Author Topic: Getting Lost  (Read 2668 times)

Offline slt

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Getting Lost
« on: May 14, 2008, 08:45:43 PM »
I will begin by clarifying that I have never been lost while hunting, I have been terribly confused for and hour or two but never required a search party.

A couple of years ago my buddy,  and I were hunting an area I have hunted for a couple of years. This was my friends first year of hunting and I was happy to have him tag along, he is a great guy. I had him take a stand in an area that was very productive for me and told him I'd be back in a few hours as I was heading to the other side of the ridge. I walked about three or four hundred yards when I jumped a large deer. I heard it and saw the tracks in the soft dirt,( of which there is darned little ) and was positive from the track size that it was a big buck. It seemed to me that it was traveling in the general direction of my friend so I figured that if I got below it and worked along that it would run right out to him. As I started out around I jumped more deer, and then more and then more.....the place was infested and I was excited. I listened expecting to hear a shot any second . The shot never came and I continued trying to head deer to my buddy. In all the excitement I sort of lost track of where I was going and before long nothing looked familiar. Uh-oh!! Well I did tell him I would be gone for a couple of hours

I listened for traffic sounds from the road, not really expecting to hear any 'cuz we were several miles in on an old logging road. I was going to check my compass and I'm sure it would have helped but I couldn't reach it as I had left it on the dash of the truck after taking it out of my pocket while changing coats. At that time I did not own or know any one who did own a GPS and there is no cell service in this area which is OK because I did not then or now own a cell phone. The day was heavily overcast and the black growth spruce was thick so there was no sun to fall back on and we all know that moss grows on all sides of the tree. I guess I could have yelled in hopes that my buddy would hear me, or I could have fired the three shot thing but I didn't want to admit that I was los...los.... confused.

I took a course based on the SWAG theory (Scientific Wild A$$ Guess) and began walking. I know this is considered a no - no but the piece I was hunting is almost perfectly square and I knew that once I came to the road, any road I would know where I was although it is a sizable piece of woods, probably 6 or 7 miles as a crow flies. from one road to another I had walked for only 15 minutes or so when I stepped onto a well used hiking trail. Now I was REALLY confused. I knew of no trail in the area let alone one as well used as this. I spoke out loud and said " Where in the Hell am I ? As I spoke I turned to look up the trail and my answer was posted on a tree. The sign said. " You are here."

I checked and and found that it was a map of a hiking trail that made a loop starting and ending at a small woodsman museum. I was at the point of the trail farthest from the museum but only a mile or so from where I left my friend. I got my bearings and walked right out to the clearing where I had left my buddy. He wasn't there. I walked to the spot where I left him just to make sure and found the stump he had been sitting on. Did he see a deer? trying a stalk? abducted by aliens? As I pondered this mystery I heard the horn of my truck blowing from where I had parked. I walked to the truck and found my buddy. He apologised profusely for ruining the hunt. He told me that He had to " Go " but didn't want to drop one near the stand so he walked off a distance to take care of business and couldn't' find the stand again. He said he figured that it was better to just go back to the truck as opposed to wandering around being "confused", because he knew that I would do the same thing. I told him he had made the right choice.

I never told him about what happened to me.

Fight crime. Shoot back!

Offline Big_Buck_Hunter

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Re: Getting Lost
« Reply #1 on: May 15, 2008, 11:56:51 AM »
Funny story, SLT.  How many of us have been there....wandering, following, chasing and then BAM!  Where the heck am I?   I know a few times where I've entered a big tract of woods that I "know" slopes uphill from the road only to then decide to leave some hours later and find the way towards the road goes uphill.  Wait...uphill into the woods, now uphill out of the woods?  Where the heck am I?

Luckily I learned long ago that the only reason one becomes lost (or confused) is that someone is expecting them somewhere at some time.  Or it's getting dark.  I came to realize that even when I am confused (and that's only happened about twice in 35 years) if I quickly decide "I have a week to get out of here" then the calmness leads to clarity which leads to a plan which leads to a road.

But those two times of confusion?  I sure could have used that "you are here sign".   :o ;D :o

 


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