Your hunting partner is lost... whats next?

[cnelk]

Are you prepared if one of your hunting partners gets lost?
Or doesn't show back up at camp?

What do you do?

[Lefty]

Dave like me I dont think we can get lost,.. just a longer walk back to camp than we want
Only two ways to get lost where I hunt, low clouds/fog or heavy rain or snow. Lots of ID landmarks day or night; cloudy or or clear surrounded in every direction by a 2 track trail

Check the phone and see if he texted, hes a electronic freak so likely he would send cordinatees

I would park the truck on the nearest legal road and honk the horn and glass,. Snow I would drive till I cut tracks If he cut vehicle track he would stay on the track

Hurt ; would be more of a problem. If I cant recieve a text. I would get up high and look for light. One particular location I would be able to scan about 3-5 miles, at night with an LED light it would be easy. Daytime I think he would build a smoke fire


Thanks for the thread. We need to talk about this

[Swede]

I know where my hunting associates are hunting. If they do not show up at a reasonable time, I would drive to where they are parked. If they are not there I would walk into their tree stand location. If that was not sufficient I would holler, and start driving around some. It would not be long then, and I would call the sheriff. My biggest concern is that someone could have a heart attack. Everyone I hunt with is in good shape, but we are getting old too.

[WapitiTalk1]

Eat his food Teasing of course. This is a very serious topic which I hope gains ground (excellent thread BTW cnelk). It takes years to really understand how to navigate effectively in the mountains, particularly when you are tired, cold, hot, wet, exhausted, hypothermic, disoriented in alder hell, GPS died, etc., etc. Prevention is enormous here. Each person in your group needs to and must know where everyone is hunting and what their basic plan is. I expect to see the guys in my party roll in within a few hours of nightfall. There is no cell service where I hunt in WA, ID, or MT. If they do not show up within a few hours of nightfall, I'm heading to the spot where "I know" from previous discussions they dove in from and am prepared to head in with my best hollering voice cued up. Everyone whether hunting solo or with a partner, should have a map/compass and know how to use them, and, a very good first aid/emergency gear packet (plenty of water, bandages, antiseptic, fire starting gear, Para cord to tie splints, duct tape, blood clot, additional energy food to get them through a night in the elements, some form of shelter like a space blanket, perhaps a whistle, extra batteries for their headlamp, and some type of emergency signal light/chemlight to show their location). I always tell the guys that hunt with me that if they find themselves in a true "lost" position, to sit down, start a fire, and wait... I'll find them. Incessant/compulsive wandering "down" can lead to serious trouble, particularly if we're 15-20 miles from any semblance of civilization. The coolest head in a lost or hurt situation is the ticket (for both the lost/injured hunter and the one(s) seeking them). Last resort, I'm heading to the nearest town or cell point to get assistance when I know the situation is beyond my capability. Every state has a emergency rescue team. Knock on wood, I've never had to use it.

[ctdad]

This happened to me two years ago. The next morning, I drove to a phone, called the sheriff and waited for him. While I waited, my partner walked into camp. He was fine the whole time but I sure worried.

[Buglemaster]

I know where my hunting associates are hunting. If they do not show up at a reasonable time, I would drive to where they are parked. If they are not there I would walk into their tree stand location. If that was not sufficient I would holler, and start driving around some. It would not be long then, and I would call the sheriff. My biggest concern is that someone could have a heart attack. Everyone I hunt with is in good shape, but we are getting old too.

That's my plan also. 3 of us generally hunt in the same area so we know the proximity of each other. A few years ago, a buddy decided to hike from camp down a couple miles to work a big Mulie buck he had saw. It got dark on him & the batteries in his light died. Around 10 pm, I took the truck & drove down to the area he had headed to. Found him on the road flicking a bic lighter to get my attention. He was a long way from camp with no moon & probably would not have made it back to camp that night. I think the #1 thing to do is know the general area each hunter will be going to. Narrows down the search considerably.

[JGH]

Being alone in the wilderness is one of the great pleasures of life, but the inherent danger should never be taken lightly. Although I always have some sort of first aid kit (however Spartan) ... I always leave with water/food/fire, and wouldn't hunt with someone who doesn't also. I don't want to worry about someone getting hypothermia out there.

Detailed itineraries are useful ... where are you going? ... what trails are you taking? ... What if you get an animal down?

[mtnmutt]

1) communicate plans in detail with your hunting partners before they leave camp. Head nodding is not good communication and has tripped me up. You are a zombie by day 5 of little sleep. Vocally go over each others plans for the next day.

