Terry Rohm, A Hunting Legend
- Scott Gray
- Jun 22, 2023
- 3 min read
Some of you may have been following the many posts I've made on Facebook that celebrate the life of so many amazing people of whom I've had the privilege to know and share adventures. I have decided to bring this idea to Chill Life so I've created a blog category called, "People, Places and Stories". Because living"chill" is the theme of this blog site, only those who exude the upmost chill personality will make the cut. My friend, Keith St. Onge, was the first to be featured here as he was recently inducted into the Water Ski Hall of Fame and is definitely one cool dude. The next super chill individual I'd like to introduce to you is my extraordinary friend Terry Rohm.
During the mid 90’s I was blessed to travel across North America as a cameraman for various cable TV hunt shows. I teamed with one of the best hunters of our time, National Champion turkey caller and all-round wonderful human being, Terry Rohm. Terry and I spent years together chasing caribou, bear, deer and elk across North America. Our adventures afforded me the opportunity to see some of the most majestic landscapes and incredible skylines our continent offers, memories that are forever etched in my mind.
I could write a book about all the adventures I survived with Terry. We tracked a wounded black bear at night, shivered all day in many a deer stand, woke to coyotes surrounding us as we laid against trees waiting for sunrise, we witnessed two white wolves slip across a ridge, I ran across the tundra chasing caribou with 70+ pounds of camera gear and the stories go on and on. One of my favorite stories is actually a pretty sobering one. We were north of the Hudson Bay hunting caribou.
There’s nothing but freezing water surrounding islands full of wildlife. The outfitter took us by boat to a piece of land where we were dropped off in the morning and then picked up at dusk. One evening we watched from an overlook as our outfitter was in his little boat which was taking in water. The wind was so strong it was lifting the bow straight up as he was trying to let the water drain out the plug in the stern. There was this moment where we didn’t think he would make it. Terry turned, looked me dead in the eyes and said, “if that man drowns we die too”. You see, there was no one else on this planet who knew where we were. Humans cannot survive the winters on the little island where we were hunting. It was mid September on the last hunt of the year with severe winter weather arriving any day. Well, it all worked out and the boat made it to us. Our outfitter asked us not to say anything about what happened to his wife who was back at the base camp preparing dinner.
Terry Rohm is outdoor savvy for sure and he was so much fun to be around because he was so knowledgeable about hunting, survival and the outdoors in general. He was always thinking, planning and stayed cool no matter what was happening. There was once this time in Colorado when we were shooting an opening for a show in an open field. Terry was sitting on a log and my back was to the field. He whispered, "don't move". I froze and he then whispered, "slowly glance over your right should". I noticed he had flipped his safety off on his rifle. As I glanced behind me my eye caught a glimpse of a cougar bouncing away through the high grass. Terry had seen the cat moving toward us, but stayed cool as a cucumber.
Terry always took good care of me on our hunts and we got very polished working together in the wilderness to build entertaining hunt shows. The hours of time in tree stands with him hunting white tail deer taught me so much about this elusive and clever animal. He would take the time to teach me every habit and smallest nuance of white tail deer. He also helped me to set up my bow and he taught me to become a proficient archer. I soon was able to enjoy the sport solo with much success. I loved my time with this man and I am truly grateful to him for teaching me to appreciate nature and enjoy the great outdoors.
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