HAVE YOU EVER BEEN LOST?

[PAPA BEAR]

curious to know how many of us have ever been lost.and i mean really lost.what was your initial reaction? panic? what would you do and how do you prepare yourself in case this ever happens to you.dont ever think it cant happen to you because it can.i am about as experienced in the woods as anyone and i have gotten lost before.ARE YOU PREPARED? ready to spend who knows how long surviving off the land? lets hear what you'd do.

[Tom]

Lost or confused? Have gotten turned around in fog and ended up several hollows from where I thought I was. When in doubt, sit and relax until you get your bearings. I keep emergency stuff in the daypack just in case I have an extended unintentional visit.

[lpcjon2]

Everything after "I DO" is a blur!

I was fortunate to have been in the worlds largest gunning club The US Marines,and I have learned tons about land navigation.Two words Map and Compass learn this and you should never be lost.Batteries fail(GPS)

[PAPA BEAR]

i got so lost once in the deep dark coastal forest i forgot my name even i think.eventually i hit a stream and followed it out until i hit a paved road.seven miles from where i started.that was when i was young and dumb,never carried anything but my rifle and extra bullets.those were the days i tell ya.

[Whip]

Lost?  Not really.  I always knew where I was.  Might have had a hard time finding my truck a time or two though.  :rolleyes:  

I've never had to rely on it, but I prepare to survive a night if need be when hunting unfamiliar territory.

[PAPA BEAR]

yea me to..still swear to this day somebody moved my truck on me.  

[wapiti792]

My first trip to elk country 12 years ago. Me, a flatlander with no map/compass skills and a GPS that I knew nothing about. I went on just a little walk from camp on a logging road. At nightfall I took a right instead of a left and ended up LOST    

It was panic at first: I ran up and down the hill tring to get a better view of the valley and was near tears. I finally settled down and built a small fire under a head-high spruce and stayed for the night. At first light I figured it out and walked to camp, 3 miles away. The logging road "y'd" and I went away from camp instead if toward it. The magnetic compass on the GPS gave me the wrong bearing. It was an awful night.

When I got back down I did 2 things: ate something and dove straight into how my compass/gps/topo maps actually worked. 12 years later and I have not been lost again. Misplaced a couple of times in elk/mulie country but never lost  

[Mudd]

Yes sir... It's not very much fun either. One time it was early morning and in a heavy fog. I kept telling myself that there was a lot of daylight left yet to come and that did help... a little.

The other time was at night following Liar and a new female through the woods after coon. It only took getting out of familiar woods then a couple of times going around a tree looking up and I didn't have a clue how to get out.

I tried picking an object and walking a straight line. By the time I got the Woogchilde on the cell phone I figured out I was about 5 miles from my truck. Lucky for me she and a girl friend were out driving around and could figure out where I was. They came and picked me and the dogs up giving us a much wanted lift back to my truck.

Did I ever mention that coon hunting wasn't my favorite sport..lol

God bless,Mudd

[DaxE]

Well I dont know if I would consider it lost or not, but I have got twisted around and it took me awhile to find my way out of the woods. The worst part is, I am a land surveyor and yes it was on the job.

[arky714]

Had to spend nite out in rockies once,had extra food ,3 ways to start fire ,flashlight,gloves ,knit hat,wind was blowing 30 mph ,and it was getting cold,I striped off my clothes to dry out,they were sweat soaked found a ledge out of wind found enough firewood to last all nite.built fire by big bolder pickupsized, got bolder good and hot.I had good dry clothes that nite staayed out of wind temperature got down to 11 degrees...flaged down Rockey Mountain rescue in morning got hehicopter ride out.....Dave

[Friends call me Pac]

I never get lost but I do explore new places once in a while.  

Got lost something terrible once when I was stationed in Alaska.  While at home I had looked at a map and knew I had to cross 7 small hills to reach a dirt road.  

Went to the area I had looked at on the map and headed out.  Crossed the 7th hill and no road!  I knew Fairbanks was SSW of my position so I headed that way in as straight a line as possible.  Finally came across a different dirt road and flagged the first vehicle I saw.  It wasn't hard, it was either stop for me or run me over as i laid in the middle of the dirt road.  

