RIP rockymtnchief
 

I was going to wait on this a few days, but under the circumstances, I decided to post this up now. Wes, AKA Hondo passed away late Saturday night. He was like a brother and this one hits pretty hard.
I had a nice talk with his sister yesterday about everything. He was one tough guy and he hung in there for several months longer than the doctor's claimed was possible.

We shared a lot of shooting, beer's ATV rides, and a love of the Chiefs over the years. He was the kind of guy that if he liked you, he would give you the shirt off his back. (In this case literally, I learned he left me all his Chiefs gear) Hondo was the kind of guy to put everyone else first.

I'll have to double check the area for snow level. I'd like to take one last wheeling trip up Bridger Creek this year, dodge the grizzly's that are out trying to get their last meal and stash a bottle of Pendleton at a place on top of the mountain where we used to stop and just BS. I will hoist a shot to the heavens, say a few words and toast him, every time I head up there.

I'll post more stories along with some pictures in the the thread as it moves along.

RIP my brother, you were one of a kind and you will be deeply missed.

Beautiful tribute, Bwana. Thanks for sharing.

Sorry for your loss.. RIP..

RIP. Seems liked a great person.

So sorry. So many losses for this forum recently. Prayers for all.

The hits just keep coming.

Rest easy, buddy.

Damn, very sorry to hear it

RIP, Wes

I will say he was one of the truly 'genuine' humans I'd ever met. I was around him long enough to realize that's his natural 'personality' - truly heartbreaking news. I'm glad he's not suffering now, though.

RIP Wes <3

Thats the sort of friend few have and everyone should want.

Can't say it better than Bwana and SR. Hondo was a truly great guy, I really enjoyed spending time with him.

RIP.

I know some of you guys have pictures from various events/games. Please feel free to post them up.

:(

RIP Wes.

Sounded to me like the dude lived his best life. Always enjoyed our conversations over the years, and the dude owed me nothing at all, but offered to take me 4 wheeling up there, as I'm sure he did others.

I continue to be amazed at how impactful these threads are to me in real life. :grouphug:

I only got to meet him one time but that was enough to realize that he was the one the nicest, most genuine dudes I’ve ever met in my life. Wasn’t over the top or boisterous but you knew he was there.

RIP to a great ****ing guy.

Beautiful tribute, Bwana.

RIP Wes

Didn't know him, but the tribute says it all.

Condolences man, and may he rest in peace.

The older we get, the more things we lose. Just have to do our very best to not become hardened, and embittered.

You begin to think after so many, they would start to hurt less.

But they dont.

RIP

man, sounds like the kind of guy I'd have quite a bit in common with and would love to have met and hung out with. RIP. Looking forward to the pics of the spot you mention on the mountain.

Rest easy.

One of the coolest guys I've ever tailgated with.

Really sucks.

This sucks, seems like the last few years this place has been getting hit hard with these types of threads.

RIP

So sorry for your loss, sounds like a great guy I regret never having had the chance to meet. RIP rockymtnchief

None of us are getting any younger and none of us is getting out of this alive.

RIP Rocky

Hondo had a million dollar smile.

Tipping back a few with some locals.

Prayers for his family and friends.

Damn. Sorry to see this. RIP.

I can't add anything as eloquently as what has been said. RIP Hondo.

This is a small sample of Bridger Creek, where we took the ATV's all the time.

So sorry to hear this Bwana... I didn't know or meet him but saw posts on here by him. He definitely sounds like a class act and was loved. Hopefully everyone is finding some peace with his passing.

RIP, sorry for your loss. I’ve had 3 of my friends pass away in the last 3 months. This is a bad bad year.

I'm sorry for this news. RIP

RIP, sorry for your loss.

Rip, sounds like he was a hell of a guy.

Condolences to family and friends. RIP

Another shot from Bridger Creek.

This has been a punishing last 6-9 months around here.

So sorry to hear Bwana.

