HUNT
RURAL
WORKWEAR
Friends to Brothers: Jason Beacham's Most Memorable Roar
For Jason Beacham, the roar isn't about the kill. While a trophy is great, what truly drives him is testing his limits, pushing into wild places only hunting can take him, and the brotherhood forged with those who share the journey.
We Went in as Friends, Came Out As Brothers
My most memorable Roar trip was last year. It will have to go down as one of my best hunting trips ever. Heading out with one of my best mates and another that would become one of them is the proper highlight for me. If it wasn't for these two, I would not have made it through my longest day of the trip.
You see, I have quite a fear of exposure and falling. After a roller‑coaster of a day—where we stalked deer, had bad luck trying to get Richard onto a few with his bow, and then I had the opportunity to take my first stag (a 12‑pointer at that)—the trip back was pretty intense.
I was happy to have the extra weight on my back and just diesel‑engine my way back up to the hut, which was about 5–6km up a river gorge. Not far from getting off the hill and into the river, we spotted a tahr that Lennon had a crack at. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take it, but it turned into a two‑hour detour.
This meant we’d be walking through the slippery, technical gorge we’d travelled that morning—only now it was dark. Due to the potential difficulty, we decided to take the “high water trail” that we hadn’t been on before. This was a mistake.
The trail followed another gorge and required large boulder climbing, along with a very steep and narrow track. Below us was an ominous darkness, filled with the sound of a loud, roaring creek. A fall on most parts of this trail would surely end in a seriously bad situation. That’s where my anxiety and fear kicked in.
We were already shattered from the previous 14 hours and the 15–18km we had covered that day. I reached two separate points on the trail that were only about one boot wide and completely froze. I was so scared of toppling over that there was no way I was moving without help. Both Richard and Lennon pushed and pulled me through those sections and did everything they could to keep me calm. I definitely welled up a few times.
After what felt like hours on that trail (it should have taken about 45 minutes), we finally reached the top and the relatively easy trek back to the hut. Barely able to put one foot in front of the other, I plopped down on the hut steps as waves of emotion hit me. I was ecstatic, exhausted, and relieved all at once.
