Elk Hunting Safety in the Backcountry

[Yaremkiv]

Crawling out with an injury like that for 8 miles sounds absolutely brutal. Calling for help was a smart move. Nothing like a serious injury while recreating to put things into perspective. Wishing you a speedy and complete recovery.

 

[rogerdoger]

Trekking poles are something I’m definitely going to consider packing in the woods next season. You bring up a great point to use the poles as stiffeners in a brace, I didn’t think of that benefit, I thought they might help prevent or lessen the injury. Thanks for that input.
You said Zoleo for SOS, so this was the first year I ditched the Inreach. I have had a lot of problems getting and sending messages in a timely manner. I switched to T-Mobile cell provider this year and the T satellite messaging is surprisingly fast and reliable. I did test it out on a couple hikes and an earlier hunt before I decided cancel the inreach plan. The down side to that was my phone doesn’t have the SOS button on the side but I made sure to have an emergency list in my contacts. Don’t know if this is the right call for everyone or every situation but it worked very well in my case.

I know the phones are getting better with the satelite communication service, but I still bring both. Kind of like the old saying one is none and two is one. I love the phone as it is an all in one item but I hate having that as my only communication, gps, etc. I like having the Inreach not only for communication, but I also mark my truck location and can use it for navigation back to truck if my phone takes a crap.

 

[txtransplant]

Trekking poles not only would have helped on the rescue, they might have prevented the injury in the first place. I always use the poles crossing over deadfall.

I’m still shocked at how many guys strap on a 40lb pack and hike up a mountain without poles.

I’m interested in the satellite messaging from iPhone, but I don’t think I have the hardware for it. Maybe I can check it out after my next phone upgrade.

Probably not worth the weight, but I really like the physical SOS button. Touch screen in freezing temps with snow or rain is a hassle. Bulky buttons just WORK.

 

[ATC LLC]

Man, there are some things that just can't really be manager in the field.

Something to pad (jacket, tarp, Etc), something to stiffen (knife to cut sticks, split, trekking poles, Etc), and something to fasten (tape, string, webbing, Etc). Mainly because with stability comes comfort.

In theory, with that injury you can still put weight on the leg if you have it stabilized so the knee doesn't collapse. I'm going to guess that would be miserable and if you had to walk out (you made the better call getting help), fabricating two crutches would likely be the most important.

10 feet of ducktape wrapped on a trekking pole would likely be more useful than Paracord.

Totally correct, there are only certain things you can manage in the field and a big one of those things is your mental status. I would hate to be the guy who sees a YouTube video of backcountry solo hunting and think,” that looks fun I want to try that” and get them selves into a similar situation if they have been tested mentally and physically to the extreme at the same time. I’ve had to be a fighter physically and mentally since I was young, mostly due to my dumb meathead choices but this time it was a blessing God gave me more toughness then smarts.

 

[Skerhunter]

Glad you made it out safely, guessing that hurt a little bit! I don’t think anything in your “med kit” would have changed your outcome (flight out). I would definitely be adding some trekking poles to your gear list tho!

Good reminder to always have your med kit (pain management in your case), sos device, and enough gear to survive the night (maybe not comfortable but survive).

 

[Ross]

Some things you simply can’t account for. That being said, there is inherent risk when we go into the mountains. Being an old seasoned mountain goer, your best option to prevent injury is not to place your body in a position with a high probability of something going wrong, resulting in injury. We can’t be fearful of all possible outcomes, but weigh the risk before the resulting action. I would like to have one do over, but we don’t get that. Good luck on the recovery.

 

[Phaseolus]

This is just a curiosity question, why carry a rifle 14 miles the day before season starts? Grizz country?

 

[wide_groupings]

The real answer that sucks is that dirt biking 14 miles into the backcountry to then hike through deadfall solo is something you might want to reconsider. Even more so as a single dad. You obviously experienced it already, but it won't take much to put you in flight rescue mode.
You didn't mention having any kind of space blanket/bivvy/fire starter/etc in your bag either, but it was in the 20s and snowing? Get all that stuff and leave it in your bag forever, day hike or not.

 

[ATC LLC]

This is just a curiosity question, why carry a rifle 14 miles the day before season starts? Grizz country?

I was going to stay in there for a week and I don’t carry a pistol so my rifle goes where I go that far in.

 

[TaperPin]

That injury sucks big time. Hope you heal up good. Gotta keep that good range of motion during rehab.

