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Tactical Reviews
SOG DonationsWhile on our hog hunt. Two of our party got turned around in the dark. They didn’t think to drop a pin in a map program as to where they left the ATV.
As luck would have it cell service is pretty good where we were. It would have been a lot longer night with out communications.
I had about a 2 mile walk to where they parked the ATV. Then started it and turned on the lights and made noise so they could get a direction to walk back to the ATV. They were about 400 yds in the opposite direction they thought they were.
At least when they realized they were lost they stopped and sat down and didn’t make things worse.
They will not make fun of me always taking my pack with food, shelter, water,
first aid, compass, and fire making equipment any more.
It’s easy to get turned around when you are in a place you only go once a year.
Cell phones are handy no doubt, but yer right a compass and other e supplies are a no brainer ‘must have’ in the woods. We carry that stuff in our vehicals all the time.
I’ve only ever been truly lost once - and it was a horrible sensation when I realized it. I was hunting in a large 6,000 acre “forest” that was planted by the CCC in the 1930’s. Every pine tree was pretty much identical. I was using a muzzleloader in late season (mid December) and it was overcast and started to snow hard; enough so I couldn’t tell where the sun was. At about 3:00 PM (sunset about 4:30) I decided to head back to the pickup. Half an hour later I passed the same old rusty bucket I had seen before and found my own boot prints. Whoa!
I pulled out my compass and struck out in the direction I knew would take me to the closest road. Just about dark I hit the road, and made a turn based on familiar sights of having driven in that took me to my vehicle.
Worst case I would have had a miserable night, as my daypack has a mylar blanket and kit to make a fire (including a folding saw for firewood) and water and some food. But it was still a “holy shit” moment to realize I had spent 30 minutes walking in a circle without realizing it.
I never go into a patch of forest that I am unfamiliar with without a GPS.
My Uncle Sonny Jackson was from Soldotna Alaska . He once told me a story about a man getting lost on his own land and he was found 3 days later froze to death.
Well, after becoming a LEO my Sergeant Randy a.k.a. (Leanard Piswhickle) was an X military guy and was great with a compass and taught me to read one and us it for navigating a map and later on we both got GPS handhelds . I still have my Magellan.
Any way to make a long story short . While hunting with my Dad some years later in the Otter Creek Wilderness we got off the trail and got trapped in some heavy Laurel using the GPS we were able to find our position and head to a premarked waypoint I had made in the GPS of the trial using a computer program. It was a lifesaver. I made many more trail marks and we was easily able to navigate ourselves out of the wilderness after many miles hunting going in.
And then you were saved?
The most lost I recall was when I and two friends went to pick up something and the driver utilized a GPS, that got us there fine, but we also had to use it to get back, none of us paid attention to how we got there, helpless feeling and likely part of why I largely overall reject tech, this whole tech era robs people of learning how to do things for themselves 
Just had this conversation on Wednesday with my youngest, about teaching the yununs to not just read map and compass but stars and shadows. Tracking, sign, fire making and all the old ways, like tanning with brains and all the knots and lashing.
The conversation started over video games btw…
My daughter ended up with a few military manuals (navigation, survival, etc), due to something in a video game prompting her interest.
It’s really easy to walk in circles in tall grass, reeds, etc… I learned long ago to cut a LONG but small tree or reed and drag it behind me to keep me walking in a straight line. I really helped me once.
My property has 4-5 acres of dense woods around a mostly dry creek. I was working on the back fence when it started to get dark. I had a flashlight and knew which direction to go from the fence. I ended up walking about 250 yards the wrong way to the side fence instead of the 75 yards to get out. I make sure to get out before it gets dark when there are leaves on the trees.
I later thought that I should had hit the panic button on the truck so that I knew which way to go. It was that close but I still got turned around.
It happens.
I crossed a stream once when I got lost. I’ve heard not yo do that if I didn’t cross one going in. I bought a GPS right after and bring a compass too. I got out in time but it could have been a long night.
Thought I would or should make a comment on the title of this thread. Well one thing to never do in the woods is fall asleep when its cold,that is super dangerous always bring food and water and a way to make fire and a survival blanket even if you dont think you will be there past sunset. And don’t go for a hunt without letting someone know where you are going .
