David Boys, Services set

[Bill Monroe]

For those of you who knew David Boys, retired from Artistic Taxidermy and owner of Mallard Marine (Marsh Rats)...A funeral service will be at 11 a.m. in Molalla; St. James Catholic Church.

David died late Wednesday afternoon while hunting brant on Tillamook Bay with Worth Mathewson. He was chasing a crippled bird in his Marsh rat when a gale pushed him out of sight. Worth swamped twice getting back to the big boat, then grounded on the falling tide. David was wearing a lifejacket, but at some point was swamped and swept down to the rocks at Barview, where rescuers, including the Coast Guard, found him. Body temp was down to 80 and he couldn't be revived despite a long attempt on the way to and in the hospital. Worth nearly did the same frantically trying to cross the bay to the Coast Guard station in his own Marsh rat (the big boat was still grounded late last night).

Prayers for Worth and for David's family.

So many of us knew and loved him as hunting partner, friend, straight-talking businessman and deft artist with everything wild, far and beyond the heads, horns, birds and fish he brought back to life for us...

We should all live so well...


Last week in Wasco

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/uploads/595/davidgoose.jpg


Last month in Dease Lake, B.C.

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/uploads/595/Davidmoose.jpg

[Riverbankslayer]

I was saddened to hear the news!
My prayers go out to Davids family and Worth Matheson:angel:

[duckboy]

Gods speed.

My prayers are out to David's family and to Worth.

at a loss for anything else right now.

[gottafish]

Very sad. My Prayers go out to his friends and family.

[quackersnacker]

Very Sad, our prayers go out to those who knew and loved him.

[Don Becker]

Bill, I didn't know him. I've seen his name, probably here A ifish. 'A real tragedy. Best wishes and prayers for his family and friends. Don

[puddles]

really sad,prayers to both families.:angel:

[ampersat]

:pray:

[Capt. Hook]

Very sad. Our prayers go out to his family. :angel: :angel:

David was one of the best at his trade.

[sliverpicker]

I have a mounted turkey he did for me in 1988 sitting not 8ft from me as I type.

:pray: to his family and friends

[Beamerfish]

So sorry to hear of this news. My heartfelt condolances to his family (which includes his hunting partners.) I always liked stopping into his shop and it seems like he always had a good word. I've got a marvelous elk head over my desk from him and I'm sure there are thousands of similar testaments to his art and skill hanging in guy rooms all over the west.

[cityfisher]

I'd met him once...what a nice guy to talk to. I wish his family the best.

[skein]

I am so sorry to hear that. My prayers go out to his familly and friends, and to those who tried so hard to locate and save him. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all.

Skein & DipSea Diver

[jokester]

I'm sorry to hear that about David :( I met him and talked to him a few times at the sportsman shows.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family :pray: :pray:

-jokester

[Thumper]

I have a house full of his art. My sons and I have collected his taxidermy since the 1970s. He was one of the best at his trade. So sorry to hear this...

[StickFish]

WOW, that is a shocker. David was a true artist and gentleman. He took the time to explain options to me when he mounted my Pronghorn and did an outstanding job. I will not forget when he pointed out that my buck was a three point sporting an extra horn on his nose and how he got giddy like a kid and showed everyone who came by the station at Burns that afternoon.

:angel::angel:

[Limbhanger]

My thoughts are with his family, that is really sad. As kid, I remember rubber necking all the mounts everytime we would drive by the old shop in Portland.

[johndeeregreen]

sorry to hear the news. He was a great artist

[birdhunter]

I am incredibly sorry to hear this. I spent many many evenings in his shop - talking about the art of taxidermy and getting pointers on preparing animals. As a kid growing up he showed me the basics of fleshing when I was just starting out trapping and would buy all the sheds I brought in - even ones I'm sure he couldn't use. As a transplant from the country to suburban Portland I didn't have any other place like it I could go to. I've tried to return the favor over the years - All my wall mounts, hides and bear and cougar rugs are from him.

Very very sad to hear this. My heart goes out to his family.

[Bill Monroe]

Updated the details...David wasn't chasing his dog. Was wearing a lifejacket.