As a takeaway for others, a big part of safety is prevention. Any time a story starts out “I jumped off of _____” I cringe before even hearing the outcome. Same for standing on slick rocks, ledges, logs or slopes. Like crossing a stream, it’s much safer to step between wet rocks than on them even with studded felt bottom boots.

There are a lot of hunting stories where guys mention slips and falls. Pushing things to the point falls are common and having the mindset it’s accepted as normal will not work out in the long run. Some of that is just how accident prone the person is, some of that is learned bad behavior, and some is rotten luck.

 

[ATC LLC]

The real answer that sucks is that dirt biking 14 miles into the backcountry to then hike through deadfall solo is something you might want to reconsider. Even more so as a single dad. You obviously experienced it already, but it won't take much to put you in flight rescue mode.
You didn't mention having any kind of space blanket/bivvy/fire starter/etc in your bag either, but it was in the 20s and snowing? Get all that stuff and leave it in your bag forever, day hike or not.

I just had the minimum essentials with me, first aid kit, tourniquet, small pocket knife, granola bars, meat sticks, water bottle, electrolyte packets, steri-pen, rain poncho, lighter, waterproof matches, fire starter, cell phone, binoculars, rifle, bullets, butt wipe/wet wipes in baggie in my left cargo pocket and my daughters little stuffed bunny in my right that I take pictures so I can share each hunt with her.

 

[Chris in TN]

Yikes. Ouch, man.

When I was a kid my dad slipped and fell on ice once. He was wearing surplus Mickey Mouse boots, notorious for being slippery on ice, and he spent the rest of that hunt hobbling around with a cane near camp.

This was 1991, before anyone thought to use trekking poles for hunting, I guess. Fortunately for him it had snowed a bunch and pushed all the elk down out of the mountains onto the local golf course down in the valley so we didn't see anything and he really didn't miss anything as far as the hunting went.

 

[armiller1991]

Satellite Communicators with SOS are such cheap insurance and enhance the experience as well.. being able to communicate back home has extended my opportunities and communicating with hunting partners is great too.

The devices and plans are so affordable now!

Shameless plug.. I have Zoleo for sale in the classifieds if anyone needs one!

 

[Phaseolus]

I was going to stay in there for a week and I don’t carry a pistol so my rifle goes where I go that far in.

Makes sense.

 

[Idaboy]

Glad you made it out

I've rarely doing much solo anymore. I have enough orthopedic issues that I can't afford it, so if solo I take it REAL slow, and trekking pole everything

Agree with others, not much safety gear was gonna help with that. I guess maybe 2 trekking poles and leukotape might be able to immobilize a leg issue.

Solid satellite communication and always let my wife and one hunting buddy know where I go

 

[cnelk]

They call it First Aid for a reason.
Things to do first.

Second Aid is for the professionals

Pack accordingly

 

[Sled]

I took a wilderness first responder course after I lost a friend in the backcountry while skiing. I did what I could but felt helpless. The course taught me a lot, especially how to improvise. Fast forward 22 years and I've been learning as I go while working as a first responder. I do carry a small kit to stop bleeding that includes hemostatic gauze, curlex and at least one tourniquet. Meds are easy to carry so I have pain, inflammation, allergy and diarrhea covered. Even though I can improvise I always carry a SAM splint. They're multi use, light and take up very little space when folded. I do carry some advanced interventions as well but the above covers most situations.

 

[Pony Soldier]

A few years ago one of my mares kicked her baby and broke its leg. The vet used half of a pvc pipe and vet wrap to send the baby home. Both are light. If you have a pack, half a piece of pvc pipe and a couple roles of vet wrap would be a few ounces.

Otherwise wearing cork boots would prevent the slippy slide syndrome.

 

[Blurry1]

Like poser said, trekking poles. The only other thing would be a lightweight tarp/shelter, fire starter, and enough clothes you could stay warm overnight if needed. Just in case you could not get back to camp you could shelter at scene of accident while help comes.

This all day long. That injury wasn’t going to kill you but your risk of exposure might have.

 

[ATC LLC]

This all day long. That injury wasn’t going to kill you but your risk of exposure might have.

Agreed on that one, that’s why I powered through all night to get back to camp. Worst case scenario I would have lit one of the dead trees covered in black beard lichen. With 4” of snow on the ground it wouldn’t have started a forest fire and I would have been warm and dry.