With a shattered heart

Dani

Well-known member
Gold Sponsor
Gentlemen,

I am in shock. I am pissed. I am so broken hearted I have no clue how to begin to pick up the pieces. Most of y'all may not know who i speak of but the Old Guard here will. I have tried to remember to call everyone that he and I both knew and that I had phone numbers for. If I missed you and this is the first you are hearing of it, I deeply apologize. I know I would not want to learn about a friend dying online, but I know of no other way to reach out to as many people as he knew than posting here.

Steve Sutton died this morning.

It was a horrible accident. He was up under his new to him motorhome trying to fix something and the jacks failed. He was crushed. Debby, his wife, was with him and they were on their way home from Montana.

Steve was my best friend but he was also family. It was because of this website that I met him. He and John Hitchcock invited me on a hunt in 2005 and a beautiful, sometimes frustrating but always incredible friendship was forged. We hunted and fished together and had outstanding adventures. He was with me at some of the lowest points in my life, never judging, always supporting. He was there to celebrate some incredible accomplishments and kick me in the ass when I needed some sense knocked into me. He taught me a lot about fishing and hunting and introduced me to a world of hunting I hadn't ever dreamed of when I first started hunting. If a person could ever put in a request to choose their family, you could not have chosen better than Steve and Debby.

And now he is gone. Over a stupid, tragic accident.

So fellas, tell everyone you love just how much they mean to you. It has truly hit home how fast it can all be lost.

And tonight, raise a glass to a very fine gentleman.

There are so many stories to tell, he was such a character. I just don't have the words tonight so a few pictures will have to do....

i-QrW7VVG-XL.jpg


i-5tzGCLG-XL.jpg


i-hF7TmVH-XL.jpg


i-qbwbs2h-XL.jpg


i-KbnLWFk-XL.jpg


i-kFQM56j-M.jpg


i-SRJjjsN-XL.jpg


i-9hq88wH-XL.jpg


i-BGHHt4H-XL.jpg


Here's to a great man....

Dani
 
So very sad to hear...Thoughts and Prayers for the family...He will be missed!!!!!!!

Best Regards,
Kristan
 
Terrible news just terrible. My thoughts and prayers to Steve's family and friends.

Dani,

Steve may be gone but the memories will be with you forever.
 
Last edited:
So sorry for your loss. The stories of your adventures with Steve have been wonderful windows into a very special friendship. Thank you for sharing.
 
Dani,

I am so sorry for your loss. You are so very fortunate to have had such a close relationship with Steve Sutton.

If ever there was a person that the phrase ?Larger than life? could be applied to, it was Steve. I had the distinct pleasure of hunting with him in the States, Ontario, and Manitoba. I never met a more knowledgeable Waterfowler. And stories? Oh my! What stories could be shared about this larger than life person! Perhaps, down the road, we could start a thread, sharing our favorite stories.

May God Bless you, Debby, and all of Steve?s family and friends, during this most difficult time.
 
Dani,
I am truly sorry to hear about Steve.
I am glad to have known him.
My thoughts and prayers to Debby, family, friends, and you. I know you had a special bond with him, count your blessings tonight to have known this man.
RIP Steve,
Mike Livingston
 
Oh no. I can?t even start to process this. Steve was on of my heroes. A quick wit a a huge personality. I am sooo sorry Dani. He was one of a kind. It was his rambling ways that gave me the itch to see more of our wonderful country. A man like him can not be replaced. Only remembered.
 
Last edited:
Holy crap!
My deepest condolences to you and all his friends and family...and I know he felt that you were both.

Jeez, I was just going to reply to a silly thing he said on Facebook last night. It was such a Steve thing, talking about fixing his Benelli with a tangerine sticker.

My God this has to be horrible for Debby.

Tim
 
Dani I?m at a loss. My condolences to you and Debby and everyone on here who considered Steve a friend. It?s a loss for sure. I had always hoped he would make it back to Jersey so I could meet him in person. RIP Mr. Sutton.
 
Dang it that is horrible! I am so sorry to see the news Dani!

The time we have together way too short, savor each and every moment. God Bless Steve's family and prayers of comfort for all.
 
