Missing CO Hunters

[Big Sky Guy]

I was going to sell my InReach and upgrade phones to get satellite texting. This incident changed my mind.

Maybe I’m dumb but I’m still considering discontinuing in reach. It sits in my pack and while the sos button would be nice, if I have the ability to dig it out of my pack then I have the ability to text. My phone is much better for texting, seems faster once connected.

Only thing I’m not sure of is the SAR insurance I have through/with Garmin. If I can’t keep that without the inreach then I’ll prly keep both.

 

[crock239]

Things I have learned reading this thread and the other one about close calls and a couple clarifying questions for those with more experience:

1.). Lightning can kill more than just the person/animal it strikes. I’ve been high up and had my hair start standing along with the person I was with when storms roll in. That experience alone taught me to always go down when storms on horizon. However that instance and just this past weekend when going down I was never more than 20 yards from the person I was with.

How close/far should I aim to space, I’ve read 100 yards but thinking more like 200 would be better?

2.). I’ve mostly disregarded hypothermia as a threat because in my mind I can “just hike out.” I wear mostly merino wool, which supposedly will keep me warm when wet and as long as I am hiking I rarely get cold, but honestly can’t think of a time I’ve been soaked and hiking so may be a bit near-sighted.

Can hypothermia still set in when being active/moving?

Reading this makes me realize there could be instances with visibility or injury where that wouldn’t be possible. I always have a tarp and rain jacket when hunting so feel pretty covered there. I also generally don’t hunt or do much in heavy rain so am either in the tent, under a tarp or back at home.

3.) As a rule I don’t generally drop my pack, if I’m setting up for a shot, taking a break or calling etc. I will but if I move more than 10 yards I always grab it. Sometimes I feel like it’s an anchor but reading these emboldens me to continue this practice.

4.) I am pretty reliant on my phone for navigation. I used to carry a compass but never used it and seemed silly so took it out a few years back, if it’s daylight and I have visibility I can always find my way back but will throw it back in my pack as a backup. My phone compass used to be off 180 degrees sometimes as a glitch or something but was always obvious to me and I just corrected for it but I’ve been out with folks that have this happen and I have to get in a near argument and explain the topo features and how the phone compass is sometimes wrong (idk why). If a phone was off 60-90 degrees that would be harder to detect but I usually am looking at topo features more when navigating (get to this ridge to glass, that meadow to calll, that stream to get water etc.).

If your bino harness has a magnetic closure, it can/will interfere with your phone compass or regular compass as well. (Or your buddies stuff if he / she has a magnetic closure)

Then u wind up doing the whole waving phone around in a figure 8 to reset / correct it.

 

[Bonasababy]

Maybe I missed it but does no one use OnX for figuring out where they are? Works well for me, but I have 40 years of using aerial photos so used to comparing what I see on the ground to what I see on a photo or Onx/Google earth etc. Always have a back up compass too of course.

 

[jrabq]

4.) I am pretty reliant on my phone for navigation. I used to carry a compass but never used it and seemed silly so took it out a few years back, if it’s daylight and I have visibility I can always find my way back but will throw it back in my pack as a backup.

Maybe I'm old school, but I'd never be without a compass, at least as a backup. A small cheap plastic compass works fine, weighs nothing.

 

[Gellar]

Maybe I'm old school, but I'd never be without a compass, at least as a backup. A small cheap plastic compass works fine, weighs nothing.

I find it easier to use a compass in conjunction with my gps/phone. My phone often does not point in the right direction I need to go unless I’m moving. I will take a reading of both and pick out a landmark in that direction. When I get to that landmark I’ll take another reading and repeat as necessary.

 

[rjthehunter]

I utilize my Garmin watch as a GPS too in case I lose my phone. Always start a track on the watch and phone prior to heading out from the truck. It's so easy to throw a waypoint down on both and know where to go. I also keep a compass in my pack.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Maybe I'm old school, but I'd never be without a compass, at least as a backup. A small cheap plastic compass works fine, weighs nothing.

I also have and old school compass clipped on the inside of my pack so it can't get lost. I've used it a couple of times when we were chasing bugles in the pre-dawn darkness in thick trees.
We kind of knew which way the truck was parked and we were using the sun for which way to go back. When I checked with the compass we were off by quite a bit so while we would have come out to the road we would have come out a couple of miles from the truck.

 

[schmalts]

Can hypothermia still set in when being active/moving?

