Walking out at night

[EdP]

As I've aged some changes have become apparent. Instead of getting warmer as soon as I start moving, I get colder. My circulation isn't what it once was and blood pools in my legs and gets cold. When I get up and move (or get down from a tree stand), that cold blood gets circulated to my core and I get really cold. Another factor is that I can't see in the dark like I once could. Age related macular degeneration has really impacted my night vision. Such factors need to be considered and accounted for, even if it means passing up on the last 30 minutes of shooting light. Just enjoy what you can still safely do.

 

[8mille]

I don’t push it too much anymore. Last time I stayed to dark me and my truck almost ended up in deep swamp waterholes. It wasn’t pretty, but I managed to get through ok. Before that was freezing my you know what off in the night forest in PA and snow. Slipped on a rock/snow and banged knee- tough getting out. When you get older it’s not a bad idea to leave yourself visibility.

 

[BCDJR]

Your concerns are normal. Dont think otherwise. I didn’t see if you were in unfamiliar territory? No mention of your age, overall health, eyesight and how your energy level was when you started back. Some folks mentioned having to rescue people and I would listen to their advice. I think high levels of attention and caution are important when in the backcountry…..regardless of conditions!

 

[Fireflyfishing]

Walking in the dark is not that big a deal…if done correctly and IMO planned. Bushwhacking and hiking in country not seen in daylight is dangerous. Add adverse weather and bad things can happen for sure.

I like to make a plan in my head of the route I’m going to take for the day. If my route changes in the day (like I’m chasing something somewhere), then I start reworking an exfil plan. Things that roll around in my head like can I make it to that trail before darkness set in? If not, will I be able to find it in the dark?

What happens if you forgot your headlamp? Probably should plan not to hike in the dark, and you should probably figure that out before dark. What happens if your head lamp shit’s the bed in the dark? Can you still navigate to camp in starlight or pure darkness? What happens if your navigation device(s) die? Do you have a compass…nowadays, do you have a compass AND know how to use it?

Last year, I decided to do a through-hike down to my camp. My buddy and I started on the top of the mountain where he parked his rig. I told him I was going to hike all the way down to camp down a ridge right above my camp. My buddy and I separated in the late afternoon. I figured I could get down the ridge before it got dark. Turns out I figured correctly, but man it was a ball buster. I’m very glad it was light out while I attempted that decent on that ridge. I got brushed out more than once having to back track up hill, and hit some extremely steep spots that I wouldn’t want to attempt in the dark. I’m very glad I had a plan to attempt that ridge in light. Now that I’ve seen and hiked it in the light, I will not use that ridge again unless it’s an emergency and I need to head straight to camp...and, I’ll only hike that in daylight.

Also, last year…I was pretty far out and spotted a heard of cows in the late afternoon and decided to make a chase and a shot. Before I took the shot, I weighed the consequences of what that night would look like. I made a plan in my head and thought I can do this, but it will be a long night. I saw all of the terrain I would hike back in the daylight and was comfortable with the plan. I made the stock, took the shot, end up with a dead cow, and a real long night. I made it back to camp at 3 AM and finished packing out the rest of the cow the next day with some buddies.

I was hunting alone and already sorta cold/hypothermic due to glassing until the end of shooting light.

Hypothermic? Did you think to start a fire and warm up?

 

[noisy]

The group I hunt with has aged and we no longer hike extended distances in or out in the dark, but still kill elk most years. I just don't like hiking in the dark anymore and I don't think it's necessary.

 

[waspocrew]

Having a friend definitely helps when hiking out or packing meat out at night. Several years ago, I shot a cow across a canyon in the evening. It took my brothers and I some time to get across the canyon to her. We broke her down and packed her out. When I'm by myself, I put a bit more thought into the work ahead of me if I shoot an animal in a certain area.

I was hunting the same canyon the other night and ended up sneaking out of there before last light. There's a pretty big stretch with a lot of rocks I didn't feel like traversing in the dark.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

Do folks adjust their plans based on terrain or weather?

Yes, it would be irresponsible to not assess the situation and all the variables and sometimes bugging out early is the right call. I usually sit til it's pure black, not just end of shooting light because I can still glass and scout for morning. I have left early before and I have gotten to the truck at 3am before after hanging quarters and slowly making my way out with a load in bad weather. It just depends. If I have snow on the ground and can follow my tracks out that's a huge bonus for me.

 

[TX_Diver]

I was that way a few years ago. I don’t mind hiking out in the dark now but I’m still not a huge fan of hiking into a new spot in the dark or camping alone even . This year I realized that’s really limiting me though so I did find a few new spots to check out in the mornings that weren’t to crazy to get too. Now I need to start camping alone

It’s good you found elk at least! Tough call on what to do. My opinion is usually the first time I need to make a decision like that, I’ll go with my gut. If a week later I’m kicking myself for the decision then next time I’ll do it differently. Just have to be honest with yourself.

Fitness, hunting experience, cell service, Inreach access, distance to nearest town, forecast weather, etc all make a difference too. If you’re from a mountain state and have mountains in your backyard, it’s “easy” to go practice. If you live in TX or out east it’s a little harder when you get the experience 1x/year.

If you’re finding elk that’s a good start to keep building on though.