Hunter lost in the woods near here

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rcmodel

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MmmmKayyy! :confused:

So, we got 5"-6" of fresh snow yesterday which ended mid-morning.

Then a deer hunter got lost in the woods near here last evening, and there was a big search to find him last night.
He was found safe, but cold, not far from his truck.

I'm thinking he must not have been much of a tracker.
Or he could have just followed his own tracks in the new snow back to his truck???

rc
 
I didn't think Kansas had enough trees to lost in. But I'm probably just thinking of western Kansas...
 
Well....maybe we are having a new infusion of novice hunters along with everything else firearm-related!!

I know I got my first deer (2 bucks!) of my entire life this year! And I'm almost old enough to get Social Security. Thanks, Obama! Great hobby you got me into!
 
Maybe he couldn't get a signal from the cell tower so his GPS map app wouldn't work...
 
rcmodel said:
I'm thinking he must not have been much of a tracker.
Or he could have just followed his own tracks in the new snow back to his truck???

rc
Click to expand...


He may have tried that, but after crossing his own tracks several times walking in circles on the way in, once he started to back track, he soon found tracks leading in two different directions.:banghead:
 
I hunt eastern Kansas and a few years ago I became moderately disoriented during a heavy snow storm. It was snowing lightly when I started, but increased to heavy snow after I had walked about a mile from my vehicle. My plan was to call coyotes, but changed my mind as the snow storm got worseMy early tracks were covered quickly by blowing snow. I knew the general direction of my vehicle, but had to circumnavigate around a creek. Eventually, I found the road and walked back to my car, but I emerged on the road about a quarter of mile from where I thought I was coming out of the woods. Familiar visual landmarks disappear in heavy blowing snow. So, yeah, it can happen.
 
Yea!
I've been there too in dense fog out on the public hunting land at Clinton lake 10 miles from home.

I know it like the back of my hand.
But one morning dense ice fog rolled in off the lake while I was a mile from the truck, and after a while, I didn't have a clue how to get back too it. It was so dense you couldn't even tell where the sun was.

I had a brand new Garmin GPS on it's maiden voyage that morning, but the weather got so bad it lost satellite reception.

Since then?
I don't go hunting or woods bumming without an old fashioned compass in my hunting coat!!

Still, this guy got lost near the K.C. metro area on a clear afternoon & evening with 5" of fresh snow on the ground.


If he needed to get his bearings and not walk around in circles till the cavalry rescued him?

There was a bright moon in the eastern sky last evening, and Venus was clearly visible shining brightly in the southern sky last night too.

rc
 
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My brother and I were bowhunting a tote road in northern Wisconsin. It snowed heavily the 3rd night we hunted. The next day we couldn't find our hang-on stands ... or the tote road.
We finally brought the coordinates up on a GPS and found the spot.
 
What did Dan'l Boone say? "I've never been lost but I've been mighty confused a few times..."

ditto here!

Laphroaig
 
old fashioned compass

This is something you do not go into the woods, mountains or desert without.
 
old fashioned compass

This is something you do not go into the woods, mountains or desert without.
Click to expand...

Yeah, went sans compass once about 30 years ago. Haven't done it since.

I did "self rescue" from that situation, but many lessons were learned that day...
 
I remember dragging a buck down the wrong canyon up by Jarbidge, Nevada, thought the road was in that one, missed it by a mile. Took me a couple of days to recuperate from that one. It was foggy and I was glad to see the truck that night!
 
I can see where if you're a novice in the woods without a compass or GPS you could get turned around in flat country. Most of my hunting is in the mountains of Montana, Idaho or British Columbia, pick out another mountain and you have a point of reference. Than again, fresh snow does make it a bit easier to backtrack.
 
I agree totally.

Colorado mountain canyons all look about the same in the dark & inclement weather.
And I have become a little confused a time or two there too.
Without a compass & topo map, I would have been lost.


But this case just sparked my interest!

This guy got lost in new snow, with a clear evening sky, within sight of the K.C. metro area lights, and within sound of two major interstate highways last evening.

