Anyone ever gotten lost out there?

[larryschwartz]

Best if your compass has adjustable declination- and you've actually set it correctly.

This is bad advice,...

Actually, it is good advice, but as Darren noted you need to set the declination each time you use the compass. It does change each year. And it might be different depending where you are or it might be the same, depending on where you are along the line of magnetic declination.

 

[elkyinzer]

Two years ago on an extremely dark foggy night, I was dragging a buck out of a deep hollow that I am intimately familiar with. I am 27 and I have hunted this hollow and the surrounding land since I was 12. About 100 yards from the truck, this hollow comes to a confluence with another creek, and somehow I ended up cutting up this other hollow. I dragged that deer up the other hollow almost a mile before I realized it, and had to backtrack because private land blocks entrance from that side. Not an exceptional story of getting lost as it wasn't big woods, but the point being that you can get turned around in the most intimately familiar environments in the right conditions.

In retrospect it also seemed that the exertion of dragging the deer had fogged my brain over a bit, as I should have noticed that the drag was taking way too long and the creek was flowing the wrong direction. My wife was also on my case to get home so I was rushing, really exerting myself dragging this deer. All that adrenaline or whatever coursing through my brain had me a little bit less aware and that was an important lesson for this young fella to learn, to slow down and make sure I was composed and mindful of what I was doing at all times.

 

[GotDraw?]

Best if your compass has adjustable declination- and you've actually set it correctly.

This is bad advice, first off as Larry pointed out, it moves each year and second it will be different if you travel to hunt. Always know it and take it into account each time you use it with maps. The only time you really need to know/use it is when you transfer information to or from a map...

 

[oct71]

I get turned around fairly regular , always made it back so far.

 

[GotDraw?]

Best if your compass has adjustable declination- and you've actually set it correctly.

This is bad advice, first off as Larry pointed out, it moves each year and second it will be different if you travel to hunt. Always know it and take it into account each time you use it with maps. The only time you really need to know/use it is when you transfer information to or from a map.


OOPS sorry for duplicating the prior post, let me try to respond to Darren again..!


Hi Darren,

With all respect, to broadly disparage adjustable compass declination as "Bad Advice" is a bit of a harsh and narrowly thought out retort. Lucky thing you found that flagging tape ;-) ! Not everyone gets to rely on luck though...

Perhaps if a hunter only plans to navigate without a map and in terrain that one generally know and where roads are reachable, he/she may never need adjustable declination. That said, IMHO it is priceless to have a compass and topo map if one is in serious backcountry (proper declination adjustment is usually footnoted on the map). I also note:

1) A map/compass can be extremely efficient, allowing a hunter or a team of hunters to all simultaneously scan and orient on the same large image, get perspective and reach consensus on current location/destination and potential routes. This is much more efficient than everyone squeezing around a GPS or sharing it and zooming in/out on it and wasting batteries. I, like many hunters, also don't have the luxury of living in elk country with the concomitant ability to quickly access/scout areas and get to know them well. I live on the East Coast. We use maps and aerial photos extensively to chalk-talk and plan our hunts. We backpack hunt and go out for weeks at a time. When I hunt with a team in the backcountry we use maps/aerials a lot.

2) Yes, declination changes a little each year, but it only takes 15 seconds or so to adjust it on a compass. Also, a compass user can choose to use the declination or leave it at zero. If the user doesn't adjust it, then whenever navigating off a map, the hunter must do the math to correct for declination.

3) Custom maps are now broadly and readily available on rip proof, waterproof paper with waterproof ink. They are not terribly expensive and don't have batteries to fail. Failing batteries suck, especially when you're stressing out and turned around in blowdowns, etc in the dark, rain, fog, snow... If one only has to turn one's GPS on

Best to all and I hope the Rokslide staffers set up a Land Navigation section on the site so we can all improve our skills.

JL

 

[twall13]

The fun stories I can tell... I've actually never been lost to the point where I really felt lost and without hope. Turned around a time or two, yes, but not really lost. Once when I was maybe 10 my dad took me and my brother out hunting. At the time I was just following my older brother, we walked probably 3 miles in the wrong direction on a road while it snowed on us. Looking back perhaps I should have been scared, but I was a kid with no worries, out having fun hunting and it didn't even occur to me that I was in a bad predicament or really even lost. My dad was terrified but eventually found our footprints on the road and drove the truck out to find us.

Another experience that comes to mind was when I went to spend a couple of nights solo camping and hunting coyotes in Arizona above the Mogollon Rim. I was in college at the time and went on the solo trip to relax and get away from all the studying. I didn't know the area very well but found a nice campsite right off the road. I headed out a couple hours before dark to hunt and while I didn't find any coyotes, I nearly stepped on a couple of fresh fawns that still had their spots. Anyway, as it started to get dark I headed back towards the trail that led to the road, and my camp. Unfortunately, in the dark I missed a fork in the trail as I entered the trail from a slightly different spot than where I had left it, and walked about a mile in the wrong direction. At this point it was dark and I wasn't really prepared as 'I was only going to be gone a couple of hours'. No real harm would have come from it anyway as another mile of walking would have put me at a lake on the road as it looped around from my camp and I would have known where I was but it still rattled me a little bit that I knew I should have reached my camp and it wasn't there, so where did I go wrong? I also learned through this experience, that my old GPS was not back lit, so without a light it was useless. As I said before, I wasn't really prepared, so I didn't even have a flashlight. I used my phone as a flashlight but it's battery was basically dead. Anyway, I soon figured out what I had done wrong and corrected the problem but I had to walk a couple extra miles in the dark (luckily on a good trail) to get it done. I'm always more prepared now, even if I only plan on being gone for an hour.

