Aaron Hedges 411 Speculation

[idahohikker]

What’s your best guess?

It seems about equally likely to me that he died of natural causes and he was murdered.

 

[HoytHntr4]

Where his remains and all his equipment were found is what throws me for the biggest loop. If he was in a survival situation its odd how he was found in a place where he was over looking a road and that ranch. The open coffee thermos on the rock makes it seem like nothing was going wrong. Something else I thought was odd was they said they spotted his gear because of his orange hunting vest, but why would he be wearing blaze orange if they were bow hunting during the first week of September? I lean more towards foul play

 

[western406]

So from what I can gather or speculate, his backpack and bow was found on private property or right close to it. Reading some news articles, all three hunters were known for trespassing and poaching. Now I live and guide in Montana. I’ve hunted and guided close to this general area. Most of the elk stick to private land or right on the border. Obliviously these guys knew this. So could it be that he intentionally set out to head the direction towards the ranch? Say he went to this cache of gear, then decided to head down the trail instead of returning to camp. Easily could have grabbed another pair of boots at this cache. He radioed his partners of the plan and headed out. Would explain why they didn’t raise the alarm till a couple days later. Obliviously they wouldn’t wanna possibly incriminate themselves by telling the law of the speculated plan to look for elk on the private land. I think he spiked camped where they found his boots, hydration blatter, and fire ring. (Boots were probably soaked so he left them next the the fire to dry, and searchers didn’t find them because they were buried in snow the first time they were there.)Headed off to continue down the trail. So back to the pack, I think Aaron is fine at this point. Perhaps looking for elk, sets his pack and gear down to scout around and look for elk. Hence why the orange vest was there so he could find it again. Not sure why he would leave his bow at this point, maybe this is when everything went wrong. His body was recovered about half a mile from his pack. I think it was some accident or predation. Ranchers can be pretty damn hostile if you get caught trespassing while hunting. I’m doubtful a landowner would use violence on a trespasser though. Hold at gun point and wait for authorities is more realistic. Maybe he saw a landowner coming and stashed his bow so he could say he wasn’t a hunter? Maybe he was just looking for some elk and if caught didn’t wanna be armed so he could say he wasn’t a hunter. Maybe he bumped into a bear and was mauled. It’s unfortunately pretty common in Montana, lots of hunters surprise bears. His remains were scattered out so the evidence supports wildlife scavenging on the carcass. Now this is all just speculation after watching the 411 documentary and reading many news articles. My conclusion is he was looking for elk where he knew where they would be and something went wrong. I don’t believe he had hypothermia and was delusional when he dropped the pack that appeared to be stashed and the thermos/energy drink on the rock. He either had a bodily injury or was attacked by a wild animal. They say his legs were never found, so he easily could have slipped or fallen and broke a leg. Then crawled against the tree where his skull was found and died of exposure.



Here’s a story about it, lots of sources sighted at the bottom.

Mysterious Stories Blog — StrangeOutdoors.com

The Mysterious Stories Blog - Read about strange, disturbing and mysterious stories from the outdoors, from around the world

strangeoutdoors.squarespace.com

 

[Rob5589]

Interesting. There are some odd accounts from the article @western406 linked. Not reporting him missing for 2+ days; the scattering about of his gear; supposedly being way off course; being close to private property; known for trespassing and poaching.

 

[damnimjusthereforthebeer]

So from what I can gather or speculate, his backpack and bow was found on private property or right close to it. Reading some news articles, all three hunters were known for trespassing and poaching. Now I live and guide in Montana. I’ve hunted and guided close to this general area. Most of the elk stick to private land or right on the border. Obliviously these guys knew this. So could it be that he intentionally set out to head the direction towards the ranch? Say he went to this cache of gear, then decided to head down the trail instead of returning to camp. Easily could have grabbed another pair of boots at this cache. He radioed his partners of the plan and headed out. Would explain why they didn’t raise the alarm till a couple days later. Obliviously they wouldn’t wanna possibly incriminate themselves by telling the law of the speculated plan to look for elk on the private land. I think he spiked camped where they found his boots, hydration blatter, and fire ring. (Boots were probably soaked so he left them next the the fire to dry, and searchers didn’t find them because they were buried in snow the first time they were there.)Headed off to continue down the trail. So back to the pack, I think Aaron is fine at this point. Perhaps looking for elk, sets his pack and gear down to scout around and look for elk. Hence why the orange vest was there so he could find it again. Not sure why he would leave his bow at this point, maybe this is when everything went wrong. His body was recovered about half a mile from his pack. I think it was some accident or predation. Ranchers can be pretty damn hostile if you get caught trespassing while hunting. I’m doubtful a landowner would use violence on a trespasser though. Hold at gun point and wait for authorities is more realistic. Maybe he saw a landowner coming and stashed his bow so he could say he wasn’t a hunter? Maybe he was just looking for some elk and if caught didn’t wanna be armed so he could say he wasn’t a hunter. Maybe he bumped into a bear and was mauled. It’s unfortunately pretty common in Montana, lots of hunters surprise bears. His remains were scattered out so the evidence supports wildlife scavenging on the carcass. Now this is all just speculation after watching the 411 documentary and reading many news articles. My conclusion is he was looking for elk where he knew where they would be and something went wrong. I don’t believe he had hypothermia and was delusional when he dropped the pack that appeared to be stashed and the thermos/energy drink on the rock. He either had a bodily injury or was attacked by a wild animal. They say his legs were never found, so he easily could have slipped or fallen and broke a leg. Then crawled against the tree where his skull was found and died of exposure.



