Missing hunters in Colorado

[repins05]

I have been following this post for days. I will never know these two hunters that perished in Colorado. However, they have made a difference in my life. I will be changing the way I hunt and think. I will be more prepared. I have been careless way too many times to count without much concern for myself or my family. I am realizing that I am not invincible. I will think of them if I ever get into a "situation" again.

 

[journeyman713]

Not to keep changing the discussion to a fire discussion, I stared a thread about it.

How to start a Fire in the Rain

it's worth a read.

 

[*zap*]

Where are flares sold. I don't remember seeing them anywhere.

Check post 777, there is a link posted.

 

[Dan Carey]

Thanks, I have found more than a few places locally that I can and will buy some. I may never need or use them, But I will have them in several different places if the need arises. I think my life and well being is worth more than the few bucks they are going to cost me.

 

[*zap*]

Auto zone usually has them for a reasonable cost. Stay safe.

 

[longrangelead]

½ size flares

https://a.co/d/0LnLZmn

Item #753, 12-Pack Fire Pit Pro™, 4-Ct - Orion Safety Products

www.orionsignals.com

 

[wildwilderness]

I was hunting in the same drainage that night. It was a hell of a storm and the temperature dropped quite a bit but it was not so cold that you couldn’t hike two miles to the truck. Everyone keeps talking about this like it was 10 miles in the backcountry in a blizzard. It’s not possible to be more than two miles deep in that bowl. There are some bad deadfall spots and I do not know exactly where they were or what was going on but there’s quite a few old logging roads, the main road running up the center, etc that make for fast traveling in there. You fight through a rough spot or two then you can move quickly. You’re never more than an hour and a half, two hours max from the truck. There is no real getting turned around in there. The terrain funnels you down. You’re either going up or you’re going back down to the road. Hunkering down and making a fire in a downpour is not a better decision in this case than walking two miles to the truck. Unless one of them hurt their leg bad enough that they didn’t want to hike out at night or something along those lines, I just don’t see it.

And before everyone argues with me about it, I was dumb enough to not throw any extra clothes in my pack that afternoon because I was going in to pack one out so I was in that storm in a Kuiu gila long sleeve and a Sitka kelvin active short sleeve hoodie. I was three miles from the truck and at no point in that night was I ever even close to thinking that I needed to stop and make a fire to save my life. what was going on for them to make the decisions they did. That being said, my initial reaction was lightning. Two phones, onX, InReaches, etc and not one message or location ping seems like lightning to me.

Regardless of what actually happened, it’s a shame two young men lost their lives out there.

To clarify, that was Friday night Sep 12th? You were packing an elk out in the same drainage ?

Did you see lightning and hear thunder that night there?


Thanks

 

[mtnwrunner]

FWIW.........I carry several trioxane tabs and a "mini" flare for when you just are having a difficult time getting a fire started or need one in a hurry.
Take a regular road flare, cut the striker end off at about 2 inches and seal that end with wax. You'll have a short flare that lasts about 5 minutes.

Randy

 

[Ucsdryder]

Next time I’m hunting in the middle of the day, whether at camp or in the woods, I need to practice my fire building in the rain. I’ve done it a couple of times with mediocre success. I bet a lot of us could use the practice…

 

[cnelk]

Does anyone else carry a windproof lighter in their pack?
[Like a cigar lighter]

 

[Ucsdryder]

Does anyone else carry a windproof lighter in their pack?
[Like a cigar lighter]

I carry 2 regular lightwrs. The big issue I’ve found is that when it’s wet and cold it’s hard to get them to work. Between the elements and my cold thumb…

 

[cnelk]

I carry 2 regular lightwrs. The big issue I’ve found is that when it’s wet and cold it’s hard to get them to work. Between the elements and my cold thumb…

These are like little torches - or flares...

 

[cnelk]

I went out to my pack and got my windproof lighter.

I also have a ‘regular’ lighter, but this one stays in the Emergency Kit along with firestarter

 

[Ucsdryder]

I went out to my pack and got my windproof lighter.

I also have a ‘regular’ lighter, but this one stays in the Emergency Kit along with firestarter

I’m always trying to balance weight and utility. That thing is sweet and huge!

 

[EdP]

Regular lighters use butane fuel. At 31F the vapor pressure is zero psig (atmos pressure). Keep it in a shirt pocket or warm it in your hand and it will work.

 

[Dan Carey]

WOW, thats some information worth having.

 

[Weldor]

Anyone use Magnesium chips for fire starting? super lightweight .

 

[*zap*]

Road flares are also reusable. Small hole in dirt and rub lit end till it is extinguished. (cut of oxygen) To re-lite tear a piece of the outside wrapping so it hangs a bit and lite with a flame source. Keep the flame at the bottom of the flare and it will re-lite after a bit of time.

 

[*zap*]

Anyone use Magnesium chips for fire starting? super lightweight .

Yes. Burn very hot but fast. You can use a drill on a mag bar to make a bunch of shavings and fill a small container with them.

 

[mikeafeagin22]

To clarify, that was Friday night Sep 12th? You were packing an elk out in the same drainage ?

Did you see lightning and hear thunder that night there?


Thanks

No it was Thursday the 11th. Everything I have seen was that last communication was Thursday afternoon around 3pm and they went missing that night. If I have the timeline wrong and it was actually Friday the 12th that they went missing then I apologize and I need to edit my previous comments on the situation.

If it was that Thursday then we were on the western rim of the drainage all day. Had a group of four guys hunting along there. We all met at a glassing knob that morning where I had shot a bull at last light the evening before. Couple of the guys stayed up high to glass for more elk that evening since they only had a day or two left to hunt. Could see a bad storm brewing off to the south that looked like it was going to hit us around 4:30-5. Just barely hit us for 5-10 minutes so we thought we got lucky then got hammered half an hour later from a different storm that came in over the top. Lots of lightning and thunder for hours. Rained and hailed hard for the first bit then settled into a lighter rain for the rest of the night. Was raining hard enough that you’d get soaked being out in it but not so bad that you couldn’t still hunt in it with the right gear on. It was around 11 pm when we all got back to the trucks that night and it was still raining.