

There is no doubt in my mind that the only reason she is alive after that collision is because she was in a Gunner. The kennel took a lick, had some pieces break, but the kennel did the job it was built to do — it protected my dog through a horrific accident.

Power and I took a day of rest that day, but we were back at it the next day, and she didn’t miss a beat. She picked up a few hundred more birds before we left Canada, and finished out the season in Arkansas with over 2,500 retrieves."

Ryan co-owns and operates Peace River Waterfowl in Alberta, Canada and the Arkansas arm of Cadillac Creek Outfitters.