Myself and two freinds hunted elk this past weekend. We hunted by ourselves and met back up at camp each evening. Saturday's weather was poor and so was the elk activity. Sunday presented me with a spike bull accompanying a cow and calf. I choose to let him go in hopes of finding a larger bull. Me and one of the guys had to return home and back to work on Monday, the other stayed to hunt all this week. On Monday he was hunting the area where I saw the spike, when that evening he was fortunate enough to shoot a good size 5x7 bull. While gutting the bull, his knife went astray and he severly cut his hand. There he was, all alone, bleeding badly, with a two mile hike back to camp and then an hour drive to the hospital. Fortunately, he made it out ok, but it easily could have been much worse. Please remember to be extra carefull when out there alone. I don't think I will tell my wife about this, she harrasses me enough about going out alone as it is. ;)

'Nuff said - good point and EVERYONE needs to be extra careful when hunting. Firearms and sharp knives are accidents waiting to happen for the unwary.

Fellow co-worker had his father seriously hurt himself while helping dress out a big bull elk a couple years ago. Somehow managed to stick himself in the calf of the leg with one of the long brow tines - punctured through to the skin on the other side. Luckily, they weren't all that far from the truck. Got to a nearby clinic where they irrigated the puncture, inserted a drain tube and sewed up the rest. Took months to heal and left him with a permanent limp.

Yep, it pays to be careful plus. I had never been lost while hunting until I was about 35 in Pa. Got on deer trail in fairly thick woods, that wandered, in an area that I had not familarized myself with fully. No map, had left my cumpass behind, but had my pack and it was not a survival situation
at that point. However, when I realized that I was lost, I also realized that I had not told my wife or anyone where I was going, and that I had made a number of mistakes. There was no snow on the ground so there was no back tracking, and I had gone from one deer trail to another. This was verry hilly country, and I did know that there were roads withing 5 mi. of the general area. It was now about 10:30 in the morning. I found a small stream, and started following it. About 12:15 I came accross a dirt road that had a few tire tracks, and sat down, ate my lunch, and waited. A pickup came by about 1:30, and I flagged him down, and told him where I had started from am where I thought my truck was parked. He knew the area and said he would take me to my vehicle for $10.00. That was a well spent $10.00. Road miles for him to get me back to my vehicle were a little over 12 on his speedometer. I later got a topo map of the area, and found that I had never been much over 3-3 1/2 miles from my vehicle. It taught me a great group of lessons. 1. To never say that you can't get lost. 2. To always have a compass when you hunt, and a map if you are not completely familiar with the area. 3. To hunt with a companion, but if you have to hunt alone, to make sure that someone knows where you are in case of an emergency. Now there are cell phones that migt save your life, and it is not a bad idea to carry one when hunting. Have managed to make it to Social Security Age without getting lost again. I hunt now with a belt pack that has amongst other things always a compass along with basic survival gear, and a map of the area if I can get my hands on one. It pays to pay attention. I am convinced that anyone can get lost.
Paul

It makes me angry to see that some people will seize any opportunity to make a few dollars. I think I would have waited for another vehicle to come by, just as a matter of principal.

A friend of mine calls spending money like that
"Oh, I had to pay the stupid tax again..."

My dear old dad used to say:
"Every form of education costs ya somthin' boy"

Cheers,

Big Mike G

It makes me angry to see that some people will seize any opportunity to make a few dollars. I think I would have waited for another vehicle to come by, just as a matter of principal.

Well, if I had had more than 3-4 hours sleep the night befor, and if I hadn't started on foot at about 6:00 a.m., might just have done that. However, when your tail is draggin and you accept the fact that you have just done something really dumb, and you are hungry as well, the 10 bucks seemed cheap at the time, and still does for that matter today. There are times, when in my never to be humble opinion, that due to the situation, "primcipal be ****ed". Can't argue that even then it went agin the grain, and I would never clip someone who was lost for a ride. But then not all of us uho hunt are truely hunters, sportsmen, or gentlemen like us. And that in itself is a problem with image.
Paul