Emergency Signal Planning for the Lone Hunter

A couple of years ago I bowhunted on the Tennessee side of Land Between the Lakes (LBL) with either a tree-sling type harness or a climbing stand.  Now I hunted this area alone and with it being a U.S. Forest that is a huge expanse of hilly wooded landscape with little to no cell phone coverage I was rest assured if something happened to me I was truly on my own.  During bow season there are very few people out and about in this area of LBL.  Someone driving by on one of the roads might see your vehicle parked next to the road and know someone is in the area but that is all.  If something happens to a bowhunter or even someone out during the pre-season scout there is little chance of someone knowing it, let alone hearing you if you are in need of help. 

I had a few treestand locations picked out in LBL based on both map reviews and on-foot scouting.  These locations were well away from earshot of the roads and other people that live near the border of LBL.  From my own observation, I was also out of the local cell phone coverage area.  At that time I had read numerous stories in various hunting magazines where a hunter was out alone in the woods hunting in a treestand and fell without a safety harness.  In some cases, it was while the hunter was climbing down from their stand.  Now safety issues are not limited to treestand hunters, of course, this can happen to any hunter out in the woods even during pre-season scouting or simply moving to their hunting location.  As anyone knows bad things can happen in the woods with a slight bit of distraction or slip.  When bad things happen you need to have a plan to contact someone to come help you.

My background is in U.S. Army Special Forces and we used an acronym for planning missions called PACE.  This stood for Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency.  This was used for actions on the mission, methods of communications, and the recovery of personnel if the mission went badly.  The biggest factor for us was in the planning of communications between each other on the ground and to the powers that be that could send us help with reinforcements or if we brought in close air support on a target.  We needed more than one way to communicate if devices failed for whatever reason.  I apply this principle for my own planning when big woods hunting.  I need a plan to contact someone, not just hope a person remembers that I was supposed to check in at a certain time.

When I go out on my lone hunts in isolated woods away from civilization, the signaling items I usually plan to carry with me are Primary – Cell Phone - For areas that still receive cell phone coverage - sometimes text messaging will go out in limited coverage areas where phone calls will not; Alternate – SPOT Device - Satellite network tracking and reporting device used for areas that do not have cell phone coverage; Contingency – Loud Whistle - Used when there are people within earshot that can come to my aid; Emergency – Strobe Light feature on my headlamp for nighttime or a 12”x18” blaze orange signal flag or a bandanna for daytime use to bring rescuers in visually to my location.

I carry my signaling devices directly on me; meaning they are not in my backpack but in the clothes that I am wearing.  If I happen to set my backpack down and move away from it when an accident happens I still have my devices on me.  I have read instances where a hunter fell from a treestand and was unable to walk, they had a cell phone with them but it was still in their backpack hanging up in the tree above their treestand.  I want my signaling devices on me so I cannot accidentally take them off and leave them sitting away from me out of reach.  I do this because of a story I read where one hunter fell from his stand and his leg got caught in the fork of a tree.  The hunter said he had his cell phone with him but it was up above his treestand seat in his backpack and not physically on him.  He could not contact anyone.   He spent a long cold night in a blizzard hanging from his leg. His local sheriff found him the next day after the hunter's wife got worried because he didn’t return home that previous night.  It still took time since no one knew his exact location.  They found his truck in the area they knew him to be in and started searching.  This takes time and this obviously is not a way to spend a night in the woods when injured.  This could also happen to a hunter that takes a bad fall while trekking through the woods to his hunting stand and simply cannot make it back to their vehicle without assistance.

I have friends that balk at the idea of “taking technology” into the woods with them. To them this is sacrilegious.  I do see their point to get away from the ties of modern life and electronic devices and get back to their primal roots in nature and hunting.  I get that.  But is it worth life, limb, or eyesight to practice this philosophy?  There is no reason with today’s technology to deprive your family of yourself due to a chosen philosophy of hunting.  If technology bothers you simply keep your signaling devices tucked away on your person and enjoy your hunt.  You don’t have to pull them out unless they are needed in an emergency or testing prior to the hunt but have something on you to contact help.  Your family may appreciate it and with a little prior planning, you should not have to worry about scenarios of being stranded in the woods due to an injury.  This is especially true if no one knows your exact location.  Time is the enemy when you are injured out in the elements with a possibility of blood loss and even shock setting in.  All of this shortens your rescue window.  There is no reason for it.