[cphatts]

Very sad news indeed. I didnt know him but it sounds like he was an incredible person and sportsman. He lived a very fulfilling life and died doing what he loved. My thoughts are prayers go out to his family.

[corrirod]

Sorry to hear about this. I didn't know him but hearing all these good things about him makes me wish I had. My thoughts go out to his family and friends. :pray:

[Dave Smith]

Talked to Worth early this morning- he is pretty shaken up. David was the king of waterfowling in Oregon- I have never known anyone with that kind of passion for anything. One of the most likeable guys you could ever hope to meet and an outstanding sportsman for sure. Oregon's own Eddie Aikau. Dave

[Gun Rod Bow]

One of the most likeable guys you could ever hope to meet

I was trying desperatly to find words to type as I read down. I don't think I could say it any better.

I too have his work and really enjoyed him every time we chatted.

[Puffin]

Very sad news. I spent many hours in the shop talking to Dave and once asked him to teach me taxidermy. Too much time handling dead stuff and not enough hunting it was his reply. Good advice. He will be missed by all who knew him or admired his work.

[Steelheader]

No way, I am very sad to hear this shocking news, my prayers go out to his family. He was a class act a great sportsman.

[Coastalfisherman]

I work with David Boys JR and my thoughts and prayers go out to him and the rest of the family.:angel: :angel:

[TVFOWLHUNTER]

My prayers are out to David's family and to Worth. David was truly an awesome guy!

Trent

[Erich_870]

Very, Very sad :( . Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. :sick:

Erich

[Amahnee]

I met him at the shows, I saw him on hwy 20 east of Bend during antelope seasons and as said he was a very easy guy to talk to. He is in my thoughts today as well as his family.

It has been metioned by many here of work he has done for members and in memoriam I will share a piece of his work that was done for my father in his memory. He won't be forgotten.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/Artistic_002.jpg

[BrotherWolf]

prayers from my family to there's:( I use to love talking to David at the waterfowl festivals..so so sorry to hear about this.

[Tilla]

Sorry to hear this.:(

[Thumper]

What always amazed me about David was the way he would attack a huge mammal mount with a 2-3 inch penknife. He always said that it wasn't the tool, it was the craft. What an incredible artist.

Our life is so full of David Boys' talent.

[Fishrite]

I was in shock to hear the news about Dave Boys. I was praying for him already and for his family while he was missing...not knowing that it was Dave who was out there. We have lost a true sportsman and a wonderful gentleman. I will never forget his wonderful smile....and every year when I would see him inside the Artistic booth at the Pacific Northwest Sportsman's Show, he would always say, "Are you Larry or Terry." He seemed to never forget a face. He mounted many big game animals for us. I will be praying for his family as well as the Matheson family.
Dave you will be missed by all of us at Ifish,
Terry Williams (Fishrite)

[Bill Monroe]

Went to the house today. The Coast Guard managed to get back the boat (and his hand-carved brant decoys) and they got it home. Marsh rat is MIA, but will probably wash ashore somewhere. Please keep an ear out for it. Everyone is pretty shaken and in shock. We took them a turkey, they had some snack stuff, but only the grandkids will do much eating. Hard to walk through his shop two days after he mounted my grandson's first antlers on a nice plaque, painted them up a bit and said "Tyler doesn't owe me a thing..."

It'll be a day or two before they figure out services, etc...thanks everyone for all of this. I'll print it out and take to them as well...

[toas243]

I have no idea who he was ,but greatly loved and appreciate by many and I wish his family well :angel: :angel:

[Ras]

I just heard the news, what a tragedy. Have done alot of business with Dave over the years, and had the privilege to yack with him for 2 hours at the Brothers Antelope Station a couple of years ago with my father. A #1 class act and gentleman:bowdown: . So sorry to hear of the loss.

Ras

[onstep]

The world won't be the same without David Boys. We who knew you feel blessed.

[Chum King]

David, you were a class act both as a hunter and person. I know my life is a bit richer for the times we spent together.

