Colfax man loses leg in hunting mishap

Paul Bilderback returned to his residence here last Tuesday, Nov. 3, from Yakima Memorial Hospital where the lower part of his left leg was amputated after a hunting accident in the White Pass area. Bilderback was flown Saturday morning, Oct. 31, by medvac helicopter from the Rimrock Lake Airstrip to the Yakima hospital for treatment.

Bilderback, 68, was hunting with his stepson, Steve Anderson of Covington, and others. Jack Rodgers of Colfax, a long-time friend of Bilderback, was also in the hunting party.

Bilderback said he was hiking to help Anderson, who had downed an elk, when he fell on a slight incline which was covered with mud. When he fell, his rifle discharged and he was hit in the leg.

Bilderback said he was alone for 30 to 45 minutes before he was located by Anderson and other hunters. They used a tourniquet to stop the bleeding on his wounded leg. Other hunters converged on the scene and assisted with the evacuation. He was carried by the hunters and Yakima EMTs on a stretcher for more than a mile to an ambulance, which transported him to the airstrip to be loaded onto the helicopter.

Bilderback’s wife, Becky, and Peggy Rodgers went to Yakima to be with him at the hospital and brought him home Tuesday night. His treatment has been referred by Yakima doctors to doctors here. His leg was amputated about three inches below the knee.

A Boeing retiree, Bilderback has resided in Colfax for the past 14 years.