How I Use My Plan - During my LBL hunts, I know my cell phone coverage was hit or miss.  Sometimes I did get a cell phone signal and sometimes I did not.  Right off I knew my SPOT device was going to be my Primary device used to signal home and let my wife know I was OK or in trouble.  The SPOT device uses a satellite network called Globalstar.  That network has a large coverage area of the world.  I have used it in Afghanistan and other countries in the region and never had a problem with it reporting to the designated person(s) I set up to receive the messages.  

These messages can be sent to both email accounts and cell phones as text messages set up within your account.  In text messages, your predetermined message is sent along the latitude and longitude coordinates of where you are when you send your message.  The device has an “OK” button on it, which is the main option I use.  The plan was for me to push OK only after I came down out of my treestand and I was safely on the ground.  Now my wife back at the house knew when she got the text message on her phone that I was safely on the ground and heading to my truck - so no worries.  She will also receive an email with two hyperlinks.  One hyperlink will take her to the SPOT website showing the location I sent the message from on an imagery map.  The second link takes her to Google Maps where my location can be viewed on either a street map image or it can be changed to a hybrid of imagery with street maps included. 

My wife also knew for that particular hunt that I should be calling her within one hour after that message was sent.  That was the estimated time I gave her that it would take me to get out of the woods in the dark to my truck, then drive up to an area with cell phone coverage.  The final part of the plan was if I did not contact her within one-and-half hours of the text message and email alert that she was to call either our local game warden or the sheriff’s office and give them my latitude and longitude coordinates to my last position given in the message notification.  This gives officials in the area a place to start searching for me if I didn’t report in during my allotted time.  This shortens the length of time I would be out in the elements with a possible life-threatening injury.  My SPOT device also has the capability to send a distress notification if I am in need of assistance with my current pinpointed location.  In the event that I am injured and sent a distress message out on my SPOT device and I determine that people are looking for me, I have my whistle and visual signaling devices on me to bring the rescue crew in to my location.

This is a simple plan for my wife to recall.  She is a busy person and doesn’t need a lot of extraneous details included in a plan to help get me home in the event of an emergency.  Also, another rule we tried to live by in the U.S. Army was KISS - Keep it Simple Stupid.  Too many details in an emergency communication plan can become confusing for something that should be simple.

I have used this plan a few times while hunting LBL and every time my wife received a text message saying I was OK with my latitude and longitude included.  This makes it easy for my wife to react to a situation I may get myself into in the woods.  She can see my last known location whether I am safe or in need of help and send the rescue members to my exact location.  Once she receives my "OK" message the clock starts for my phone call confirmation saying I am on my way home or otherwise.  I haven’t missed a reporting time window yet.  If I do miss the report window, she knows what to do.  This is a simple plan that allows me to get out and enjoy big woods hunting and also ensures I get home safely. - Donnie Gerken

https://www.findmespot.com/international/

Goodwill Shopping

I have found over the last year a good place to pick up items for hunting when on a budget.  This list may grow as time goes on.

The first item I find at Goodwill is merino wool.  I use merino wool as a thermal layer under my hunting clothes during colder weather.  I can pick up a thin 100% or mix percentage wool and nylon mix long sleeve shirt to use as an undershirt for wicking and heat retention purposes.  These shirts usually run me between $4.99 to $6.99.  That is a lot cheaper than a lot of hunting clothes online shops.  Since these are mostly used as an undergarment I don't worry too much about the colors.  I still try to look for the drab earth tone type colors but in a pinch, any color will work.

The next item I found was used camera tripods for around $3.99.  I did a quick function check on the tripod there in the store.  Of course, if there is a minor issue such as a friction point that holds a telescoping leg in place then I will still get it since that is an easy workaround.  I can add duct tape or another item to keep a leg in place if needed.  I use the camera tripods as mounts for my trail cameras.  I can place them in almost any spot on my property that I want.  I don't have to have a tree or mess with getting an angle right on the camera in relation to the tree.  I simply adjust the tripod elevation and angle while adjusting the legs to get the camera exactly how I wanted it aimed.  I will take camouflage spray paint to the tripod to help break up the lines in the tripod.  I'll use a base color of olive drab green or tan depending on the season I want to set up the tripod.  Then I'll use mostly vertical orientated shadow lines on the legs and mount to break down the tripods lines.  Once the tripod is painted I'll set it outside for a week to air out breaking down the paint smell.  When I install my tripod trail camera setup I still try to brush it in to blend into the background as much as possible.  A point to remember is that you do not want to put a lot of paint on the articulating points.  This can freeze up those joints.  Another point to know is that you may have to find the screw-on mounts that will attach to the base of your camera which gets locked onto the top of the mount.  Below are a few pics of a couple of the tripods I have.