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JerryBobCo
Posts: 8,227 Senior Member
Do you ever hunt by yourself?
JerryBobCo
Posts: 8,227 Senior Member
I don't mean just go out for a day and come home at night, but spend several days camping and hunting, alone.
Jerry
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
Replies
Conversely, I have gone into other lakes and mountain passes by myself with camping gear, dehydrated food and fire-starting equipment not the least bit deterred because the setting was a lot more tame. As I get older, I am strongly considering buying one of those satellite messengers to keep in a pocket to rest my head a little easier in case something bad happens. I usually have friends with me when I hunt even now, but if my buddies bail on a multi-day hunt for whatever reason, you'll have a hard time talking me out of going just because I have nobody with me. That's when having at least some tether to the civilized world provides a little reassurance.
Luis, the times I've done it there's always been other hunters in the area. I suppose if you hike/backpack into a remote area alone that would be an entirely different experience. I've never done that and don't expect I ever will.
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
D
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.... now who's bringing the hot wings? :jester:
"The Un-Tactical"
Yes I have. But now since I hunt 19 miles from my front door, no. I go out for a morning or evening. When I hog hunt at night I go out and park the Suburban up against a mott of trees and watch my feeder from about 150 yards distance. When I was on my last lease I would go up and camp for a few days by myself. But I never would think about doing that in the Rocky Mountains. You get lost or hurt up there it could be the end of you. More people die of hypothermia in places like that than anything. I want somebody near by.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Snake, the Rockies is where I've hunted alone, and there's always been other hunters in the area. If you get hurt, you should be able to find help. If you get lost, take a good GPS unit and know how to use it.
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
In the east, very rarely.
JAY
-Mikhail Kalashnikov
This.
A good GSW first aid kit is a must, including a self-applied tourniquet.
I realise now with today's technology a mountain hunt is not near as hazardous as it once was. No telling how many lives the GPS has and will save. Especially those of us who live in the flat coastal plains that are rather barren of trees and hills and aren't used to the hazards presented in mountainous areas.
But I still woudn't want to go it alone. Too many things can happen. Falls, Snake Bites, bears, hehehe! OK So I'm a flat lander wuss.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
You left out lions and tigers, oh my!
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
Oh yeah, mountain lions and I suppose if you have a bucket of black paint you could paint some stripes on one and call it a tiger.
......:silly:.....:yikes:.....:bang:
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Yea, you have to keep it in the front of your mind to be extra careful when alone. A LOT can go wrong with just the tinniest mistake. A trip crossing a log, a misplaced step, slip of the knife, can all be catastrophic. When I go out alone I make sure someone knows exactly where I plan to be and when I plan to return. That was imprinted on me very early in hunters ED class. They showed us a video that went over a couple of real life deaths in the woods. One was a fishing column writer from a paper who went out to a new secret location. He slipped and went under, ended up dying from hypothermia. Took a long time to find him because he hadn't told anyone where he was going.
I got lost a few years ago chasing a herd of elk. I was very familiar with the area that I was in, but I had never gone this way through the woods instead of a trail, got pretty mixed up. When it started getting dark I won't lie, that was some scary poop. But kept the wits about me, climbed up to the highest point I could find and I was able to recognize a few drainage hills I knew like the back of my hand. Walked down a hill in the dark (lots of fun) and was able to find the trail back to the cabin. Probably hiked 15 miles that day.
15 miles in the mountains at any altitude above 5000 FASL is like 50 miles down here on the coast for one of us flatland wusses. The last time I went on a trek with my sons at the Scout Ranch out of Cimarron NM when I was about 43 years old, when I came home we were starting a big maintenance turn around at the plant. Lots of climbing tall vessels and turning big block valves. I was in such good shape I hardly broke a sweat. Took me a couple weeks to lose that level of condition. Once you get acclimated to altitude you are superman at Sea Level for awhile.
I think that if I were an Olympic athlete and was going to train for the Olympics or just a big meet, I'd do it someplace about 10,000 FASL for about a month.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Unless I know I'm really close to camp or Jeep, I'll stay put and get an early start the next morning.
JAY
Yep, I'd probably do that too. But I'm a flat land wuss,...:rotflmao::rotflmao::rotflmao:
Seriously, that's what the survival pro's recommend. If you're really lost you sit down and admit to yourself you are lost. Just make sure you told someone where you were going. Then build a fire. Try to stay dry and as warm as possible. If it looks like it will rain or snow, try to build some kind of improvised shelter. A piece of polyethylene about 8x8 rolled up in a small back pack works good.
Also, always bring water or the means of condensing water out of the air (Of course there's not much water in the air at 10,000 FASL Unless it's raining) and some purification tablets. You don't want Montezuma's Revenge, it could dehydrate you. Coca Cola or any sugary soft drink is a great survival drink if you brought some along, because it has sugar in it. But I've heard some of these experts say if you have beer along, pour it out. I've heard others say Bull S..t on that because beer has calories. The truth is alcohol can dehydrate. So unless you have an unexhaustable supply of clean water, don't drink it. And don't use that sugar in a soft drink to give you energy for hiking when you're lost. You may just dig yourself deeper into a hole by getting farther from civilization. Stay in one place, because if you told somebody where you were going, they'll find you.
I know what some are thinking. What would a flat lander know about hiking in the mountains. I had this drummed into my head by professionals for 15 years. The director of the Texas Hunter Education Department of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department was an experienced Colorado hunter, Steve Hall.
And I had some experience going to Philmont with the Scouts. Not much, but enough to realize there was something to what the so called experts told me. But my experience was different than yours MHS, like you said, you were familiar with the terrain. But that should show us here that even someone who knows the area can get disoriented. But you evidently knew the area well enough that you could keep from getting totally lost. Big difference than being a newby to the area.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
JAY
Jay, you have some good ideas there. Next time I'll find somebody like you to teach me. This stuff could save your life. Also, I've seen tight fitting thin but insulated body suits that hold your body heat in.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.