Eric

[Paul J]

Such sad news. David was not only a great waterfowler but also a great person. He will be missed. Prayers for his family and also for Worth.
Paul J

[beardbuster]

I have spoke with Dave a few times but never to the extent that others are posting. I have a friend who is good friends with him and the news was a shocker, even to me.

A couple things come to mind as I read this unfortunate post... He died doing what he loved and we only be so lucky to share the same fate. Two: People dont remember you for what you have, they remember you for who you are as a person and how you treated others. I wish I had a chance to know him better - obviously as stand up character.

Sincere regrets to the families involved.:pray:

Wil Askew

[HOGGEMIN]

I am so sorry to hear of this tragic loss. David had my first deer hide (a doe ) I ever shot tanned and that hide still hangs on my wall with the tag and arrow through the entrance and exit holes. This will be rembered in more ways now. My prayers are going out to his family and friends.

[adobe wall]

I've lost two relatives over the years waterfowl hunting. It's a risk none of us really want to think about but live with every time we go out. Most of us that hit the marshes have had close calls but it is still a devastating tragedy when a fellow waterfowler doesn't make it back in from the hunt.

I sure am sorry to hear this and wish the best for his family.

Adobe Wall

[fishdoggie]

Everyone here at Stevens Marine is stunned by his loss. A great man, a great artist. A very good freind and hunting partner of Eric Pedersen here at Stevens. We all send our deepest regrets to family and freinds.

[Opportunist]

Sorry to hear of the loss, always enjoyed his booth at the sportsman's show and enjoyed talking with him. My prayers go out to his family.

[fergy61]

I am in shock!
I've known Dave for many years. He was an avid waterfowler & all around nice guy.

Thoughts & prayers go out to his family & for Worth as well.

[Elkhunter]

How tragic, Dave was a class act! I actually dropped my first Antelope off at his Station this year along with a badger. Took pictures/video with him and everything. I don't think I ever saw him with anything except a big smile on his face. Our prayers go out to him and his family.

[Super Fluke]

:angel: :pray:

[billc_sbio]

I'm shocked and deeply saddened to hear of David's demise.

I've known both David and Worth for a number of years, and they're both hardcore hunters.

Everything David ever did he did with class.

He'll be sadly missed.

[Bill Monroe]

Funeral service is set for 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. James Catholic Church in Molalla.

[ajfishfinder]

Respectfully Back To The Top

Althought I did not know this man personally, I think we all share a common bond with him, and in some way have been touched by his presence in the field.

Thank you Bill for bringing his legacy to light for those of us that did not know him as you did. Your write up in the paper today is admirable.:angel:

Thanks for sharing your personal feelings for a man we all should have been lucky enough to have shared a day in the field with.

RIP Mr. Boys:flowered:

[Steelheader]

Bill, You did a fantastic job on the memoirs of our friend David Boys in the Sunday Oregonian sports section. Thanks so much and God Bless. CM

[Bill Monroe]

ttt

[BassBuster]

Prayers to the family. Bill could you possibly post those memoirs for those of us who haven't read them? Just wondering?

[Bill Monroe]

Sure...Happy to...If some you have stories, look for David Smith's thread and add them there, too. I'll print it all out for the family.

Sunday's column:

