Stranded after fly-in hunt prior to winter…

Mojave

WKR
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Jun 13, 2019
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I don't either.

Look through the Riverton news paper for the story. It happened when I was a young child. My father was the under sheriff of Fremont county and led the search party. Involved Wyoming Air National Guard helecopters. I do not know the year.

When I go to the Riverton news paper I get this message as I am overseas.

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Joined
Aug 6, 2012
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1,703
I've only been to Alaska once but I feel confident I could walk a long ways to get out.
Big rivers and glaciers would certainly dictate what's possible.
Maybe I'm being naive but...
 

Mojave

WKR
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Jun 13, 2019
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They never found the guy, but they found where a bear had killed a guy. My dad said that one of his deputies found that the father of the hunter buried the guy on the mountain. The kind of stuff that only happened in the 1970's.

I don't know if they deputies killed the bears or not. I suspect they did. Next time I talk to him I'll try to remember to ask about it.
 
Joined
Apr 4, 2017
Messages
1,070
Location
north idaho
I have waited for planes many times. it is common. 5 days was the most, got out the day before thanksgiving. We had one can of beans left and some coffee. If you fly backcountry enough it happens, and you plan on brining extra food. it is part of flying in the bush. The 5 days was in the frank in idaho though.
 

t_carlson

WKR
Joined
Nov 1, 2022
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593
Location
Montana
Walking out of the bush rather than waiting for someone to come looking for you also violates basic survival 101

I think the logic of basic survival 101 would not apply in a situation where an impending weather event will cut you off from civilization for the next several months.
 

Jeffro

FNG
Joined
Oct 17, 2019
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45
Location
Coeur d 'Alene, ID
Sometimes I wonder how we survived for hundreds of thousands of years on this planet without heat or pre constructed structures. And had to kill animals within 20yds all of the time.
 
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Bachto

WKR
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Dec 13, 2018
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418
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Benton City, WA
The guys that win Alone are the chubbiest - I’d argue that was probably the same with the Donner party. Maybe the key to making it an entire winter is putting on a little beer belly/dad bod and hunting with thin friends that might not be overly tough and chewy if push comes to shove? *chuckle*
This is not true.

None of these guys and one girl are/were the chubbiest.
 

bpurtz

WKR
Joined
Jan 22, 2016
Messages
489
Get a surviving on mars thread going!

What is better Kuiu vs. Sitka vs. FL down for insulation on Mars?

Which rain gear handles acid rain best? (spoiler alert, I’m ignoring everyone’s recommendation for Helly Hansen or Grundens and buying Sitka anyways)

Is a 223 with 77 TMK enough for space monsters or should we pack something with a bit more knockdown power?

We have a lot of unanswered questions on Mars survival!
I'm pretty sure Leupold scopes don't fail the drop test on Mars.
 
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OP
P
Joined
Mar 31, 2019
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NW Florida
Recognizing that the chance the scenario the OP has laid out would happen is about as close to 0% as mathematically possible, I’ll play along for fun.

How many of those people/groups had planned ahead with a modern 4 season tent, collapsible wood stove, fire starter, two modern rifles with 50 rds, modern pistols, down sleeping bags, down tops and bottoms, wool layers, several pair of wool socks, synthetic boots, neoprene foot waders, insulating mid layers, rain gear, saw, hatchet, 2-3 extra tarps, etc. etc. etc. In addition you’re in a spot that was hand picked because wild game frequents it, not on top of a random mountain. We’re talking a a scenario where the person has planned ahead for survival in the wild for an extended period of time. Not a plane crash or TV show where you pick your 3 items. Hell, most moose hunters have a better setup today than a man in a trapper cabin did 100 years ago.

Again, the chance of this happening is 0. Alaska is wild, but not nearly as wild as people like to imagine it is. There are winter trails to every village. Snowmachine trails spiderweb the tundra and most areas are frequented by trappers, wolf hunters, and shed hunters. Not to mention the same type of folks in the sky running trap lines and looking for wolves and sheds. An SOS in the snow on a frozen lake would get you help in 48 hours in most of AK, less if people were looking.
Obviously back to to back up is the best plan… and are items we had in place and I confirmed what pilots were. Two GPS in reach. Local phone numbers given to parties at home with itinerary. And so on.

Was just thinking if an EMP shut everything down, or satellites take out, or every back up party had sudden simultaneous heart attack etc. To the original question, I think those odds are 0% survival.
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2015
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6,321
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Lenexa, KS
I think if you were seriously stranded, with no hope of rescue, you'd probably get hungry and cold, and similar to how Werner Herzog's "Every Man for Himself and God Against All" ends, you would just
 
Joined
May 1, 2021
Messages
481
One of my favorite "climber photos." Whillans would say that he climbed stronger than the skinny youths because he brought extra reserves with him. Probably more likely is that his mindset was stronger than youth's. I bet Whillans would have walked out.

Don Whillans on his way in to a first ascent on Annapurna.​

Screen-Shot-2022-09-20-at-9.19.34-AM.jpg

(Photo: Greg Child)
https://www.climbing.com/people/heavy-climbers-crushed/

This ballsy, 5’ 4’’ English climber was a reliable powerhouse alpinist (first ascents on Mt. Blanc, the central Torres Del Paine, and Annapurna) as well as a safety advocate (he invented the first “sit harness”). Through it all he had quite a remarkable gut. In talking about their 1970 Annapurna expedition, legendary alpinist expedition leader Chris Bonington said, “Don Whillans had a substantial beer gut before the expedition but got himself fit during the climb and reached the top.” …To notch a first ascent of the 26,545-foot peak’s south face. And Whillans himself joked that the purpose of his new harness was to “safely transport beer guts to great height.” This man serves as our best example of big-gut climbers and as a great hope to would-be climbers who are also Chicago Bears fans.
 

TVW

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Dec 12, 2023
Messages
194
Location
Idaho
Obviously back to to back up is the best plan… and are items we had in place and I confirmed what pilots were. Two GPS in reach. Local phone numbers given to parties at home with itinerary. And so on.

Was just thinking if an EMP shut everything down, or satellites take out, or every back up party had sudden simultaneous heart attack etc. To the original question, I think those odds are 0% survival.

If an EMP shut everything down you wouldn't want to make it back to civilization, you'd be better off taking your chances trying to survive in the bush.
 

eshunt

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
May 23, 2012
Messages
108
Location
NV
I was working in AK on 9/11. It was almost a week before any planes were allowed to fly in and pick up clients. And the weather was clear and sunny for the most part. Lots of pretty crazy stories of groups wondering what happened and if they were forgotten. Not everyone had satellite phones or SPOT devices yet. A lot of the communication was with VHF radios and could only work with short range line of sight. Without planes in the air, there was nobody to answer their calls. Definitely would have made me nervous!
 

cowdisciple

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Dec 5, 2023
Messages
178
Theres usually a river town, active runway, mining camp, coast, abandoned cabin within 40-60 miles of even the most remote places in Alaska. Shooting a moose and wintering in would be possible if you could survive the temperature lows.

This. Know your area, even in Alaska there will be something within 50-100 miles. Might just be an airstirp and a cabin or two, but something. Although most trips I go on these days everyone has an InReach.
 

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