Here’s a story about it, lots of sources sighted at the bottom.

Mysterious Stories Blog — StrangeOutdoors.com

The Mysterious Stories Blog - Read about strange, disturbing and mysterious stories from the outdoors, from around the world

strangeoutdoors.squarespace.com

You just blew my mind with so much of what you said. Let me dissect:

"So could it be that he intentionally set out to head the direction towards the ranch?"

OK so we know he is an experienced hunter who has extensive knowledge of this area and that he is there to get an elk. The fork in the trail is clearly marked so it's safe to assume that he is not lost. It is also safe to assume that the reason that he headed in the opposite direction of sunlight lake is because he was seeking to find elk. So the answer to your question is Yes, he intentionally set out to head the direction towards the ranch, where you said that the elk would most likely be on private property.

"Easily could have grabbed another pair of boots at this cache."

This is correct. Can't imagine a scenario in which someone plans a cache for emergencies and doesn't include a pair of boots.

"He radioed his partners of the plan and headed out. Would explain why they didn’t raise the alarm till a couple days later. "

I agree. These guys were experienced and out to get an Elk. They knew of the dangers of both getting caught for poaching and wouldn't raise any red flags unless there were sure that a member of their party was indeed in major trouble.

"Would explain why they didn’t raise the alarm till a couple days later. Obviously they wouldn’t wanna possibly incriminate themselves by telling the law of the speculated plan to look for elk on the private land. I think he spiked camped where they found his boots, hydration bladder, and fire ring. (Boots were probably soaked so he left them next the the fire to dry, and searchers didn’t find them because they were buried in snow the first time they were there.)Headed off to continue down the trail. So back to the pack, I think Aaron is fine at this point. Perhaps looking for elk, sets his pack and gear down to scout around and look for elk. Hence why the orange vest was there so he could find it again. Not sure why he would leave his bow at this point, maybe this is when everything went wrong. His body was recovered about half a mile from his pack. I think it was some accident or predation. "

I agree with everything you say here. Nothing is out of the normal. He is chasing game and his partners know it. He sees he is on private property and doesn't do anything to seek help, indicating that he is not in danger and wants to remain low and NOT GET CAUGHT. Then he wanders off from his pack and something goes horribly wrong, which can easily happen in a situation similar to this.

"I’m doubtful a landowner would use violence on a trespasser though. Hold at gun point and wait for authorities is more realistic. Maybe he saw a landowner coming and stashed his bow so he could say he wasn’t a hunter? Maybe he was just looking for some elk and if caught didn’t wanna be armed so he could say he wasn’t a hunter. Maybe he bumped into a bear and was mauled. It’s unfortunately pretty common in Montana, lots of hunters surprise bears. His remains were scattered out so the evidence supports wildlife scavenging on the carcass. Now this is all just speculation after watching the 411 documentary and reading many news articles. My conclusion is he was looking for elk where he knew where they would be and something went wrong."

I agree. No landowner is going to kill a guy for hunting on private property. They would just scare him off and be done with the situation. I think something went wrong like you say. Either he ran into an animal or got hit by the weather. Given that he was experienced and this is 2014, I would assume he would know a big storm is coming in. So I think an unexplained accident happened, which is quite common for a person like him in this situation.

"I don’t believe he had hypothermia and was delusional when he dropped the pack that appeared to be stashed and the thermos/energy drink on the rock. He either had a bodily injury or was attacked by a wild animal. They say his legs were never found, so he easily could have slipped or fallen and broke a leg. Then crawled against the tree where his skull was found and died of exposure."

I think you are right about not having hypothermia. The thermos and energy drink establish that he had set up another camp, which is highly probably for someone chasing game. Some sort of accident happened and then his friends realized he wasn't coming back with an Elk and called the authorities. These guys were there to hunt game and knew the risks they were taking. They would not have called the authorities unless something went horribly wrong. This is the reason why his wife called the authorities and not them. They wanted to lay low for as long as possible.

