Getting lost?

[Fullabull]

Have you ever got lost and for how long?

I was always very good at knowing where I came from while hunting and was always able to find my way back. I did get lost one time hunting an area that looked the same everywhere because it was a large flat area where all the trees were the same size. I got lost for about three hours. My dad showed up the next day and I told him to be careful  he ended lost for about 8 hours and finally ended up on a road that he said he wasn't leaving for anything. some guys finally came driving along and got him back to camp, 5 miles later


This was all before GPS's and phone apps.

 

[nclonghunter]

Was hunting in the mountains not far from Spruce Knob, WV. My friend smoked and we stood on a high point and discussed how we were going to go from there, because we were lost. We walked for two hours and came out on this point and stopped. I looked down and saw a spot were the leaves had been kicked out and a cigarette butt stomped out. It was my friends cigarette butt and we were back at the same spot.
We of course got out after several hours of more walking. I was told once that your instincts take over and you will walk in a circle, if not walking towards a land mark or something.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

Never been lost in the moutains, but I got turned around once in the swamps of NC. I didn't have a gps, and the compass kept going around in circles.
Could not get out before dark and the vegetation was so thick you couldn't see 10 yards in the daylight. I made a fire, built a little shelter, and hunkered down for the night. Around midnight or so I hear my name over a loud speaker.

My camp mates told the local search and rescue that I did not come back to camp and asked if they could look for me tomorrow if I didn't make it back to camp by noon. Search and rescue decided they had to come after me that night because someone else had died in that area about a week earlier. I made it out to the road they were on, and was greeted by about 40 or so people, all sorts of vehicles, two 40' long fire trucks, and a helicopter they called Pedro.........I was all sorts of embarrassed.

 

[buckykm1]

I guess that I am lucky, I was born and raised in mid Michigan, and have tromped thru the wood by myself since I was 7 or 8, I am now 60, I have always said that I have a built in compass, for the last 26 years I have went out west Elk hunting some place, I can honestly say that I have never been lost.
But now that I have gotten older, I do always carry a Compass and GPS with me.

Kevin

 

[Jimbow65]

Never been "lost", got turned around in a familiar area here in PA when we got buried under 30" of snow and very branch was covered. nothing looked familiar, and no sun.
My Dad used to test me on direction when we were hunting the big woods of northern PA he help develop my sense of direction.

 

[Fullabull]

I do that with my son when we go out now, I always ask to pay attention and then ask him where the truck is. so far, he is going to need a GPS

 

[GoatT]

I never have, but a couple of friends of mine did.  They went out for the evening hunt in their Samurai.  There was this old 4 wheel drive road they went in on and then had to hike in another 2-3 miles form there.  When they got back to the vehicle my friend realized that he lost his keys (from when he was getting some stuff out of his pack earlier).  They ended up having to hike back to camp to get the extra set of keys.  They hiked through the night as it got colder and colder.  It started snowing on them off and on.  After hiking in the dark throughout the forest they got to his trailer.  His wife was frantic wondering where they were as it was about 1 int he morning.  She was just about ready to go out looking for them before they got there.  He drove his other truck in with the other set of keys the next day to pick up his Samurai.  Found out they had hiked about 10-12 miles to get back.  The scary thing was one started to throw up and just wanted to lay down and go to sleep.  They were only about a half mile from camp they later found out.   

 

[COelkaholic88]

I've never been lost but definitely been turned around before. Most recent was this past year. I was helping a friend of mine hunt and we headed into a draw where we last seen the elk headed earlier that day. He killed a respectable 5x6 bull right before dark and we quartered the bull and began packing out back to the truck. When we hit the top of the ridge we didn't realize we went off the wrong side of the draw in the wrong direction. Of course I forgot my gps at home and had no clue where the truck was located. Thankfully I followed my gut when we got into the thick timber and turned around and found a fence line. We followed it for awhile and eventually had to use a signal shot hoping our other partner was at the truck. He responded with a signal shot and 10 minutes later we met up at the truck. From that expirence I now use my spot device and take it everywhere just in case. I recommend getting a spot device especially if you have a wife at home who's a worry wort. Lol. They are reasonably priced and might save your butt in survival situations.

 

[nclonghunter]

Another good reason to carry a pistol when bowhunting. No one can hear those 3 signal arrows shot into the dark...

 

[Bugle Em In]

Its funny to read the statements of "I've never been lost, but I've been turned around".  That's always been my opening statement as well.
2 times for me.  One time a thick rain front moved in and you couldn't see over 100 yards and the other time a blizzard set in.  It took quite some time for me to get it straightened out, but alls well that ends well.
I now have a GPS (and extra batteries) as a back up 

 

[Fullabull]

I think turned around is way of saying I was lost for little while I remember going to CO for my first elk hunt and getting packed in to the national forest. This was right after GPS's were available. I relied on it a little to much and didn't realize it did not work very well in the trees or is you were standing still. It kept telling me different directions to get back to camp. I found a little ridge that had a clear line to the ski so while I was walking that and looking at my GPS it found where it was and pointed me in the right direction. That is when I realized they needed a clear view of the ski and you needed be be moving so it could determine where it was.


I assume the GPS's are much better now. I have not purchased a new one so I really do not know how they work in trees or if your not moving. Can anyone tell me how good they are now?

 

[Jimbow65]

I would define lost as not knowing where you are or how to get to somewhere you know.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

I assume the GPS's are much better now. I have not purchased a new one so I really do not know how they work in trees or if your not moving. Can anyone tell me how good they are now?

They are much better now, lock onto satellites faster and much more reliably. Don't need a clear view of the sky, and don't need to move for them to lock on.......some models require you to move for the compass to work though.

 

[MT_mulies]

Ive never been lost because all growing up in the places where I elk hunted (western montana) my dad always just said if you don't know where you are walk downhill you will hit a road eventually. Plus I hunted in a place were I spent my childhood growing up so I was very familiar with the area before I even started hunting.

 

[Fullabull]

I think I will need to get a new GPS in the next couple of years. Once my dad decides not to hunt anymore and my son gets out of college I that he and I will do some back country hunting. Right now I hunt in the St. Helens area so you can't get lost...to big a landmark to get lost and to many roads