I had a friend that used a map & compass to prospect for gold in out of the way places. He taught me well and I've never been lost since.

I also began to carry a small daypack after that day.  It contained food, water purification tabs, space blanket and other assorted comforts.  I never had to use it but it was a constant weight on my back after that experience.

[PAPA BEAR]

you hear stories all the time of needless death and people never found all because they were not prepared to help themselves out of a situation.you always have to prepare for the worst and then you'll be ready if it does come to fruition.buy a small paperback book for edible wild plants in the area you'll be in.let people know where you plan on being and for how long.try not going alone in case of a fall or some other health emergency.take a water purification system.a small tarp for a lean to shelter.these little things all add up to a huge payout if you do get lost.SURVIVAL.right now as we speak there is a two year old boy lost in arizona with nothing but a diaper on for pretection.walked out of a tent in the middle of the night all because the kids were all in one tent and not being watched.its the little things that create the big things.

[Ragnarok Forge]

A good soldier is never lost he always knows which continent he is on and has a compass to tell him where north is.  The rest is just semantics and hiking.  

I have felt lost a few times in the deep dark elk woods.  Larry knows exactly what I am talking about there.  As mentioned above a good map, and compass, knowing the terrain you plan to hunt around keep you from ever being fully lost.  Just momentary thoughts of hmmm, this doesn't look familiar.  

The only truly lost feeling I have had is in a boat off the coast of Oregon.  The fog blew in and we couldn't see 100 feet.  I had to hit the 190 foot depth line and work my way north on it  until I heard the clanger on a buoy outside the bay.  Then we followed a compass heading in while listening for the next buoy and accounting for the southerly cross current to keep our course corrected to hear the next buoy and so on.  That was a long slow troll back to port. No panic in any of the cases above.  Just a momentary surge of oh crap and then settled right down to figuring out how to get out of the situation.

I always have a pack with enough basics to build a fire and a small shelter, water, simple food items, and a hunting knife and tomahawk.  The water and food items are enough to last 2 to 3 days if rationed.  I have never needed it but will have it if I ever do.

[owlbait]

We got on a blood trail that headed thru the muddiest, wettest, thickest, nastiest...you know what! It was well after midnight when my buddy started panicking and crying"We'll never get out of here!" His feet were wet, he was tired, and scared. I took off my dry socks, had him dump out his boots, dry them and put on my socks. I took him to a small dry knoll in the middle of this junk. He was still sobbing, but settled down. I told him we would be OK. "How do you know?" he asked. "Turn around dummy, that's my porch light you see a mile away, I think we can find our way out!"  

[PAPA BEAR]

yep clay...nothing scarier than the deep pitch black coastal rain forest.you go in there you best have some lights with you or be ready to sit down for the night cause its as black as black can be after the sun goes down.my best friend growing up was lost in it for two days while deer hunting when we were kids.i been stuck out in it overnight myself when my flashlight wouldnt work because it was soaked.

[Thumper Dunker]

Not realy lost but the creek I crossed turned to a river from the rain . Had to go 15 miles down stream to get across . got a ride backto camp was a cold wet night.If im in the mountains I always have stuff for a few days. Had to go find a buddies little brother was missing in the woods for five or six days.He was in good shape and was moving faster than his rescuers.

[robtattoo]

I could get lost in a dadgum shower cubicle  :rolleyes:

Unfortunately I have the same sense of direction as a kitten & I get 'mildly' lost every time I step off a track, trail or road in the woods. I actually have moments of sheer terror if I don't know exactly where the trail is from where I am. Bloodtrailing at night, in the woods, scares the crap out of me.

It's a terrible affliction & probably 90% of the reason I'm not a lot more successful as a hunter. I end up talking myself out of exploring off the trails.

[mooseman1967]

When you get lost just sit down and start playing solitare---- SOMEONE will show up over your shoulder and tell ya to put the red 4 on the black 5.  

[JustinNC]

Nope. Always have a compass and generally not that many miles between roads around here. Generally no excuse to be out over night if you get lost before lunch time and haven't suffered an injury.

[Tree Killer]

I've been all over the state of Oregon, never once been turned around.

I've driven into Portland a few times and had serious doubts of my survival!