We all have stories about mistakes we've made. Here's one of mine from yesterday that is sort of embarrassing but I share it with you guys maybe to prevent something similar, or worse. This is a story like how guys who have an AD will tell you to double and triple check. Yesterday, a buddy and I went to a special draw hunt in what was formerly called the Jefferson Proving Grounds. It's a massive area, part of which is now a National Wildlife Refuge. The part I was hunting on was 50,000 acres. Being a bombing range for decades, it's got a ton of unexploded ordinance and depleted uranium. Costs of cleaning it up are estimated in the billions. So, there's nothing they can really do with it, other than fence it off, use it for bombing practice, and allow hunters in it dumb enough to stumble around in the pitch dark, willing to risk stepping on a bomb for a chance at the gigantic bucks that live in it. While we were hunting, A-10's would fly in and drop flares in the nearby bombing range. It was pretty awesome to watch. Certainly not something I normally watch from my deer stand. Because of the enormity of the space, and the other dangers, everyone is required to attend a safety briefing, required to hunt with a buddy and required to bring either a GPS or a compass. There are also check-in and reporting procedures to round up those that are lost every year. My buddy and I went in early in the dark to the area we were assigned. In addition to the hunting equipment I carried, I had: matches in a water tight container, 2 analog compasses (2 is 1, 1 is none), a GPS unit, my cellphone, food and water for 2 days, a flashlight, a headlamp, spare batteries, multiple packs of hand warmers, a Zippo and a Zippo handwarmer, my Randall knife with sharpening stone, and multiple layers of clothing, including multiple hats, jackets, etc.
The area we were in was completely new to both of us--neither of us had ever even been on the property, so we walked in blind. We had a topo map and a map for the property that Fish and Wildlife Service gave us. I also want to say this up front--I am VERY comfortable in the woods. Mentally, I don't freak out in stressful situations, I have a very good sense of direction, and I used to run orienteering courses for a few years. I can read topo maps as well as city maps. Also, being in the Midwest, we all use cardinal directions for everything. In short, I was VERY well prepared. Not only would I not get lost, I could easily go in and rescue those that were. And we could be comfortable in the woods for a day or two with just what I had on me. 8 hours in the stand and I finally pop a very large doe at about 5:15. Sunset here is 5:35, so it's starting to get dark. In the thick woods, it's pretty dark already. I gut the doe, my buddy marks the deer with his GPS, I put one of my orange gloves on a tree limb for a visual reference and we head back to drop our climbing stands, shotguns and all that jazz in the truck so we can haul out this big deer. The truck is about 400-500 yards (about 1/4 mile) from where the deer's laying, almost due east. We got back to the truck, shed some extra layers, dropped our stands, and head back to the deer. And there's no deer. It was pitch black in the woods at this point so I'm carefully shining my light in the area I was sure where the deer was. My buddy's GPS was telling him we were right on top of it. So, we started walking around the area looking for it, shining our lights everywhere. Understand there is a time limit--everyone had to be checked back into the office, no later than 7:00 pm. And from our remote area back to the base office was a 30 minute drive (that's how big this freaking place is). So there was a time pressure--I don't want to lose this deer. We began to realize that his GPS wasn't working. The woods were really dense and the trees were really tall so I figured that was the issue. I said to my buddy, let's go back to the truck and start over again so we can head toward the deer, since we had wandered all around, we weren't exactly sure how far we had gotten off our heading. Getting our bearings again, and walking carefully should take us right to the deer. He agreed and we walked east back to the truck. Except he was walking east in the opposite direction than I was walking east. We looked at each other and both said, "I'm sure east is this way" while we pointed in different directions. I laughed and said I'll prove you wrong. So, I pulled out my GPS where I had marked the truck before we walked in (remember-I took all precautions), and headed toward the truck. Except the GPS kept pointing in different directions and it was clear from the terrain, that we had NEVER come that direction. So, I was getting peeved because of the situation, and I pulled out one of my analog compass. Except my compass wasn't there. Seems when I dumped the majority of my gear, much of my equipment was in the other layers and in my pack, which I didn't bring back into the woods with me because we weren't hunting any more, we were just going back in to "quickly" drag my deer out. In short, we were lost. In 50,000 acres. In the dark. With no one else around. In an area we had never set foot in before. And probably only 1/4 of mile from my truck. My buddy tried his compass (which was an app on his phone) and it was useless. It kept saying North was in different directions. I don't know if those things work off cell signals, or what, but it was not working. We had both memorized the map (which of course we didn't now have!), so we were confident where the nearest roads were. 1/2 mile in one direction, 3 miles in the other direction. So, we set out to maintain a straight bearing and knew we'd hit one of the gravel roads sooner or later. Once on the roads, our GPS should have a clear view of the sky and we could navigate back to my truck on the roads. I was PISSED at myself. Think about something you are 99.99% of the time really good at and then one time you make a series of mistakes that make a mess of everything (like an accidental discharge or something). We stopped for a second, calmed ourselves down a little bit, took a look around at the topography (which we had studied a lot, since we were not allowed to go in and scout beforehand), and made our best guess at where east was. We struck out in that direction. After about 20 minutes of walking, we came to a road, when we walked out of the woods onto the road, we were about 1/2 mile due south of my truck. We walked back to my truck, and we decided to give it another try to get my deer. Not only did I get all my gear back on, I turned the truck on and turned it perpendicular to the road, with the bright lights on pointing due west. This would give us a beacon to find our way back, even though I had both