Jake Schmitt: Crushed in the Backcountry - The Survival Story of a Guide, His Dog, And an Impossible Crawl to Safety

The Crawl: How Jake Schmitt Survived a Mountain Crash — Thanks to His Dog
In this week’s Team Never Quit Podcast, Marcus & Melanie sit down with Utah hunting guide Jake Schmitt to hear his incredible story of survival in the Uintah Mountains. What began as a summer scouting trip for mule deer turned into an 11-hour crawl for his life — with only his dog, Buddy, by his side.
Jake shares how he went from releasing an elk calf from a trap to being crushed in a UTV rollover, and how his knowledge of self-rescue, grit, and an extraordinary bond with his German shorthaired pointer helped him make it out alive.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
• How a routine scouting trip in the Uintah Mountains went horribly wrong
• The split-second decisions that led to the UTV rollover and Jake’s devastating injuries
• Why his dog Buddy became the key to his survival — providing motivation & warmth
• Field-tested self-rescue skills every outdoorsperson should know
• Jake’s recovery process, and how he’s preparing to return to the mountains and the buck he first spotted

Key Moments:
• The Hunt: Scouting for a velvet mule deer buck in remote country
• The Rescue: Freeing an elk calf from a trap moments before disaster struck
• The Crash: A UTV rollover shattering bones and gear — but not Jake’s resolve
• The Crawl: 11 hours of crawling, crossing creeks, and following Buddy’s promptings to safety
• The Recovery: Rods, screws, and staples — but a plan to guide hunters again this fall

This episode is more than a survival story. It’s about preparedness, mindset, and the unbreakable bond between a hunter and his dog. Whether you hunt, hike, or just love hearing how ordinary people survive extraordinary situations, this conversation will stay with you.

In this episode you will hear:
• In between normal life and sports, I always was hunting. (7:12)
• Welding funds my guiding addiction. (8:54)
• The incredible story of Jake’s accident and subsequent crawl for his life starts here. (22:03
• [Jake’s dog, Buddy] went with it. He came up and found me. (26:40)
• So, what I ended up doing was grabbing this and summersaulting down. It doesn’t sound like that far, but it was like 100 feet. It was a good tumble, and I’m just screaming. (31:25)
• I’ve been guiding way up north where I’ve seen a German Shepherd get baited into the woods by wolves and they rip him to shreds. (33:12)
• The first thing I thought was I have no light. How the hell am I gonna do this? I don’t even know where I’m going. (33:33)
• I’m dragging the leg, and I’m going so far downhill that if I try to turn around, I start to tumble, but if I go the other way I drag and drag, but you’re going up and over this, up and over that, you’re going under this log, you’re going over that log, so I’ve gone maybe a third of a mile in 3 hours. And I’m like I’m gonna die out here. (36:53)
• Jake’s explanation of flipping over on his knee and break his leg again, and Buddy finally gets it. (38:19)
• It was 4 miles of straight rock. (44:34)
• At the time mentally, I am just gone. But the dog as there and I felt obligated. (45:54)
• At some point I just got it out of my head: Whatever’s gonna happen is gonna happen. At that moment, something changed in me. (58:10)
• The best PT for me is doing the same damn thing that I was doing. (64:34)

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