RIP rockymtnchief


prayers to family, friends and loved ones...

Hondo up by Cooke City at long Lake. He had bought his .500 Smith & Wesson Grizzly whisper, after shooting mine and liking it. We put a lot of lead through those hand cannons.


https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...51&oe=61AF6F93

Bridger Creek, one of our shooting areas.


https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...d5&oe=61AD34F7

Such sad news that another old guard CP'er has passed. I never met RockyMTNChief but through his posts here I liked him instantly. Just know cancer is going to hell and Wes Hondo RockyMTNChief is on his way to heaven.

In this life but few things matter
In this short time that we have here
Leaving nothing behind but our honor
The thing we hold most dear

RIP Wes

At one time he spent a lot of time riding bulls. He had some great stories of those days.


https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...e3&oe=61AD5F2F

RIP Wes.
Mountain ranges you traveled will never be the same.

Well done Bwana. This one hits pretty hard. Hondo was a hell of a guy and we've shared lots over the years as we connected on the Chiefs, telecom, the whole Wyoming/Montana thing, etc. I know he's in a better place now and the suffering is over.

Hondo, this is for you buddy. :toast:

https://i.imgur.com/heRxkvH.jpg

I'm guessing it's not going to get better, unfortunately. CPers were relatively young and healthy when the board was started a couple of decades ago, but now we're not getting any younger.

RIP Hondo, and condolences to all who knew him well.

American Badass. :clap:

Unfortunately, this is true, but that's just life. That's why it's important to enjoy the time we spend together as a Community, and stop attacking each other so much. Relative to that, I know my perspective has greatly changed in the last couple of years. I love the Chiefs, but this Community has been a special place, and the Members become like Family. I've become a bit of a sentimental old fool, but I'm perfectly good with it :)

RIP Hondo. I'm glad that I got to meet him and the world is worse off without him.

So sorry to hear the news. I would head out to my son's place in northern Montana the last few years and always thought I should stop and try to see some of the folks like RandallFlag, Rockymtchief or Bwana who are out that way, but never found the time. Unfortunately we lost two of these great men recently. So sorry for you loss Bwana. Prayers to the family. RIP Wes.

R.I.P

Sorry for your loss

RIP Hondo.

Never met him, but saw him post on here several times and always enjoyed my interactions with him.

From what others have said on here that knew him, he sounds like one hell of a guy!

Condolences to those who have lost a good friend.

This is sad news indeed. I was lucky enough to meet Hondo, such a genuinely nice guy. Hugs to you Bwana, I know you were close. Prayers to peace and comfort to all whose lives he touched.

Condolences to you and his family and friends. He was one of the good guys.

RIP

I have a factory OEM cargo front container and big aftermarket rear cargo box on the back of my Polaris sportsman 1000. I bought them so I could pack a bunch of "what if" stuff. I have things like water proof fire starting stuff, an air compressor, tire plugs, saws, heavy duty tow straps, a good first aid kit, a GPS personal location beacon, so in the event something catastrophic were to happen, I can immediately signal for help, ect.

Hondo used to give me a hard time about having so much in my cargo boxes. He would say "Do you think you have enough shit in there?" I think he thought it was taking up valuable space, that could have been utilized for more important items, like cold beer. :D That went on until one day about 10 miles back from the nearest road on top of a mountain, he got a flat.

He ended up having to use my compressor, some tire plugs and a can of slime to get the tire back up to speed. When he was done I looked at him with a shit eating grin and said, boy that would have been a long walk. He looked back at me and just smiled and I never got a hard time about what I packed in my cargo boxes again. In fact, I noticed he started packing a lot more "what if" items in his cargo box. :D

One thing I loved about Hondo, was the fact he was only one of two people I trusted in the mountains, in the event we ran head on into a pissed of charging grizzly bear.