On a calm evening in late November, 25 years ago, I crawled into bed in a Boardman motel room shortly before 10 p.m.
My new acquaintance, a taxidermist who drew me like a magnet to his enthusiastic passion for duck hunting, said he'd be along.
As promised, he burst through the door about an hour later and without much talk climbed into bed . . . then leaped to his feet at 11:45 p.m. and said "Let's go!"
We scurried out into the dark and, shortly after midnight, launched his boat in the fog, motored a short distance across Three-Mile Island slough off the upper Columbia River and began putting out decoys in a small bay made by a hook off the rocky shoreline.
We were just about done at 12:30 when a large inboard jet sled loomed from out of nowhere and shined two bright searchlights on us, then panned over to the decoys. A long series of loud expletives erupted from the boat as it backed out of the bay.
That very moment, sharing the gloomy dark fog with a man I barely knew, I committed myself to David Boys' lifelong friendship. He grinned widely, lighted a couple of propane heaters and within moments, the rock pit serving as our blind was a warm, glowing amphitheater.
"Let's get some sleep," he said, still grinning as he nodded off to wait for daylight.
David, 63, who lived in Molalla and was semi-retired from Artistic Taxidermy, died Wednesday afternoon. His small skiff was carried away by a squall from an equally renowned Oregon waterfowl hunter, Worth Mathewson of Amity, as David chased a wounded brant down the tidal current of Tillamook Bay.
David wore a lifejacket, but was found lifeless, without the skiff, among the rocks near Barview. His body temperature was far too low for revival, despite prolonged attempts.
"I shouted at him to come back and get the big boat," Mathewson said. "I'll be haunted forever by the sight of David turning and flashing that grin of his."
I'll cherish David's grin and its silent reassurance; sometimes showing teeth, sometimes not.
"It's OK," the grin always seemed to say, "you can do this; we'll make it; go for the brass ring; stay with me."
I'm deeply privileged to have watched David smile:
xx As we motored down the Tillamook River in the dark on our way to a duck hunt and saw marine sheriff's deputies checking boat lights at a ramp we had to pass. David handed my wide-eyed son a bright red bobber and a flashlight with the crisp instruction to "Hold this over the bow on the left side as we pass by."
xx As we shared drinks and stories sitting in lawn chairs at Hampton Station, one of David's antelope collection stations in Oregon high desert. He handed out free "Buckbuster salt" and "Antelope cantaloupe" to all who stopped, whether or not they would be customers or even were hunters. No story went un-grinned.
xx On a caribou hunt in British Columbia the year before last and a year after his two Native American (First Nation up there) guides drowned in a similar tragic accident before he could take a trophy bull. "There you go," he said through a tight-lipped grin over his bull's carcass, christening the animal with the last of his coffee in a tribute to their memory. "I finished the job."
xx Two days later on the same trip as we rode horses 22 miles out of the wilderness. Twice, without warning, David leaped enthusiastically off his mount and ran alongside simply for the joy of the exercise and to feel the wind's chill on his cheeks, the taste of snowflakes on his tongue. He said, "Isn't this just the most magnificent country you've ever seen?"
xx Last week as he thanked me for inviting him along on a catch-up-with-old-times goose hunt even though we didn't fire a shot. "You know what? That was just fun," he announced.
It's reassuring for survivors to intone "He-died-while-doing-what-he-loved," but while that's true, David didn't want to die any more than the rest of us.
He said so, in fact, on several occasions to myself and other hunting partners. He beat back heart problems more than a decade ago and routinely pushed himself to exercise limits just to stay in shape for "another 10 or so moose hunts," he told me last week.
Not that death scared him. Rather, it was a threat that could interrupt his passionate zests for hunting and fishing, for caring for his family, for passing a heritage to every youngster he met.
When our times come, we won't be judged by whether we wanted to be there.
How did we live?
I like to think that David Boys, a devout Catholic, gets a free pass through purgatory.
That he's entered the gates the way he left us -- with a grin, his teeth to the wind.

:angel:

[BassBuster]

Thank you Bill that was awesome.

[Spoiled Daddy]

My family is deeply saddened by David's loss. I work with his son and our families are friends. From all the testimonials here, each of you know that he was a great hunter and artist. What you should also know is that he was also a very good father and he loved his grandchildren as well. I have seen him at family functions & he was very affectionate and attentive to his grandsons that live here at the coast.

I know his family is devastated and your kind words will mean a lot to them.

the Spoiled Daddy

[kaludes]

I would like to say thank you to all of you who posted here about my dad, David Boys. Thank you also to Bill Monroe who wrote many times about my dad in his articles. I have a number of them and will treasure them. It's not everyone who has a dad like him. I am his youngest daughter, Karen, and I didn't hunt much with my dad. I fished a lot with him as a kid, but then got caught up in my own life as I got older and hadn't taken the time to go with him in a number of years. My dad loved all of my mother, his kids and his grandkids with a passion that far exceeded his love for hunting. Thank you also to those who attended his services. It was amazing to see all the people whom he had reached over the years.