analog compasses now and that was really all I needed earlier. Walking back carefully from the truck to where my stand was located earlier, I was able to find my deer, and get her out. Because of the analog compass, the task was a simple affair. Well, the navigation part was, the deer drag was hard over the hills and downed trees. The point being, is that a tiny lapse in judgement, based with some over confidence rather than planning for the absolute worse case scenario, led to an embarrassing and potentially dangerous situation. One that I have preached to others over and over again. And one that I was prepared for...for MOST of the day. Lessons learned: 1. Survival gear must be on you. We all know that, but well, if you have a full pack of survival gear, that might not be the ideal situation. A minimum of survival gear must be on your first line person and never taken off. Like a compass around your neck. Or in your innermost pants/shirt pocket. In fact, having TOO much survival gear might be a problem. After a certain amount, you have to put it in a pack or bag. And by default, your pack won't always be on you--when you're changing clothes, sleeping, getting gear out, etc. A $5 compass in your pants pocket is better than a $500 GPS/Sat Phone combo that's in a pack you don't have for one reason or another. 2. High-tech equipment is the most fragile. We had 2 GPS and 1 compass between us. All digital. And all worthless. 3. A cool head is your best piece of gear. Had we freaked out and panicked, we could've ended up ANYWHERE. And for the entire night. Eventually someone would've come to look for us, but would we have been where they would be looking? 4. Memorizing the map gave us confidence and a plan when everything else failed. Staying together was also smart. Had we both been wandering around the woods, not knowing where each other was would've definitely escalated the situation. 5. You're not safe until you're back home. We had both thought the day was over when we went back to our truck and dropped our gear. Letting our guard down, because we "only" had to walk in a few hundred yards to retrieve a deer, made us unjustifiably overconfident. 6. Time pressure. The stress from having to get back at a certain time definitely made us rush around looking for the deer and that added greatly to us getting turned around. Obviously this was unique situation but allow extra time for work that needs to be done in the woods and realize the pressure might make you make poor decisions--guard yourself from that inclination. In the end, it all worked out, I got my deer in the freezer now, and we have a good anecdote for the future. We took some grief back at the check-in station and I'm sure we were an anecdote for them as well in their future safety briefings. One note: they told us next year, the rule will be changed. FWS will require an analog compass on each person; a GPS will not be sufficient. Nor will a phone compass be sufficient. Makes sense to me. Here's where we were: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Proving_Ground
And I thought I was the one on this forum who writes long-ass posts. I was wrong. I defer. I'll read all this after eating some bird tomorrow, with a gin aperitif and appropriate music. (Hank Williams Jr hooks up with Ani DiFranco and some beats). I'll get back to you. What ever the story, I'm glad you made it through.
After you do all that, figure out when I can come up there and we can hunt some grouse in the Maine woods.
I read the whole thing and didn’t learn anything except to never go in the woods alone with Expat and be more like Reuben Bolieu... Just kidding Expat. It’s good to hear about accomplished woodsmen being humbled, a good reminder that we’re all susceptible to being overly comfortable in our environment. Thanks for sharing Sir..
Two men walk into a disused nuclear contaminated firing range.....what could go wrong !! Like the theme of a B Grade horror flick !!
There was a hiker a few years ago here in Colorado who had every hi-tech device made at that time and he got lost out by Aspen(figures haha). When they found him they checked his gear NEVER PUT ANY BATTERIES IN ANYTHING
Great read. For most of us age teaches humility. My kids laugh at me for carrying a satchel every time I step into the woods on our farm. "Dad, you're only 500 yards from the farm house. You don't need a compass, lighter, flashlight, water, food, jacket, FAK, etc." I've been in our woods alone in absolute darkness or just failing light. As well as I know the property the woods are different at night When someone more experienced than myself tells a story like this I realize I need to continue to carry my satchel and remain ever vigilant and always prepared. Good man for sharing. Thanks.
Reminds me of a similar situation I had while hunting with one of my sons a few weeks ago, It's the quick "only be a couple of minutes" situations where we can all get complacent. We did exactly the same thing re leaving the bulk of our gear at the truck while we collected a deer late in the day when I realised that I was navigating solely off my phone and the battery was down to about 12% battery. We did a very fast meat harvest and fast-tracked back to the truck, I don't think we were ever in any real danger but it's a strong reminder to never take anything for granted and to ALWAYS have navigational redundancy and survival gear on hand. Thanks for sharing your story, it shows that anyone can get themselves into a pickle if we're not taking proper precautions.
I really do feel your pain and then some. Last year I was grouse hunting in NH and ended up in Canada. Good think I speak some French. I now have 3 compass, I have always know how to use but it helps if you have one with you.
If the terrain is anything like it is around Wisconsin where @Rook52 took me, I can believe it! Hard to see 10 feet in front of you. It easy to get turned around in that stuff.
I learned a long time ago to never go in the woods or go hunting. Much easier sitting on your couch and having your wife go to the grocery store and buy steaks, or just call Dominos.
The woods are definitely a dangerous place. No one even gives you anything to eat out there. And if you go with Hugh and Patrick, they make you carry heavy stuff for no reason whatsoever.
A fine story, Dr. Expat. Well-written. Engaging. Lessons learned. We've all done something similar if we've lived long enough. ... I'm sure I've got more to say, but turkey digestion with gin is preventing it from manifesting. I'll get back to you later. Right now, I'm thinking just a little more turkey and a lot more gin.
Excellent lesson and helping others learn from your mistakes. Now, Jefferson proving ground... that's not the area just north of Madison, In. is it?