I knew that if it came down to it, he would have died for me and I would have done the same for him. He had the heart of a lion. One thing I had no doubt about, we were both either going to get killed off by the bear, or the bear was going to be a rug. I really liked our odds to be honest and it was a great feeling knowing I was with someone who had my back.

Damn sorry to hear.

May your memories and faith comfort you.

Sorry to hear this Bwana, sounds like he fought it hard, May he RIP and you and his family find peace and comfort with your loss.

I only met him at Joe's party the first time in the mid 2000s and at a chiefs tailgate a couple of years ago. He was a great guy. Love the stories, Bwana. Keep 'em coming. Here's me, 007, and Rocky mountain chief at a tailgate right about 2 years ago.

RIP

I remember him giving me a call when he was hanging out with you two that day. He had an absolute blast.

So sorry you lost your friend. Too many of us CP guys checking our over the past couple years. Condolences to his family.

Yeah we met at a tailgate in person. Started talking on Facebook from time to time. He lived a great life. Was a really cool dude. Appreciate Bwana giving him the RIP thread worthy of him.

Hate to hear you lost a brother Greg. Best to you and his family.

Damnit, the hits just keep on comin'

RIP rocky

The guy just looks like a Hondo.

RIP

RIP

I was just about to go looking for that pic. Hondo was such a nice guy. So glad I got to meet him in person.

Man, you guys seem to be having a lot of these lately. RIP. Hondo.

I hate to hear this. I didn't know him well, but chatted with him a couple of times and he was genuinely a nice guy.

The Cooter Hill story:
https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...66&oe=61AF579C


So I had always heard stories about this guy, Hondo used to rodeo with back in the day, a black guy by the name of Cooter Hill.

On my birthday a couple of years ago, a buddy of mine drove down to Billings from Great Falls to hang out and go to dinner on my birthday. We end up jumping an Uber to a local western streak house/bar. We are sitting at the bar BSing with the bar tender, drinking beverages, when this guy walks in. Really friendly guy all smiles and about everyone in there seemed to know him. About that time, his cell phone rings and his ring tone is the "Where the white women at" from Blazing Saddles. Everyone was cracking up.

Shortly after that, I heard someone call him Cooter. I walked over and asked him if he knew a Hondo. He gets an ear to ear grin and says "He's a good buddy of mine, we used to bull ride together." Cooter came over and sat with my buddy and I and starts telling some Hondo stories from back in the day.

Hondo was supposed to come down and join us, but he ended up being on call and couldn't make it.

I decided to give Hondo a call and was giving him crap about some of the stories I just learned about. Hondo explains that one night in their rodeo days, they were trying to check into a hotel and the only room left in town was a single bed unit. With that being it was the only choice, they had to take it. I guess at least it was a king bed. Hondo says, "Cooter is the first guy I slept with, ask him". I lean over and said "hey Cooter, Hondo claims you are the first black guy he slept with, any truth to that?" Cooter about fell out of his chair, he was laughing so hard.

I handed the phone to Cooter so he could say hi to Hondo and after about 30 seconds, he starts cracking up again and handed me back the phone. I asked Cooter what Hondo said and he said Hondo told him, "Greg doesn't like black guys." You had to know Hondo's sense of humor. We all had a good laugh over that little deal and sat around killing off many cold beverages the rest of the night.

Damn mother ****in shit.

So sorry bwana

Coming to this damn website is starting to hurt.


He seems like my kinda guy

RIP. Sorry for your loss.

RIP ... Prayers for his family and friends.

Sorry to hear about your friend!

May he R.I.P.

Sorry brother. Rest in peace.

Godspeed

So sorry for your loss Bwana, Hondo sounds like a hell of a man. I also respect no athlete more than bull riders....truly badasses

Very touching tribute and stories

Never interacted with the poster in question but he seemed like a great man.

God bless his family in their time of sorrow.

RIP

I came in to say this exact thing. I wish I could’ve met up with him more often, his smile was contagious.