We Ought to Know Better Than to Get Lost
By Jason Forck

I have been hunting about fourteen years and during that time frame I have only been lost in the woods for considerable time twice.  Sure I have been turned around more times but I have been able to quickly find something I can identify to get back on track.  I would like to say it is my ability to plan ahead and be prepared for the worst that has prevented me from being lost more often but it is most likely the kind of woods I hunt or hike through.  Most of the farms or state ground around where I live have many roads or trails going through or around them.  Locating a road is only a matter of walking in one direction for a while or listening for other sounds such as a passing car to help locate myself in the woods.

It was just recently during a bear hunting trip I found myself lost in the woods of Minnesota, much different than the Illinois woods I am so familiar with.  The sad part it was I was with three other hunters and any one of us should have known better than to let us get into the situation.  It is easy to believe or think you will not get lost until it is to late.  Doing a few things before and during a your time in the woods can greatly reduce the possibility of getting lost.

During the opening night of bear hunting two bears had been arrowed.  We all met back in camp around 8:30pm at night and decided to break up into two parties to retrieve the bears.  We were all positive they would be easy retrievals so we did not eat dinner and went to get the bears.  My good friend had arrowed one so I went with him and we brought a father and son from Missouri with us.

We arrived at the spot and I had quickly logged my truck as a waypoint into my GPS.  We quickly walked to the bait pile and my friend logged the bait pile as a waypoint into his GPS.  With the sight of the blood trail and the excitement to recover the first bear of the season we became careless.  All four of us tore off into the swamp to find the bear.  It was here that we made several mistakes: we did not leave a person on the bait pile which we had enough people to do or leave a trail with either an orange ribbon or anything else.  My friend had borrowed a battery operated spotlight to follow the blood trail.  This light worked great and helped us find the bear, which had traveled around 200 yards. 

The blood trail led us to the bear but it was not the best blood trail and by the time we had found the bear the spot light’s batteries had worn out.  We checked my friends GPS and started traveling back to the bait pile.  We started by following the blood trail back as means to check the GPS.  On our way back we realized another set of mistakes we had made.  Our head lamps and extra flashlights we had brought were all starting to dim.  We quickly gave up on following the blood trail back because it was too difficult and was taking to long with the dimming lights. 

We were making good head way until my friend’s GPS said we had arrived at the bait pile.  I stayed back with another hunter because we were pulling the bear and we watched as the other two walked ahead and disappeared into the woods about 30 to 40 yards ahead.  Believe it or not but the woods and swamp were so thick we lost track of their lights and would occasionally see a glimpse at just 30 to 40 yards away.  We talked to each other to identify where everyone was located.  I listened to my friend go in circles with his GPS.  The problems he was having was the brush and trees were blocking his GPS from getting a constant signal.  As a result his indicator would change drastically as it caught sight of a satellite.  A GPS will have some error, which they typically state.  I have seen my GPS vary from about 15 feet to about 60 feet depending on satellite reception.

My friend Brian Ditch with
his Fall 2007 Black Bear.

At this point I started my GPS up and waited for it to find the truck.  When I set it to find the truck I was confused by the sight of the arrow pointing 180 degrees from where I thought we needed to go.  I was sure the foliage was causing a malfunction and did not trust it.  I even tried to verify the direction by using what moon I could see as a means to verify but it gave me the same direction.  I was sure this was wrong because my gut instinct told me it was the other direction.  Looking back to this point I would have carried a compass with me to verify the GPS direction and trust the combination. 

At this point my friends GPS’s batteries dies and we did not see any point with putting my batteries in his because he had not been able to find the bait pile with his GPS.  We all decided at this point to sit down and save what light we had left.  We just did not know which way we needed to go.

We tried to call the other party and had reception just long enough to tell them we were lost.  Typically cell phones have not worked in this location so we counted ourselves blessed.  Luckily one of them knew where the bait pile was so he was able to lead the others to the bait pile.  This leads me to another good point, which is to always have some else know where you are hunting.  Also if you do not have good enough reception to call some one try texting them because often times text messaging will work when normal calling will not.  Another good idea is to have an agreement with the individual or party that if you are not back by a certain time, midnight in our case, then to come look for you.

It was approximately 11:30 at night when we called them and we waited in the dark for probably about 45 minutes to an hour before we heard what sounded like a vehicle and doors closing.  Our hunting location is truly out in the middle of nowhere and there is very little traffic so we were pretty sure it was the rest of our party.  I was told they tried the horn but it was broken so the used the next best thing.  Three gunshots rang through the night and we answered with one.  They fired again and so did we.  Soon after we heard yelling and then we began to yell.  To my amazement the yelling came in the direction my GPS had told me to go.  At the time I did not care too much because we were found but wish I had trusted the GPS as I look back.

We arrived back at camp around 1:30 and we all sat around a fire eating dinner and laughing about the events of the evening.  We had recovered the bear and we managed to raise the bar in camp by being the first to loose the whole recovery party.  While it was a little embarrassing for us, we had all learned a few important lessons.

Doing your homework before and taking proper care during your time in the woods can greatly reduce the opportunities to getting lost.  I have mentioned a few things that can be done to prevent getting lost but each outing is different and may require more or less planning.  Taking the time up front will ensure you are enjoying and celebrating the outdoors and not celebrating at the thought of being found.