Missing hunters in Colorado

[griebel303]

Super sad outcome, praying for the families who are grieving the loss of them. Like others have said the unfolding of this and this thread itself have definitely made me take a hard look at how I use my inreach and the need for a set plan to be in place with my wife should my movements stop for a prolonged period or my tracking go offline.

 

[TexasCub]

Well very sad ending, at least the families will have immediate closure compared to being left with lots of unknowns. Unless their deaths upon discovery tell the whole story I think it’s important that they release what they believe led to their death so others may learn from it.

 

[Finch]

Was dreading this outcome! Hits really close to home as this could potentially happen to any of us.

 

[cnelk]

Damn

All just for an adventure

 

[Doehunter]

Awful

 

[Steve300xcw]

All just for an adventure

better than dying on the couch

 

[mad_angler]

See below: The short version is to get into the habit of sending fairly regular location updates. Otherwise, your satellite device is fairly useless if you get incapacitated quickly or separated from your device.


For Zoleo users, I had the following conversation:


Me: Two hunters were just found dead in Colorado. It took about a week to find them. If I am walking with my zoleo turned on and I fall over dead with a heart attack, will the zoleo help search and rescue find me?

Zoleo human: Hi. unfortunately, there is no accident recognition built into the ZOLEO. SOS is only triggered manually.

Me: So to avoid a similar situation for me, I need to send location updates fairly regularly?

Zoleo human: Yes

Me: If I am missing, is there any way for you to "ping" my zoleo at the request of search and rescue?

Zoleo human: The only way we can access your location is if the ZOLEO is actively sending out Location Updates. We have access to your last location update transmitted by the device, and in the off chance something did happen and somebody reached out to us, we could help align them with the information and rescue authorities.

Me: Ok. Thank you.

 

[satchamo]

Pretty sure you can share your location via satellite on an iPhone 14 or newer.

 

[FullSkipChain]

heartbreakingly tragic. I got a mid-tone ringing in my right ear a few days ago right before the story popped up on my Facebook. I intuited the situation was critical and not just some young guns distracted chasing elk. I kept checking the finace's IG yesterday.. I knew the news was coming soon when I went to bed last night. A tragic ending to a beginning filled with ambition and excitement. My deepest sympathies to their family and friends.

 

[journeyman713]

Very sad, been checking back hoping for some good news.

If nothing else a good reminder to keep situational awareness foremost, when hunting, despite the distractions.

 

[Calcoyote]

Like everyone else I am just wondering what happened. As morbid as it sounds, knowing the details of what happened might help us to not suffer the same fate. I will be elk and deer hunting alone up here in NW Wyoming this year. This has been a sobering thread.

 

[Elkhunter8]

This totally sucks and makes me rethink a bit about going out solo as often as I do.

 

[Steve300xcw]

makes me rethink a bit about going out solo as often as I do.

why?

 

[Jason Snyder]

I hunt solo a lot. Be as prepared as you can for emergencies and don’t take unnecessary risks.

 

[Dan Carey]

Terrible ending to this story. RIP

 

[FullSkipChain]

Like everyone else I am just wondering what happened. As morbid as it sounds, knowing the details of what happened might help us to not suffer the same fate. I will be elk and deer hunting alone up here in NW Wyoming this year. This has been a sobering thread.

I speculate it was weather related. Huge risk factor for hypothermia given the minimal gear they were speculated to have. Their camping gear was reportedly still in the rig. They had precip in the unit 4 days in a row. From the folks in my comments on tiktok who said they were in the area around the same time, the weather was brutal.

 

[TexasCub]

This totally sucks and makes me rethink a bit about going out solo as often as I do.

If you hunt alone in the backcountry and want to have a resource that can save your life buy yourself a ACR PLB, it’s the number one insurance that your going to help immediately if you become incapacitated, there is no comparison. I know people fall for the Satelite messengers because of the fandangle extras that come with them like texting and map sharing,etc ….F@#$ all that, if you need help you owe it to your families or loved ones to have the right tool for the job. Power up, and hold the oh shit button await help….end of story.

 

[Toneloc]

Horrible, very sad news. Like others been checking for updates frequently hoping for a miracle. Hope can learn something from this tragedy.

 

[AG8]

Like everyone else I am just wondering what happened. As morbid as it sounds, knowing the details of what happened might help us to not suffer the same fate. I will be elk and deer hunting alone up here in NW Wyoming this year. This has been a sobering thread.

I don’t think that’s morbid at all. That’s why every fatal accident in every field or subject is investigated. Best practices and lessons learned.

 

[Thomas11]

If you hunt alone in the backcountry and want to have a resource that can save your life buy yourself a ACR PLB, it’s the number one insurance that your going to help immediately if you become incapacitated, there is no comparison. I know people fall for the Satelite messengers because of the fandangle extras that come with them like texting and map sharing,etc ….F@#$ all that, if you need help you owe it to your families or loved ones to have the right tool for the job. Power up, and hold the oh shit button await help….end of story.

Im
No tech guy but what is the benefit of the arc plb vs inreach type of device? I currently don’t even carry any of these. Kinda rethinking now