I think there is a lot of variables to that. Wet is one thing, and a constant "new wet" like being in the water or a super hard rain long term is different than being just wet. Temps play a part as well. So that is a great question but IMO it really matters on the exact situation. When I was in that cold river I was going Hypothermic fast. Another time that was an oh chit moment is I was looking for sheds and crossed a frozen river and got close to the other side and hit a spring or seep and went through and slid under up to my chest in nutz deep area of the shallow river. I got out and just jogged back the 1.5 miles in the 20F temps with no real panic. When I got to me vehicle my pants were like cardboard and frozen canvas but my jogging kept me all out of danger. My legs were pink when I got home 15 min after getting in the truck. So I think being in the water or in a constant rain is going to get you way faster than just getting wet and being able to hike nonstop. But how long can a guy keep your heart rate up to keep warm is another factor.

 

[WapitiBob]

Maybe I’m dumb but I’m still considering discontinuing in reach. It sits in my pack and while the sos button would be nice, if I have the ability to dig it out of my pack then I have the ability to text. My phone is much better for texting, seems faster once connected.

Only thing I’m not sure of is the SAR insurance I have through/with Garmin. If I can’t keep that without the inreach then I’ll prly keep both.

How are you going to text when the phone won't connect?

 

[elkduds]

Map and compass orienteering remains a vital skill when tech SHTF. All tech will fail at some point. Plus it is far more rewarding to walk right into your camp by orienteering.

 

[mtmuley]

I hope I never go missing so you guys don't have to speculate what the #*^@#* happened to me. mtmuley

 

[Wildabeest]

I hope I never go missing so you guys don't have to speculate what the #*^@#* happened to me. mtmuley

Choked to death on a Miller Highlife would be my first guess.

 

[isu22andy]

Serious question , is lightening in the west more dangerous because it collects more on the mountain peaks where we are hunting ?

Growing up in tornado alley in the Midwest I guess I just never thought it was THAT dangerous . We would be out in it at all times growing up on the farm and fishing. Used to amateur storm chase with dad all the time as a kid.

 

[kansasdad]

@isu22andy its violent storms and electrical conduction. When you are up above treeline, your body becomes the lightning rod. It attracts the ions that are looking to neutralize the imbalances between ground and cloud.

Getting to a lower elevation and not taking shelter under a taller tree (thought to attract the electrical discharge) are classic recommendations for lightning safety.

Where I live (and perhaps you also with isu in your handle) discharges seem more random. Still, it’s not particularly wise to be out in the elements when lightning is popping off, wherever you are.

 

[Moserkr]

I always carry a survival kit which has been covered in other threads quite well, including a compass. I started taking my son at 5 years old and he is 7 now, so his survival training started early.

When we go out I equip him with my inreach, leaving me with my cell phone that now has sat capabilities. When Im solo I carry both.

My kids survival kit is mainly shelter oriented as the elements are the biggest threat. His kit has:

Bic lighter
Ferro rod
Knife
Fat wood
Cotton balls soaked in vasoline
Emergency reflective bivy

Then he carries all his clothing layers and sometimes sleeping setup unless we made camp. He knows the rules of 3...

3 minutes without air (not one we really count but its there)
3 hours without shelter (most important and overlooked)
3 days without water (2nd most important)
3 weeks without food

For lightning, we drop elevation into smaller trees. As I was doing that once, I look to my left and a big buck is paralleling me down the mtn. Animals know best. I almost got a shot on him too (archery).

The hardest thing to teach my son for survival is preventing hypothermia. You can wet out your clothes from sweat and get it just as easy as you can get it from rain. Wet is wet. Maintaining body temp is a hard concept for young ones. I teach him to stay put if lost. Press SOS first on the inreach. Then shelter and fire. If the fires big enough, make it smoke with green veg. After all that, water. Hope he never has to seriously use this knowledge but we practice it.

Very sad those young men died. Really curious to see what went wrong so we can learn from it.

 

[Deckerp]

I always carry a survival kit which has been covered in other threads quite well, including a compass. I started taking my son at 5 years old and he is 7 now, so his survival training started early.

When we go out I equip him with my inreach, leaving me with my cell phone that now has sat capabilities. When Im solo I carry both.

My kids survival kit is mainly shelter oriented as the elements are the biggest threat. His kit has:

Bic lighter
Ferro rod
Knife
Fat wood
Cotton balls soaked in vasoline
Emergency reflective bivy

Then he carries all his clothing layers and sometimes sleeping setup unless we made camp. He knows the rules of 3...