I like this thread because it reminds us that we always need to be prepared for everything and, really, to respect the mountain. It doesn't matter how well you know an area, the right combination of bad weather, exhaustion, etc. can get even the most experienced hunter turned around for awhile.

 

[Darren Best]

Sorry guys, but it is far to easy to set that thing and forget about, which is the whole point of it. Many compasses do not have the adjustment.

I teach map and compass work to Boy Scouts and the first thing I tell them is if their compass has the adjustment, set it to zero and leave it there and LEARN to take magnetic declination into account every single time, this way they never forget it and understand how it works coming and going from the map to the compass.

Map and compass navigation is a perishable skill and if you consistently leave one part out, what makes you think you will be good at that one part when you really need it if you even manage to remember it.

The best habit to get into is to ALWAYS use it and know it and if you use the adjustment, you won't do this.

 

[Takeem406]

Yeah as a kid I got turned around once. Now I start my hunt on Google Earth, then my phone on OnX maps. Then I'll use my Garmin to reference my homework. I bought a Spot towards the end of archery as well.

 

[Hunt'nFish]

This compass spinning thing sounds like a magnetic vortex. As I understand it there are some places on the earth where the earth's magnetic flux lines are not aligned parallel to the poles. The core of the earth in not a perfect magnet, it has many variations that influence magnetic flux lines locally. In some places this is severe enough to mess w/ compasses.

As far a being lost.... I agree.... never lost, only turned around a few times. Fourtunately where I hunt, there are two primary directions, up & down..... they're normally pretty easy to keep straight. Now put me in east Portland at night and I'll be turned around in no time.
Hunt'nFish

 

[poisonarrow]

I made the mistake of marking the way point at my truck before my gps had a good fix. It led me astray on the way back. Now, after marking my truck I always check to make sure the waypoint is correct before I head out.

 

[Bar]

I get lost everytime I scout and hunt. I always find my way out. I know my unit so well now that it's hard to get lost. No fun at all.

 

[Biggs300]

I've been lost twice in the last five years elk hunting in CO. Both times I had a Garmin with my truck or camp waypoints marked and both times I chose not to believe what I saw on my Garmin. If I had relied on the Garmin maps and not my poor sense of direction, I probably would have arrived at my return destination much quicker. I'm old but, learned that technology trumps sense of direction (or lack thereof).

 

[njdoxie]

Was in CO several years ago, saw elk up on a mountain side, so the next day I hike up there, took me 6 hours, was a horrible steep hike, had a shot at a 290 bull, but passed it up as I wanted a 300 or better...anyway, at 4pm I decided to head back to camp, when I looked at the way I came up, I thought that's way too steep, no way I can do that.......I started feeling anxious,.......so I headed down another draw, which angled away.....I started to get more nervous because nothing looked familiar, so I pulled out my GPS and it confirmed my hunch about which direction to head....but there was a steep ridge I had to crest and I was beat.......never been so happy to see the tent at 10pm that night, that was a forced march for sure. I wasn't bad lost, I knew about where camp was, just not exactly where it was, and didn't want to wander the timber half the night, I like knowing exactly where camp is.

 

[Bar]

Lucky you didn't shoot the elk. You would have been lost with a load of meat.

 

[Bonedalien]

shoot, im impressed you can see the difference between a 290 and 300 bull in the field.

 

[Bar]

shoot, im impressed you can see the difference between a 290 and 300 bull in the field.

I thought that too. I'm not a trophy hunter, so I don't pay much attention to antlers, but that seems like a small amount to see. It would have been a dead elk if I saw it.

 

[njdoxie]

I went thru a very brief period of trophy hunting.....then I realized if I ever wanted to kill another elk, I need to take the first legal bull I see, so that's what I do now. I wanted a 300+ bull and had no problem walking away.

 

[geebee]

I have found this site to be very helpful in getting started with compass navigation.

http://landnav101.com/

 

[Bar]

I'd like to make one comment on using flagging tape. It works perfect for getting back out the way you went it. As long as it's still there when you come out.

Some hunters for some reason hate seeing it, and will take it down. Not realizing they could be getting another hunter lost. If you see it. Just leave it there, and hope the hunter who put it up will take it down too.

 

[xziang]

I'd like to make one comment on using flagging tape. It works perfect for getting back out the way you went it. As long as it's still there when you come out.

Some hunters for some reason hate seeing it, and will take it down. Not realizing they could be getting another hunter lost. If you see it. Just leave it there, and hope the hunter who put it up will take it down too.

Unfortuantely a lot of people don't bother removing their flagging tape and or reflective material. I'm guilty of pulling reflective tacks down when I'm out mushroom hunting in the spring time here in NE along with pulling 'marking' tape down that has been there for ages and throwing it away. (re-use the tacks)

Never done this out west but have ran across yellow duct tape before and left it.

GPS is your friend along with a compass and map. I check the map frequently to position my progress and where I'm at too. I also carry two GPS's which might be overkill but my 60CSX stays on all the time while the newer 64 remains off unless I want to see birdseye. (64 just EATS batteries)