Maybe a medical condition contributed to it or something?
I don't know.

rc
 
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Perhaps in the battle between reason and panic, his brain lost? That's too bad though, I think it's in those times of "little danger" that we train ourselves to win the battle in bigger situations.
 
"little dangers"

JonathanE said:
Perhaps in the battle between reason and panic, his brain lost? That's too bad though, I think it's in those times of "little danger" that we train ourselves to win the battle in bigger situations.
Click to expand...
Map and compass are constants and have helped me out a couple times this Fall when I got turned around in fog. Will add a GPS next season.

Totally agree that it is by getting turned around a few times, and figuring the way back out by whatever clues, wits and tools are available, that a hunter becomes confident enough to venture further afield.

Going down the wrong canyon as witchhunter did is a timeless and potentially deadly misadventure. It takes an experienced man to get back out without panic and loss of life.
 
I have gotten turned around so badly that I couldn't recognize some familiar landmarks. I've seen creeks flowing the wrong way etc. I was so confused one night while coon hunting in the fog that I had to close my eyes and listen. I could hear the familiar sound of an old oil well motor popping away in the distance.
 
KBBAILEY - "... I've seen creeks flowing the wrong way etc. "
Click to expand...

So have I. Talk about a surprise...!

Another time I was deer hunting up in the Sierra of Calif., on the western slope. I was fairly familiar with the area but a mountain fog rolled in. After hunting a bit, moving over a saddle and along a ridge, I decided it was time to go back to camp. No problem as I knew exactly where it was.

No matter, I pulled out my compass from my shirt pocket and checked direction just to make sure. Uh ohh, my compass was wrong. I knew where camp was and my compass needle was pointing in the wrong direction.

For many years I've always carried two compasses, one in my shirt pocket and one in my day pack. So I put the malfunctioning compass on the ground, pulled my spare compass from my day pack and placed it on the ground about a yard from the malfunctioning one. You guessed it. They were both wrong!! :what: After all I just knew the direction back to camp was opposite what those two compasses were indicating.

Of course I had gotten turned around, even though I was somewhat familiar with the area. I decided I'd better "listen" to my compasses and doing so brought me back to camp in about an hour.

Taught me a lesson. Carry two compasses and abide by them!! :D

L.W.
 
Maybe guys, he did what the first rule of survival states what you are supposed to do. If he was disoriented he just swallowed his pride and ego and stayed where he was at and waited for help.
If you are lost and you try to walk out, there is very good chance that panic may set in and all sorts of bad decisions are made. Stop where you are, make a fire, try to build something to protect your self from the elements and get as comfortable as possible, collect your thoughts. Wait until after dark to fire any warning shots. It will be easier for help to find you if you stay in one spot.
Whenever you go into the woods, you should have these basic items with you, a sturdy knife, compass, a whistle, something water proof to start a fire with, layered clothing and adequate ammo. The items I mentioned take up very little room in you pocket and just may be the difference between surviving and not surviving.
There should be no disgrace felt, if you get disorientated.
 
^^^^
+1.
If the guy had no woods sense then he shouldn't have been hunting alone. That being said, having enough sense to know that he had no sense, stopping and calling for help was the smart thing to do.
Early this year, just outside my city, a young man wander off from a bushland conference center and get lost. He called his friends on his phone, but kept walking in the dark, sure he could make his way back. His body was recovered 3 months later, he had fallen off a cliff less than 300 meters from the hotel. If he had just sat down against a tree and waited for help, or even dawn, then he would still be alive.
 
We had an instance in Pennsylvania one winter where an older man was visiting his neighbor about a 1/4mile through the woods one night. It had been snowing hard all evening and his neighbor insisted on taking him home. There was 8"on the ground and it was after dark.

He wouldn't hear of it and started walking, and didn't make it home. They found him froze to death in the woods the next day, a long ways from his home. Things sure do change when it snows a lot.

I can see how he got lost but,

5" of snow in a metro area on clear night? hmmmm. with highways in eye shot? Had to be city slicker.
 
Some guys will say that it's impossible to get lost here in Penn's Woods.
My humble opinion is: When you exit the woods after a days hunt and wind up 2 or 3 miles from where you intended, you ARE lost. A sudden heavy fog has got to be the worst condition that occurs.
 
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