3 minutes without air (not one we really count but its there)
3 hours without shelter (most important and overlooked)
3 days without water (2nd most important)
3 weeks without food

For lightning, we drop elevation into smaller trees. As I was doing that once, I look to my left and a big buck is paralleling me down the mtn. Animals know best. I almost got a shot on him too (archery).

The hardest thing to teach my son for survival is preventing hypothermia. You can wet out your clothes from sweat and get it just as easy as you can get it from rain. Wet is wet. Maintaining body temp is a hard concept for young ones. I teach him to stay put if lost. Press SOS first on the inreach. Then shelter and fire. If the fires big enough, make it smoke with green veg. After all that, water. Hope he never has to seriously use this knowledge but we practice it.

Very sad those young men died. Really curious to see what went wrong so we can learn from it.

Your son can carry some weight! I am impressed. I started backpacking with my kids when they were 4 as well (I just take one backpacking at a time, haha.) my daughter is now 5 and son 9. I have them carry their rain gear and usually sleeping bag, food for the day and often water. I never considered having the in reach on them. I haven’t been taking them on hunts so generally speaking the weather conditions are more favorable.

 

[NDGuy]

Choked to death on a Miller Highlife would be my first guess.

Tripped and impaled himself on a .300 RUM cartridge

 

[shines@times]

Does anyone on the forum know definitively if the young men were found with the Garmin inReach still in their possession (not clipped to harness of one of the packs left in their vehicle)?

Likewise, were their bodies found in close proximity to each other out in the environment? Or--and I haven't heard any suggestion of this at all--were they found in a shelter like a small secluded tent that could have been missed in earlier searches?

(I've owned camouflaged backpacking tents since the 1970s. Pitched in the right kind timber or brush, they can be passed without noticing from mere feet away.)

 

[NDGuy]

folks just got to wait for the press conference tomorrow

 

[WesternWyoming]

Things I have learned reading this thread and the other one about close calls and a couple clarifying questions for those with more experience:

1.). Lightning can kill more than just the person/animal it strikes. I’ve been high up and had my hair start standing along with the person I was with when storms roll in. That experience alone taught me to always go down when storms on horizon. However that instance and just this past weekend when going down I was never more than 20 yards from the person I was with.

How close/far should I aim to space, I’ve read 100 yards but thinking more like 200 would be better?

2.). I’ve mostly disregarded hypothermia as a threat because in my mind I can “just hike out.” I wear mostly merino wool, which supposedly will keep me warm when wet and as long as I am hiking I rarely get cold, but honestly can’t think of a time I’ve been soaked and hiking so may be a bit near-sighted.

Can hypothermia still set in when being active/moving?

Reading this makes me realize there could be instances with visibility or injury where that wouldn’t be possible. I always have a tarp and rain jacket when hunting so feel pretty covered there. I also generally don’t hunt or do much in heavy rain so am either in the tent, under a tarp or back at home.

3.) As a rule I don’t generally drop my pack, if I’m setting up for a shot, taking a break or calling etc. I will but if I move more than 10 yards I always grab it. Sometimes I feel like it’s an anchor but reading these emboldens me to continue this practice.

4.) I am pretty reliant on my phone for navigation. I used to carry a compass but never used it and seemed silly so took it out a few years back, if it’s daylight and I have visibility I can always find my way back but will throw it back in my pack as a backup. My phone compass used to be off 180 degrees sometimes as a glitch or something but was always obvious to me and I just corrected for it but I’ve been out with folks that have this happen and I have to get in a near argument and explain the topo features and how the phone compass is sometimes wrong (idk why). If a phone was off 60-90 degrees that would be harder to detect but I usually am looking at topo features more when navigating (get to this ridge to glass, that meadow to calll, that stream to get water etc.).

I’ve become hypothermic several times in rain and snow, wearing wool and synthetic fabric. It doesn’t matter how you got wet and cold, what matters is that you recognize the symptoms Quickly and act immediately. It can take over your mental faculties and very soon you make bad choices. The lesson is, DO NOT WAIT to get shelter and warmth however you do it.

Early in life I did a 300-mile trail inventory (alone) for the USFS before we had gps. I learned to effectively use a map and compass. These tools never fail, unlike electronics. I recommend learning how to use a map and compass even if you really like your gps.

Never leave your pack. Just don’t. Always look behind you when leaving a spot to double check you didn’t leave anything behind.

In a lightning storm stay out of drainages and off mountain tops. Stay in the middle and hunker down. I’ve come this close to a lightning strike many times, don’t think it matters how close your buddy is, just where you are on the mountain.
Hope this helps.