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) Support TNQ - IG: team_neverquit , marcusluttrell , melanieluttrell , huntero13 - https://www.patreon.com/teamneverquit Sponsors: - Navyfederal.org - meetfabiric.com/TNQ - masterclass.com/TNQ - Prizepicks (TNQ) - Dripdrop.com/TNQ - cargurus.com/TNQ - armslist.com/TNQ - PXGapparel.com/TNQ - bruntworkwear.com/TNQ - Selectquote.com/TNQ - Groundnews.com/TNQ - shipsticks.com/TNQ - strawberry.me/TNQ - stopboxusa.com {TNQ} - ghostbed.com/TNQ [TNQ] - kalshi.com/TNQ - joinbilt.com/TNQ - Tonal.com [TNQ] - greenlight.com/TNQ - PDSDebt.com/TNQ - drinkAG1.com/TNQ - Shadyrays.com [TNQ] - qualialife.com/TNQ [TNQ] - Hims.com/TNQ - Shopify.com/TNQ - Aura.com/TNQ - TAKELEAN.com [TNQ] - usejoymode.com [TNQ]