When do you leave your buddy?

[Coopsdaddy]

Any of you use a separate gps just to mark a few locations.
Something like the foretrex wrist gps or erred solar.
I had a chess etrex gecko for years and it got me home many times.Maybe not the best route but it worked.

 

[coyoteman]

For me it would all come down to weather conditions, distance from truck/camp, condition of partner, ability to use the InReach to contact first responders and the biggest determining determining factor IMO..What we have with use to keep us alive, in the event that we have to wait for help for a prolonged period.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

Any of you use a separate gps just to mark a few locations.
Something like the foretrex wrist gps?

I always mark my truck with my Garmin watch. Sure would suck trying to get back to the truck with a watch but it's probably better than nothing.

 

[Coopsdaddy]

I always mark my truck with my Garmin watch. Sure would suck trying to get back to the truck with a watch but it's probably better than nothing.

Been thinking about one for years but im just waiting on the battery life to get better.
They do seem to be getting a lot better on some models.

 

[PhotonSlinger]

8 years ago my bud broke his leg at 9500 ft. no coms.
it took me an hour on a horse to get to coms. sitting there all night with him would have done no good.

i have carried an in reach on my belt since, even for very short hikes and rides close to home.

How did your buddy break his leg?

 

[HairyScandinavian]

Been thinking about one for years but im just waiting on the battery life to get better.
They do seem to be getting a lot better on some models.

Mine will do 24 days with normal use but it's like 1.5 days if I leave the GPS tracker on for a trail or something. That's why I just do a waypoint, don't wanna kill that battery prematurely. It'll charge super fast though if I bring the cable for it. It's an old Instinct Solar original version I got on super clearance.

 

[fngTony]

So much to consider. My short answer is this in no particular order and I could make a flow chart for each one.

Can I signal or call for help from where we are?

Is it safe for the non injured to leave or is it too dark, rugged, stormy?

How far is getting help vs how long the injured can go without attention?

Are we lost and injured or just injured?

Am I capable of treating the condition?

 

[Boarmaster]

Deciding to leave my buddy would depend on the situation. If there is not much hope we will be found by SARs and I can get out and get help to him then I go. If it is likely we will be found by SARs at our location then I would stay with him to assist him. My hunting buds are all lifelong friends not random dudes I am on a hunting trip on so leaving them laying out there would be a tough decision.

 

[IdahoElk]

I was in a bad motorcycle accident in the backcountry and my friend had to go get help as I wasn't able to walk or move much, No other choice. Thank God for Life flight.

Most important thing I learned was to leave detailed travel plans and stick to them and also have an Inreach type device on you.

 

[5MilesBack]

If you ask my buddy, he'll tell you I leave him every time I get a good bugle response. But if you ask me, I'll tell you he just couldn't keep up.

 

[rayporter]

How did your buddy break his leg?

we met on a trail as dark approached to hunt back to camp. he was on a nearly flat level well used trail with only a degree or two of slope. a wrong step and snapped both bones near his ankle.
SAR was amazing. they have my support.

when i hit the trail head a young girl was talking on the phone and i used her phone to call. it took many calls to get the info to the dispatcher. every 10 seconds the line would go dead.

within 10 minutes SAR there [ and we were 30 miles from town] i dont know where he was located but it darn sure was not town!

 

[mad_angler]

It seems sorta simple... does my leaving improve his odds of getting out alive? If so, I leave. If not, I stay.

 

[Marbles]

InReach is nice, depending on weather and location, at least in Alaska, you still might be on your own for several days.

Leaving some depends, some times it is the best option. I have told a friend to go get help when I hurt my ankle and couldn't walk. This was as a kid, I crawled a quarter mile or so before family showed up with a 4x4.

One person dying is bad, but two dying is worse. Each situation is different. The more one understands the risks from both a medical and a technical skills side of things, the better equipped they will be to make a call.

Personally, I would send a buddy to try and find help before I lite off an SOS for a hurt foot in many situations. But even this depends on weather and expected conditions. The safety of whoever comes to help is as much my concern as my own and my buddies safety.

The counter point, is waiting too long can endanger everyone involved. Say a broken rib from a fall with a stable patient. You try to walk out, but as night closes in it because clear a tension pneumothorax is forming, now rather than in daylight with little stress, you are asking for a helicopter to extract some who is crashing at night.

As with everything, you have to make your best judgement call using the information and knowledge you have.

 

[Yoteassasin]

I won't take an inreach and I know I'm an outlier . And to be clear one wouldn't have helped those 2 boys a single lick.
My family will be well taken care of if something happens to me.
That being said the emergency and survival acumen of most hunters is despicable. And that's what I have to say about that

 

[Austink47]

To the original question “Have you talked about this with your hunting partner? Do you have a plan or SOP or rule of thumb for such a scenario?”

Yes. This is a regular topic of conversation with anyone I go on serious adventures with. Everyone should know what everyone has for emergency gear and what everyone’s level of experience is.

This may be a byproduct of my occupation and the guys I tend to go in the woods with but I find it strange that there are people who don’t routinely pass the time walking through what if scenarios.

 

[Yoteassasin]

Leaving is way far down on the list of escalations.
It would be after a 100% certainty the others were needed to remedy the situation .
I've had 2 close calls in my life .
Both were resolved after stopping and making a to do list and fortunately I didn't get to the leaving stage .

Time # 1 was off the Sonoma coast I had lost a swim buddy during a quick wind event . I was able to get to the boat and establish visual landmarks to establish 1st second and third tier perimeters . I located him in the second ring . There was little to no benefit to leaving other than a recovery operation

Time #2 was in the mountains. We were deer hunting and on our way out during the start of a rather large storm . Within the 2hr period we decided to move the road out was already 1' deep in snow and in a surreal moment a monster deer standing on the high side of the road as lightning stuck and it proceeded to jump across and move down hill . Me and a buddy pursued it but quickly lost its trail in the heavy snow. I started circling thinking I could find him simply circling as well. By buddy went further down hill and became lost . He was unable to discern where he had come from and I was able to use my memory of the topography to move side hill till I found the road and followed it back to the trucks. I got a bit panicked but again made a plan . I gave my self a time limit for each stage of movements and when felt uncomfortable enough that I might need to leave or risk getting both of us stuck on the mountain for a week I started honking my horn in a pattern . Luckily he heard it and was able to find his way back

Generally speaking you leave only when there is zero benifit to you being there or you the situation becomes a life /death situation for you . Things will general get worse before they get better if you leave. But leaving could get you added resources to make things better but at what risk vs time .

 

[Dos Perros]

I would leave my buddy if it increased the probability that both of us would survive. I would not leave my buddy if it hurt his odds but helped mine.

We have three communication tools between one InReach and two iPhones so I don't really see how leaving would help anyone who was immobile or incapacitated. We'd be able to summon help from virtually anywhere.