Lost Hunter in Washington

[cigars]

Very sorry to hear that. Thoughts and prayers to his family.

 

[BFR45/70]

Prayers go out to the family , it's sad but it's good they found him , they have closure.

 

[jbett98]

I once read an excellent magazine article about the decision making processes by folks who were lost and later were found or managed to walk out on their own.
I wish I could remember the authors name. It clearly explained the lost persons decisions at critical points.

 

[RVTECH]

I wish I could remember the authors name. It clearly explained the lost persons decisions at critical points.

I was 'lost' once while bow hunting. Weather was not bad and I was prepped for maybe a night out. I do recall accepting the fact I was lost and was going to take one more shot at getting my bearings before it got dark and making camp for the night. Fortunately I saw a fenceline in the distance and walked to it and remembered it was a road we had came in on a couple days before and knew it led to our camp. I followed it to camp and when I got there it was cleaned up with a note on a tree from my friend telling me he would come by at 1/2 hour intervals until about 10 PM and then would head into Prineville and contact the PD. I was there about 9 PM.

 

[RVTECH]

I once read an excellent magazine article about the decision making processes by folks who were lost and later were found or managed to walk out on their own.

I read something similar once (heck maybe the same article) but I recall one of the 'common' mindsets is simple denial - refusal to accept one is lost and to keep blindly pushing on, panicking as night falls - and one of the reasons they sometimes found people dead from something relatively easy to overcome like stumbling and breaking a leg or hitting their head.

 

[jbett98]

I do remember the author recalling his own story when elk hunting in the mountains with a foot of snow on the ground.
He had hiked for miles down a logging road as it dropped into a drainage area and after crossing a creek he followed it back uphill parallel to his starting point at the top of the opposite ridge.
He came to the roads end almost directly across the canyon from his truck when it started to snow and with the looming prospect of turning around and following his tracks back down the ridge and all the way back up the steep road to his truck with late afternoon coming on, he agonized about whether he should turn around or attempt to cross the canyon from where he was.
He finally chose to retrace his steps and make the longer hike, but the next day he returned with a friend that had a 4x4 rigged up for snow and when he examined his own tracks at the end of the road, he couldn't believe how many times he had started to drop down over the hill and then turning back to the clearing.
At least ten times by his count.

 

[Mark W.]

Skills for operating in the Woods are not always something that comes natural. I have been in a couple of hairy situations on my own and made the right choices luckily. I could have made the wrong ones as easily I guess. Knowing how to find a lost trail, knowing how to know conditions are not going to get better if you keep going and realizing you have to turn around even if that is the longer way out (I once had to back track nearly 18 miles when I ran into deep snow on my way to a pickup 4 miles ahead) , And knowing when your flat done and should wait for help is not something taught to many people now days.

I had the advantage of growing up in the country where we ranged around maybe 80-100 square miles as kids 10-11 years old and then years of Boy scouts and a dad who was skilled in wilderness survival and hunting skills he passed down.

And still one wrong decision and a guy can get screwed.

Sorry for this family and all the pain they are going through.

 

[Koda]

the vast majority of hunters hunt in cotton clothes and don't carry a map and compass. They've been doing it for years and so consider themselves "experienced" in the outdoors when in reality they have just been lucky.

 

[RVTECH]

If I recall from the LEE incident in 2006 in all of his 16 MILES of walking he never got more than three miles from the vehicle and was ultimately found only 1/2 mile away.

I also recall reading if a person does not have a waypoint to follow, be it azimuth or a landmark one will walk in a arc, or circle depending on a person's strong side or even if one leg is longer than the other. I have proved this to myself many times by returning to camp only to find I was to the 'left' of it by up to a couple hundred yards.

 

[WAYNO]

From what I've read, autopsy reports are not yet available, but preliminary
Sheriff reports indicate he was found not wearing his cold weather clothing, although they were available to him. Not conclusive, but indicative of a hypothermic meltdown.

