Stranded after fly-in hunt prior to winter…

[Gutshot007]

If you start hallucinating and your hunting buddy starts to look like this . You got problems

 

[cowdisciple]

If you start hallucinating and your hunting buddy starts to look like this . You got problems
View attachment 662866

Hey buddy!

 

[Geewhiz]

Would be a tough call trying to decide when to pull the trigger on leaving your last known location. Nearest village for us would have been about 80 miles. Also be tough to decide what to pack and what to ditch.

That’s true. In the event of being lost they always say to stay put. But when you realize they ain’t coming to get you, I feel like a guy could cover 80 miles in less than a week, provided the weather cooperated

 

[Beendare]

Interesting scenario.

There is some areas of northern Canada and Alaska a guy would have to be an idiot to try to walk out. Rushing Rivers, swampy ground, etc- it ain’t the trail in your local park- only longer.

Case in point. Our pilot in 2012 told us there was some folks dropped off for a day of fishing in 9-11 that they never found.

He said he was flying for an outfitter looking for lost horses on 9-11. He comes out of the mountain shadow for comms and his base was trying to get ahold of him.

“ You need to set it down RIGHT NOW” they said.

He asked what is going on and they told him they didn’t know for sure but he was the only plane in the air on the entire west coast. The AF base was having a fit and threatened to scramble jets to take him down if he didn’t set down soon.

 

[OXN939]

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.

Alaska is wild, but not nearly as wild as people like to imagine it is. There are winter trails to every village.

Spot on for sure. As mentioned above, one of the most advanced backcountry SAR units in existence is at JBER. Playing devil's advocate, though, it's not impossible to imagine some potentially bad scenarios even without being badly wounded.

The combination that comes to mind is weather plus a spot where hiking out would be risky, like Kodiak or the north slope. SAR platforms have pretty low minimums, but the op does have to pass an ORM matrix to go through. In other words, is the rescue contingent more likely to get you out than they are to get in trouble themselves trying to do so. We did a bou hunt on the north slope a few years ago where an arctic gale rolled in that was definitely beyond the minimums for any kind of aircraft that could get near there, and stayed that way for a while. Days were 40 kt winds plus sheets of rain, and nighttime lows got into the 20s... if your sleeping bags somehow got soaked through in that, the jokes would stop pretty quickly. Key there is just the knowledge that dryness is next to godliness, as you'd have to be pretty negligent to let your camp get soaked through with all the waterproofing everyone has these days.

But yeah, worst case scenario should really never be more than staying in place for a few days. If, somehow, the batteries to all your (two is one, one is none) satellite messengers died and you couldn't reach out, your air service would get in touch with the 176th bros or a civilian SAR asset. If your EPIRB batteries died and everyone at your air service all had simultaneous heart attacks, you should have a drop dead time established with your family, as well as your location via inreach or whatever as soon as you get where you're going.

Bottom line, stay put and vibe for a few days. As mentioned above, Lt. Crane survived in -20 for 81 days with just his flight suit and a silk parachute.

 

[Rich M]

Most guys have an inreach…

You can easily walk 50 miles and shoot stuff along the way. Might take a week or two but you can do it.

Rescue is not far away. AK is loaded w folks.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

Start hiking. You should definitely know which direction to get to a road.

I could hike a long ways in a week or two.

Ha would be surprised if you found a road within a week or 2 of some places in ak.

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[Geewhiz]

Ha would be surprised if you found a road within a week or 2 of some places in ak.

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In this end of the world scenario that we’re talking about I definitely wouldn’t just sit there and die lol

 

[arrowjunkie]

I learned in a recent thread that people in this nation born after 1970 have a 0% chance of lasting longer then a few days. Wimps.

 

[Dogone]

My eight years in far northern Canada taught me: there are no people, cold would get you in winter and bugs in summer, huge areas with no big game and little small game. Canadas north is 6 times the size of Alaska. There are over a million people in Alaska and only 150,000 in northern Canada. There is no place to walk out to. You would die or; if you survived have a movie made about you.

 

[Marbles]

First thing is to establish dominance with your partner/s . You don't want to end up the "little spoon" when cuddling for warmth.