2) do a pack contents check at camp and make sure everyone has the 10 essentials, esp, a good whistle. 3 blasts means they need help. Can use one whistle to try to find each other. Your voice will get sore so a whistle is better.

3) in colorado, each county has an all volunteer search and rescue force. It takes hours to get them to your location to start a search.

4) SAR prefers rescuing people and not doing body recoveries.

For my one incident, it was the failure of communication on route back to the truck that was the problem. I was tired and sick and should never had gone out scouting. I even forgot all my 10 essentials. It was a familiar area but being tired and sick caused me to not think clearly. I got out by myself but only after stopping and sitting down to think things through rather than continuously walking in the wrong direction.

With partners, I communicate the plans and agree on these to 2 times
Estimated time back at camp
Panic time - time to call the sheriff. I know my limitations and would not rely on myself to go find a person by myself.

If we can text each other, than we attempt to get the person to a known road. This would work in I one of my areas because of high landmarks and road locations. At dark, they would be best to stay put because of the high concentrations of dark timber.

[Herb]

A few years back, I shot a cow at sundown and it was around midnight when I finally rolled into camp. The boys were around the campfire organizing a search plan, so we really had not communicated. Last year I shot a bull a sundown, when I rolled in at 1:00a.m., my buddy sleeping nicely in his bag, awoke to ask "what did you get??"

We are already packed in some miles, so real help isn't going to come soon. We carry packs full of the survival gear needed if we would need to wait for a SAR. Radios have been nice to check in with the party to let them know if help is needed or running late. We have detailed plans of where we plan to hunt and know the timelines needed to get to those locations.

We will have a new fella in camp this year, it will be good to get some detailed plans refreshed for everyone in the group.

[pointysticks]

because of my savvy internal compass, my brother bought me a Rino.

not much you can do right? build up a big fire and wait..every hunter should be prepared to stay out overnight uncomfortably.

[>>>---WW---->]

Give him a reasonable amount of time to show up. After that it's time to call Search & Rescue. In Colorado you pay a S&R fee when you buy your license.

I hope your buddy is smart enough to own a PLB device. The older and clumsyer I get, I'm glad I have one. Just hope I never have to push the button.

[navet]

Do most of you carry a PLB device? If so which one do yall carry.

[cnelk]

Does everyone know what's in your buddies pack?

[Mikeha33]

This is not a great topic for me to think about, b/c this is my first time in the mountains, and there is a pretty good chance that I'll be alone for certain parts of the day, with the plan to meet back up with my hunting partner at a designated time. Cnelk asks a good question about knowing what is in your partners bag, and I am glad to say, that my partner has already gone through everything with me, so we do know.

Food
Fire
Water
Knife

The 4 things I will have with me at all times, even if I drop my big pack, I have emergency fire starters, a knife, a 1L bladder, and snacks in my hip pack (I refuse to use the term "fanny pack")

[twinkieman]

We all carry a SPOT, when hunting alone. We all have them on the waist belt of our packs. So far(knock on wood), no one has had two use them , other then to send out texts to home.

[dapper]

If my partner(my son) never showed up at night, it would be a long worried night, but we have talked about it and the real concern would begin mid-day following that night. We have supplies that should allow for our survival one night. Also this year we each have a personal locator beacon and rino gps', which we didn't have last year.
I'll tell you it was a relief standing in camp after dark last year and finally see his headlight finally coming into view.

[cnelk]

Lets come at this from another angle:

Obviously, a considerable amount of time has passed for you to determine that your partner is either lost or injured.
You probably have a good idea of locale where he/she was last known to be.
You know that their pack didnt contain the necessary items for bad weather or an overnight stay.

What is your next move?

A - Do your own search?

B - Wait Longer?

C - Call SAR [Yes. In CO you pay a small fee for SAR, but it can also be determined that you can be held responsible for SAR costs even with this surcharge]

D - Other

How long do you wait?
Are you prepared to do SAR?

Details, everyone. Lets hear details

[G Posik]

InReach! Turn it on. If they are late they send a text message. If they need help they send a text message. If a serious emergency they hit the SOS button. Best thing I ever bought. Can even text the wife and kids everyday. Even have weather reports texted to me where ever I am in the world.

Glenn

[Bullnuts]

A few things to think about: If you know your buddies are lost and you know where they are most likely to be hunting, DO NOT start searching before SAR get there. A lot of teams use tracking dogs and they can start on your buddy's last tracks, but not if you muck things up by spreading a bunch of fresh scent around. Everyone should carry the stuff they will need to spend a night in the woods - water, shelter, fire. Food is nice but you're probably not going to starve to death spending one night in the trees. Carry a signal device. Cell phone coverage sucks in the mountains but a good whistle will be heard for a long ways. Carry an old AOL CD or signal mirror in your pack. Carry at least one tourniquet. If you are unfortunate enough to put an arrow through one of your own limbs or you cut something vital while you're dressing an animal, the tourniquet will save your life. Always tell your partners where you're going to begin your hunt so they have a starting point. We discuss this every morning. TRUST your GPS. I didn't one year and my internal compass cost me hours and many more miles than necessary. It won't lie to you. Carry spare batteries for your light and GPS.

