Lasting Legacies
by Heather Fraley
Not many people can say they’ve been kissed by a bull elk, but Gail Phifer can. She has a witness, too—her husband Bill. The couple was bowhunting elk in Wyoming when two small six-point bulls walked over a ridge. The hunters were holding out for a larger bull, so both froze in place to keep from spooking the young animals. One bull ambled closer to Gail until she stood face to face with the elk. “I could see his eyelashes, his big eyeballs,” she says. “I was eye level with him, because I was up a step on a rock, and he stood there, and he peed.”
“He splashed her feet!” adds Bill. Slowly the bull lowered his head and touched his wet nose to Gail’s hand in a “kiss.” Then he whirled and bolted away. It marked one of many unforgettable hunting moments the couple has shared in their 43 years of marriage.
High-school sweethearts, the Phifers first met at their families’ adjacent lake cabins on Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene Lake when they were in their mid-teens.
Their RMEF experience started in 1987, when Bill and a couple of buddies who hunted elk in the Blue Mountains of Washington banded together to start the RMEF Spokane Chapter. Steve Crump was one of those buddies, and the original Spokane Chapter chair.
“They told me I was the chairman, but Bill did all the work. That’s the best way I can describe it,” he jokes.
Bill remembers driving all the way to Libby, Montana, then the headquarters of RMEF, to pick up the chapter’s banquet merchandise.
“That’s kind of a fond memory of having them load up my car with everything from rifles to artwork for the banquet,” he says.
“That speaks very well for them,” Steve says. “They care for the meat in the field and keep it cold—the quality of their table fare is amazing.”
In addition to their early volunteering for the organization, Bill and Gail have attended RMEF banquets in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming. They continue to attend two or three banquets a year, and have donated generously to RMEF.
And the Phifer’s generosity will extend long after they are gone from their beloved backcountry haunts. They have chosen to leave 20% of their estate to RMEF in their will, which gives them a place in RMEF’s Trails Society and a big place in the future of the organization’s conservation work.
The Trails Society recognizes those who have included RMEF as a beneficiary in their estate plans through a will, life insurance policy or retirement account. As Trails Society members, Bill and Gail receive exclusive conservation information, invitations to special events and a gift item. More importantly, they know they are doing all they can to make sure the next generation will have the opportunity to enjoy their favorite pastime.
“To say they’re really into hunting is an understatement,” says Billy, with a laugh. “I happen to be the one that cares for their cat when they’re gone, which is quite often.” Billy also describes the dedicated “hunting calendar” his dad keeps, a matrix showing the various hunts he’s planning. When asked to sum up his parents’ choice to support conservation through giving to RMEF, Billy kept it simple. “I’d say they’re just honest, caring people that want to make a difference.”
Having hunted in many different countries, Bill and Gail say they are especially appreciative of the public land that all Americans have access to. That’s one of the main reasons they love the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation—they like the way the organization works to promote access for hunters and conserve habitat for big game. And they like how RMEF focuses its work across the entire country.
“Giving back to a conservation group that’s actually using our money wisely and supporting hunting and wildlife in general has always been important to us,” says Bill. “We support other organizations, but really none at the level we do RMEF, because we believe they apply the money, multiply it and use it wisely.”