Little spoon is the warmest.





If you have not been cold enough to snuggle with another man, well you have not been very cold. About the time shivers become violent jerks and you can barely walk any longer things start getting real (about 93 F core temp, between 90-92 F is when the heart becomes unstable and sudden cardiac death becomes a real possibility). The worst is not getting cold though, it is the temp drop as you warm up and the core blood starts perfusing the arms and legs again.

 

[ztc92]

With the moose camp we bring in the scenario presented we could survive however long a body can live off a mostly moose meat diet. I realistically don’t think a whole winter would be an issue as long as the body didn’t shut down from nutrient deficiencies.

I have read accounts of early ice and helis finally being approved to pull hunters. I’d imagine that stalled people numerous days. In that event, any transporter worth their business license would be doing supply drops. I’ve also read 9/11/01 accounts where guys sat in camp for 3 days waiting with no communication and noticing that no planes were flying. I wish I saved the article. One man had shot a moose that rot and he ran out of food. Three days after scheduled pickup and sitting confused in beautiful weather he stated was ready to beat the pilot to a pulp when he finally pulled up.

This raises an interesting point - my understanding is that humans cannot survive on moose alone as it is so lean that we can’t get enough fat to obtain the fat soluble vitamins. I believe on one season of Alone this becomes an issue with a contestant who only eats moose, driving him to pursue and eventually get some fish. There’s also a reference to indigenous people getting the necessary vitamins from tree bark if I recall correctly.

Edit - typo

 

[Mojave]

I am not sure about the Yukon, but there are less than 100,000 people in Nunavut and the NWT. If you had a really bad aircraft mishap and were a long way from town you would have a hell of a lot to figure out really quickly.

 

[Rich M]

This raises an interesting point - my understanding is that humans cannot survive on moose alone as it is so lean that we can’t get enough fat to obtain the fat soluble vitamins. I believe on one season of Alone this becomes an issue with a contestant who only eats moose, driving him to pursue and eventually get some fish. There’s also a reference to indigenous people getting the necessary vitamins from tree bark if I recall correctly.

Edit - typo

I think you eat the brain and tongue. But agreed - you can starve on lean meat alone, need some kind of fat - in tongue and brain but there is only so much of that.

I've not seen all the alone series but only a couple folks truly owned it - didn't lose weight, woulda been fine for long periods of time. Most just slowly starve and that's not surviving.

What that teaches me is to stay on the move and get out - end of world scenario would not have me in a true wilderness scenario with 6-8 month long winter if I wasn't on the coast.

If looking for rescue, would have a huge fire going at all times and throw green boughs on it during daylight hours to make smoke. Enough smoke that weather satellites see it. Visible at night. Here I am - come get me.

 

[DmrbigEshotT]

Start hiking. You should definitely know which direction to get to a road.

I could hike a long ways in a week or two.

Just watched a Netflix movie on the rugby team that crashed in the Andes. After several months, a couple of the guys hiked ten days to try and reach someone. They made it.

That was after starvation, several avalanches, and resorting to cannibalism.

I think the rule is wait 72 hours after being officially stranded, then start hiking out.


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[WoodBow]

Just watched a Netflix movie on the rugby team that crashed in the Andes. After several months, a couple of the guys hiked ten days to try and reach someone. They made it.

That was after starvation, several avalanches, and resorting to cannibalism.

I think the rule is wait 72 hours after being officially stranded, then start hiking out.


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And don't forget that they made that trek with zero gear, essentially. Incredible.

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[Dos Perros]

And don't forget that they made that trek with zero gear, essentially. Incredible.

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They made a sleeping bag.

 

[Squincher]

And don't forget that they made that trek with zero gear, essentially. Incredible.

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Even though most of us can't train to the level of a professional athlete, it is another good reason to maintain a level of fitness.

 

[WoodBow]

They made a sleeping bag.

The worst sleeping bag ever.

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[WoodBow]

Even though most of us can't train to the level of a professional athlete, it is another good reason to maintain a level of fitness.

You ain't kidding. I was even thinking how clutch a puffy jacket would have been. And how lucky they guys were that had sunglasses.

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