Dani

My thoughts are swimming right now and it will take some time to process this terrible news. Like so many have said Steve was "larger-than-life." He encompassed that expression more than any person I've ever known. We met because of this site over twenty years ago and he made me crack up so many times I can't even begin to recall all of it (I still steal some of his lines every duck season like "AND DON'T COME BACK!"). His good sense of humor was simply off the charts and he turned every occasion we got together into a rolling laugh fest. Yet when we really talked, and I mean really talked about life he was such an intelligent and introspective person. I always loved getting picture packages from him before the days of digital cameras. He would send me neat little packages with handwritten notes of duck hunting topics we shared in common. I still have many pictures of boats and decoys of his, but none that truly capture the mischievous yet kind-hearted person you have wonderfully shared with us. Steve and I met at a time in my life where I was defining the type of hunter I would be and he was a HUGE influence. We exchanged countless emails and phone calls and he helped articulate and cement so many of the values about waterfowling I hold today. I believe I speak for others on this as well. What a bright and influential person he was. I feel so blessed to have had him in my life and I will always think back to the good times and things I learned from him. Below is a picture from the fist time we met (Travis, Steve, myself, and Jeff Smith). They had to kick us out of Corky's that night because we were all having so much fun we didn't want to leave well after closing time. When you are around Steve you want it to keep going.

God bless Steve and his loved ones.


View attachment Corkys.jpg
 
I?m so sorry to hear it Dani. I?m glad that you had such a long and close friendship with Steve.

Poor Debby, what a horrific experience for her.
 
I never has the privilege to meet Steve in person but I have tears in my eyes as I type this. What more can be said?
 
Oh Dani, I am at loss for words.

Steve helped me when I got into carving.


He made patterns for my decoys and mailed them down to me.

This is a tragedy and my heart goes out to all the folks that loved Steve.


Detect languageAfrikaansAlbanianAmharicArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanCebuanoChichewaChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CorsicanCroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchFrisianGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHausaHawaiianHebrewHindiHmongHungarianIcelandicIgboIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseJavaneseKannadaKazakhKhmerKoreanKurdishKyrgyzLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianLuxembourgishMacedonianMalagasyMalayMalayalamMalteseMaoriMarathiMongolianMyanmar (Burmese)NepaliNorwegianPashtoPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSamoanScots GaelicSerbianSesothoShonaSindhiSinhalaSlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSundaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduUzbekVietnameseWelshXhosaYiddishYorubaZulu

AfrikaansAlbanianAmharicArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanCebuanoChichewaChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CorsicanCroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchFrisianGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHausaHawaiianHebrewHindiHmongHungarianIcelandicIgboIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseJavaneseKannadaKazakhKhmerKoreanKurdishKyrgyzLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianLuxembourgishMacedonianMalagasyMalayMalayalamMalteseMaoriMarathiMongolianMyanmar (Burmese)NepaliNorwegianPashtoPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSamoanScots GaelicSerbianSesothoShonaSindhiSinhalaSlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSundaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduUzbekVietnameseWelshXhosaYiddishYorubaZulu
Text-to-speech function is limited to 200 characters

Options : History : Feedback : DonateClose
 
All on this page lost a good friend and fellow game bird fanatic. Steve always made a big impact. You always knew what he was thinking about things but he was never so proud to admit when he was wrong. He was generous with information, knowledgable and driven. It was truly a tragedy to lose him this way. He had bought the motor home so Debby would accompany him on his hunting trips. He had been in Montana since leaving Florida after the hurricane in early September. We shared a lot of stories and pictures in the last few months and he was having the time of his life. RIP Steve. My condolences to Debby, Dani, Belle his setter and all of his friends from Washington to Florida and California to Canada. Here are a few pictures from his time in Montana this year. I believe the photo credits go to Dani.

View attachment 4E13BC72-2FE9-4E2B-9BB4-72F47D7C3061.jpegView attachment DF72A016-4C63-44B0-8C6F-57127067B9B6.jpeg


__________________________________________________
View attachment 0A65A277-61DC-458E-9007-59A64EEA88CE.jpegView attachment F193D81D-7D6C-488B-8D7E-5E74BF2A3756.jpeg
 
Last edited:
I hadn?t talked to him a while but always meant to catch up. Figured I would rendezvous again with Steve when I retired and we could chase birds like the old days. He touched a lot of lives and was quite possibly the nexus for more hunting friendships than any other human....ever. In this forums heyday he was the main attraction, truly larger than life. I could tell stories for days but my absolute favorite was the time he spent 23 hours at the US/Canadian border holding because when asked if he had anything to declare he told the agent ?yeah, my wife has a hot ass?!

Dani and all who remained close to Steve, I am truly sorry for your loss. He was a unique, interesting and passionate man who deserved more. Rest In Peace my friend, you will be greatly missed.

John
 
Back
Top