 

[dtrkyman]

Had to go read that story, someone may know something, his friends, the land owners?

Unfortunately we will likely never know, walking that far in a snow storm with no boots is not likely. But maybe he got to that area prior to the storm?

That far off from his designated location is odd, I could see 5 maybe 10 miles, but 15 in broken terrain?

 

[MallardSX2]

Not that it matters now but I never did read if he had any arrows missing from that quiver or if his game bags were missing from his pack.

A lot could be deduced if we knew if he had killed something or if we knew he did in fact have a second pair of boots stashed.

Sounded like he was a pretty shady guy who loved to trespass.

Karma at its finest in my opinion.

 

[Banded_spooney]

We gotta keep this thread going. Any new theories?

 

[def90]

Isn’t 411 the bigfoot channel? Sounds plausible..

But yeah, if somehow bigfoot wasn’t the cause I would suspect a leg injury. Could have fell and had a stick jab him right in the inside of his leg and take out an artery and blead to death in minutes before he had time to even get an emergency call out. Always carry a tourniquet and other medical gear with you along with emergency comms.

 

[grfox92]

There is a YouTube video that dissects this story and give a ton of information that Paulides seems to have intentionally left out for his documentary.

The guy was drinking and using drugs and was so incoherent that his friends didn't want to hunt with him. I don't have time to post the link right now but it's out there.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[lyingflatlander]

I read that somewhere too, either heroin dependent or withdrawing. Friends most likely killed him and fled the area entirely. The scene was all staged like a gradeschool girls tea party and the snowstorm was a gift that the immediate evidence would be largely destroyed. Sheer luck that the scene wasn’t discovered until the following year ensured any remaining evidence was completely destroyed. Those that were there know what happened, and the only thing that will convict them now is a confession.

 

[lyingflatlander]

The other important thing to remember is that all these missing people in 411 are active investigations so critical information is being left out.

 

[HoytHntr4]

 

[Banded_spooney]

Well shit... where are the Aliens and big foot? Get out of here with your rational nonsense.

 

[Werty]

Friends most likely killed him and fled the area entirely. The scene was all staged like a gradeschool girls tea party and the snowstorm was a gift that the immediate evidence would be largely destroyed.

So the buddies kill the guy, stage the area, trespass on private property, then shoot a bull on said property? Thats impressive if they could pull that off.

 

[Banded_spooney]

So the buddies kill the guy, stage the area, trespass on private property, then shoot a bull on said property? Thats impressive if they could pull that off.

Nah... they killed the bull first and killed him after for bitching out on the pack out.

 

[turbobrick]

That was a great video. I wish he used a better map, and left all the waypoints clearly marked so you could really get a picture of the layout. I wonder if he wounded an elk after taking off his boots/putting on stalkers, and just followed it too far to get back to his boots before the storm hit.

 

[NB7]

I've watched most of those Missing 411 pieces. This one was always one of the least perplexing, as is evidenced by the above youtube video. Never seemed too hard to come up with a variety of plausible ideas as to why/how Hedges dissappeared. It just never seemed too complicated, especially once you've heard some of the background on the guy. After all they recovered his body and most of his gear.
The one with the elderly man (Messick I believe?) in NY, was more odd in that they never found a body in a much less remote area.

 

[Banded_spooney]

I've watched most of those Missing 411 pieces. This one was always one of the least perplexing, as is evidenced by the above youtube video. Never seemed too hard to come up with a variety of plausible ideas as to why/how Hedges dissappeared. It just never seemed too complicated, especially once you've heard some of the background on the guy. After all they recovered his body and most of his gear.
The one with the elderly man (Messick I believe?) in NY, was more odd in that they never found a body in a much less remote area.

The coffee cup over looking the farm house is what got me. I just couldn’t understand why he would be sitting there if he was lost.

YouTube video offers lots of explanations.

While on the subject, any working theories on Messick?

 

[S.Clancy]

I am very familiar with the area, calling that terrain "rough" is like calling Mt. Everest a "hike". There is no way in hell Hedges got to where they found the body other than his own 2 feet. The nurse's theory about withdrawl, coupled with exposure, is very, very likely.

Also, there used be tons of people that hunted the "public" in that section of the Crazies and just played dumb if they got caught. Obviously, it is more difficult to plsy dumb today, but people still try. It doesn't surprise me at all what those 3 were doing, stock is essential to get elk out with the plan they had. What surprised me the most is how long it took to find the body on private property, just goes to show how big and remote even private property is in MT.