RESCUERS in Arizona have pledged they are "not going to let anyone die" as they keep searching for up to 30 elk hunters still stranded in heavy snow after a powerful winter storm swept through the state earlier this week.It seems a powerful winter storm dumped a lot of snow and there are elk hunters stranded in the mountains, but this isn't your average lost hunter story.
"Approximately 25 to 30 hunters are still stranded, with different levels of preparations," he said. "Some need to be taken out immediately...some are ok. Some are in very remote areas....cell phones have helped dramatically, they're calling in locations.Cell phones, you see. The rescue teams know where these people are. Getting to them might be a problem, but they know where they are. Plus, these guys are hunters, so they're at least marginally prepared to be in the woods. Interestingly, with cell phone coverage like it is, I get better reception on my deer stand than I get in my living room. I've got four bars all over my hunting area, but only two bars at my dining room table.
Last, but not least, check the country origin of this story. We're reading it from an .au sight, which is Australia. From reading US news coverage, I wasn't aware that hunters were stranded in the mountains. If it were two or three hikers lost in the snow, we'd be getting plenty of news coverage, but hunters? Not so much.
Tip of the hunting cap to SayUncle.
3 comments:
This has happened several times during my lifetime in Oregon, when the early elk season co-incided with an early winter out in the Northeast mountains.
Most of those hunters are probably doing just fine, they are simply snowed in, and are waiting for crews with bulldozers to open the roads so they can get out. They likely won't starve, they'll share and eat elk, and poach deer if they have to.
Hunters ARE resourceful, as the whole nation will find out if the "reset button" gets pushed.
That is interesting, especially since there is a LOT of coverage about the three climbers lost on Mt. Hood... sigh...
Been there done that. I was snowed in for a week on a three day hunt between N.& S. Navarre Peaks near Lake Chelan in Late October of 1965. There were two of us, we had a good tent with a stove, over two cords of wood cut and lots of food and beverage. We ran out of beer the third day. Spent a lot of time sleeping and playing cards. It stopped snowing during the night of the fourth day so we each went out on the fifth day and filled our deer tags. A Chelan Co. road crew cleared the road to our camp early in the afternoon of the sixth day so we started to break camp, then drove out on the seventh. My partner had left a "flight plan" with details of where our camp was with his wife. When we got back to Seattle we found out that according to the news services we had been in mortal peril. It was a real surprise as I had gained about five pounds over the week. That hunt is still one of my most cherished memories.
We went to the same place the next year to find our camp had not been used by anyone else and our wood, about 3/4 of a cord, was still there. On a three day hunt we filled our tags again and used most of the firewood. No snow at all in 1966 until after Thanksgiving. Temps were just as low, though. That was the year we were stalked by a cougar. Neither of us saw him (her?) but tracks is tracks. Finding big ol' puddy tat tracks in your own on the way back to camp when you are dragging a deer is a very weird and awe inspiring feeling. To illustrate how stupid someone can be at 22, I never did feel fear.
Gerry N.
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