I have spent decades traveling and hunting alone in the mountains, and I know "things" happen. Road washouts, creeks rising, trees across the road in both directions, and being stuck in the snow have been my most occurring obstacles, and I have taken some scary falls, but I always had the right equipment and I always beat the odds and made it home. It could have easily turned out not so good.

Although I always thought I was invincible in the mountains, it was fishing alone and reaching the upper end of being "middle aged" that finally made me realize I was pushing my luck both on the river and in the mountains.

 

[RVTECH]

Skills for operating in the Woods are not always something that comes natural.

This is very true - skills are gained by a combination of experience and education - but even those with them most can still get into trouble very quickly. Mother Nature can be VERY unforgiving!

 

[clearconscience]

Mother nature is alway unforgiving.

You mind your manners or she's throw you a beatin

 

[Mark W.]

Just a little story about how experiance matters.

A few years back the wife and I rented a cabin at Crater Lake for our anniversary. We decided to go do a nice 5 mile loop type hunt.

The trail kind of skirted the top of a ridge as it jutted out into a large canyon. Heavily wooded clearly marked trail started and ended at a small trail head parking lot.

We started out carrying a few pounds of camera gear and a small backpack with the essentials (trail food couple qts of water first aide flash light para cord etc.) About 3 miles into the hike we met up with a couple of guys late 20's early 30's we stopped and talked they told us to turn around the trail was covered with snow ahead. We asked about their visit to the US they were obviously Scandinavian of some sort. They told use they had hiked all over Europe and did quite a few hikes here in the US.

We thanked them for the trail advice and continued on our way (our main goal was photography so even if we had to turn around up a head we would still be seeing new stuff on the way.

It should be said this was June 10th sunny weather not a hint of bad weather in the forecast.

When we got to where it was obvious from the foot prints the pair of guys lost the trail I took the opportunity to teach the wife a littl trail skill I had learned as a kid in scouts.

I had her stand point at the last place we had clear trail. I then walked out as far as I could in a straight line away from her until she said she could no longer see me. I then took two sticks and made a little Tee Pee shape at that point. I then walked to my right in an arc always keeping the Tee Pee in view. When that did not turn up the trail I back tracked and did the same to the left. A few yards from the Tee Pee to the left it was clear there was a section of trail not covered by snow. I called out for the wife to catch up to me.

We traveled on the trail maybe a 1/4 mile and lost it again. We did the same type of post and sweep and quickly found the trail again. And made another 100-125 yards.

I then had the wife preform the sweep and sure enough she was able to find the trail again and we were now pretty much clear of the snow deep enough to hide the trail. And ended up being able to just see the trail across the snow and continue on our way.

We came out of the woods about 10 yards from the actual end of the trail at the parking lot. Mostly cause we were closer to the car that way.

I also showed her how a single person could do the same thing by taking a length of something easy to see like the Orange and Yellow Christmas tree tape I carry in my bag to make the post and just make sure you do not go farther then you can see the post at the known trail.

Its all about what you know and how to use it.

Of course having carefully studied a map before the hike I knew that even if we got completely off the trail as long as we stayed on pretty much level ground and walked to our right we would come to the hwy and the parking lot. Because we were on this finger of land sticking out into a canyon.

But it was a fun hike with the wife and she enjoyed being a better hiker then the two guys from as it turned out Norway who had hiked all over the place LOL.

 

[RVTECH]

Orange and Yellow Christmas tree tape I carry in my bag

Yep - blaze orange Surveyor tape! Marked MANY a trail for me - and led me out again - just don't forget to remove the tape on the return trip!

 

[Caveman Jim]

Prayers for the family and friends.

 

[CountryGent]

I once read an excellent magazine article about the decision making processes by folks who were lost and later were found or managed to walk out on their own.
I wish I could remember the authors name. It clearly explained the lost persons decisions at critical points.

I'm guessing it was not the same publication, but that does remind me of a book I read some time ago entitled The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life by Ben Sherwood. It is not a "survival manual" in the traditional sense, but it is an interesting read. And it does indeed go into the decision making process survivors went through "when it went down".

 

[clearconscience]

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