The local news said last night that the guy had gotten in an argument with his hunting partners.
Too cold for comfort?
By MIKE SACCONE The Daily Sentinel
Monday, October 22, 2007
COLLBRAN — A man feared missing in the biting cold of the Grand Mesa National Forest near the confluence of Buzzard Creek and Crooked Creek turned up Sunday evening — on a bus destined for South Carolina.
The 30-year-old South Carolina man who had been hunting with a group atop Grand Mesa was reported missing Sunday morning after his colleagues said he had not been seen since 10 a.m. Saturday.
Mesa County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeff Doty said the man’s colleagues thought he had killed a deer and ventured back into the forest on an ATV before several inches of snow fell in the area overnight.
Doty said crews from Mesa County Search and Rescue, the Sheriff’s Department, the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the U.S. Forest Service began scouring the area around 11 a.m.
“He’s an experienced hunter, but not &hellip very outdoorsy as far as having a lot of survival skills,” Doty said around 5 p.m.
Less than an hour later, the Sheriff’s Department abruptly called off the search, pulling back more than 30 rescuers and volunteers to Collbran and calling off an Olathe Spray Service helicopter commissioned to fly over the area.
Heather Benjamin, spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Department, said the lost hunter was located far away from the frigid wilderness.
Benjamin said the hunter, whose name was not released, “randomly” drove the ATV to Paonia, hitched a ride to Delta and hopped on a bus destined for South Carolina.
She said the missing hunter then called his wife, who contacted the Sheriff’s Department and explained the situation.
Sgt. Richard Acree said a second hunter reported missing Sunday afternoon was also found near the Search and Rescue base camp, about two miles north of the Delta County-Mesa County line along Forest Service Road 265.
Doty said the 50-year-old hunter was reported missing around 4:30 p.m.
“They’re both OK,” Acree said.