[LckyTylr]

Just a thought for everyone that has a PLB.

I don't want to thread jack this . . . so I'll start a new thread for my story "PLB".

[>>>---WW---->]

Pay close attention to what Bullnuts posted. Be prepared and make sure everyone in your party is equipt well enough to spend a nite in the boonies. Leave the searching part to the pros. They are well organized and many of them may let you assist them so long as you follow the ground plan.

[BobcatJerry]

Great topic. My partners all have Rinos, so if a problem arises, we would typically know a little earlier if something is a muck. If we have been forwarding our locations, by simply keying the mic, their last updated position would be a starting point for looking, if needed. If their location fails to update, then they are out of range, dead batteries, or something is wrong. Or worse, if it updates at the same location for hours, and no voice response on the radio is given, that would be a serious flag too.

It's not fail safe, but it helps.

All the advice above is sage, and I think cool and collective minds will win the day. With the Rinos with no contact for hours or updated location, I would start thinking of doing a walk and listen approach search, and maybe toss out some whistles and noise. After about two hours after dark.

I've already directed my buddies to this post, hope they read it.

[easeup]

Eat his food Teasing of course. This is a very serious topic which I hope gains ground (excellent thread BTW cnelk). It takes years to really understand how to navigate effectively in the mountains, particularly when you are tired, cold, hot, wet, exhausted, hypothermic, disoriented in alder hell, GPS died, etc., etc. Prevention is enormous here. ..............................................................


The coolest head in a lost or hurt situation is the ticket (for both the lost/injured hunter and the one(s) seeking them). Last resort, I'm heading to the nearest town or cell point to get assistance when I know the situation is beyond my capability. .......... I've never had to use it.

Awesome!

I found someone else's lost hunter with this method before (he had a fire going). He was psycho damaged for the rest of his life I think because he spent the night alone on the mountain..

Most of where we hunt there is no cell coverage and it is a long way to anything.
Our plan usually involves, we turn the lights out without you as there is little chance of doing any good in the dark when we are already tired.

When we awake in the morning, if the lost hunter has not returned, we give them until about 10am to get to camp.

[Lefty]

Spoke with Dave, who will hunt with me He said other than heavy snow without a GPS he will always know where he is.
He use to be a serous mountain climber( those wack jobs that sleep in a hammock on a cliff) and wilderness hiker. He has good mountian and isolated country sence. I think we both have our heads in the right place in emergencies.
He wont go for help until 2:00 AM , The horn honking and two track trail driving and the higher elevation looking fior an LED light.
So we're on the same page.
We also have a friends parents who are one of the nearest farms to where we hunt, to help in an emergency situation

We both think a snake bite is our biggest concern, then broken bones when we are seperated.
I do plan to tell him to get a decent dog training whistle, easy to blow and more shril of a sound that should carry a good mile on a calm night

Again: a great thread

[Chukarhunter]

I spent 25 years in SAR here in Nevada, and have been on many searches for lost/missing people, many of them hunters who just didn't spend any time keeping themselves oriented while hunting. In my experience, unless you (the ones back at camp) are EXTREMELY familiar with the area, and know the exact area your partner is hunting, don't waste a lot of time looking for him. Call in the professionals!! But, if you can drive a few roads that effectively "fence" your lost partner in, you can eliminate the chance he's wandered out of his intended hunting area. Also, if you're in an area that has a lot of hunters traipsing about, it's a good idea to know what kind of tread each of you has on your boots (stepping on a piece of aluminum foil will imprint the tread pattern pretty well). That way, SAR trackers won't waste time following the wrong track (I'm a certified man tracker, so know this works!).

Naturally, you need to have a plan in place as to when to start worrying. At dark? 2 hours after dark? the next morning? That will all be dependent upon the skill of each of you, and may be different for each of you as well. And, if you're the one that's lost, and you know it, STAY PUT! A stationary person is a lot easier to find than a person on the move.

[DirtyErn]

All good replies. I carry the basic surval gear. But I always carry a good whistle or 2, 1 around my neck and because of skiing in deep powder I started wearing one on my wrist. When you suspect someone is lost it's always best to keep help as soon as possible and practical