Leaderboard

The closest I have ever came to being killed in the woods was when I was archery hunting elk. My buddy and I saw a herd in a meadow and went after them. I was in the timber to the north, my buddy in the timber to the east, hoping to get them between us. It didn't work out and as I was returning to the truck, I saw my buddy at the edge of the field. We carry orange caps to use to signal with. I got his attention and he motioned to meet at the truck. I walked back into the timber as it was faster to get to the truck. I took a few steps, stopped to figure out where I wanted to navigate, when the ground dropped out from under me. My chest and face hit the ground and down I went clawing at the leaflitter, moss and forest duff. I kept a hold of my bow but failed to use it as a way to keep me from going down the sink hole. It was narrow enough that my arms could not be lowered. I could lower my elbows to my ribs, but my hands still at my head. I was deep enough when I came to rest holding my bow by the end above my head it was about a foot below ground. I could barely move. My buddy went to the truck. Ate his lunch. He figured I had come a cross the elk and went after them. He took a nap and then began looking for me. He looked all afternoon and decided to go back to where he saw me last and eventually found me. He couldn't hear me yelling while he was above me. He just happened to see the hole and disturbance on the ground. If I had been alone or had not got his attention, I would have endured a long slow death. No one would know to look for me there.

@norseman

@Doug "If I had been alone or had not got his attention, I would have endured a long slow death. No one would know to look for me there." I encourage anyone I know who goes into the woods to get a PLB. Satellite messengers like Inreach Mini, Zoleo, and others, are fine but when things go south in a hurry, and I have only one opportunity to signal for help, it will be with a PLB. I carry both of these as I think they serve different purposes. You can carry the PLB on the shoulder-strap daisy chain of your backpack, daypack or chest pack. I want it near to me for immediate access in case I am, or think I will be, losing consciousness. You don't want to have to take you backpack off and go searching for it in some part of your pack as you may not have time to trigger it due to an sudden event. Glad to hear you survived your harrowing experience.

The weird thing for me is during my first couple of encounters I never even thought of taking out my camera. One time I just went back to bed when in hindsite I am pretty sure if I had stuck around and hidden somewhere I would have gotten a clear look at it instead of just hearing the knocks from across the street. Another time during a roar that must have lasted a full minute I just stared in slack-jawed amazement while thinking if it charges me I am dead.

That's so ingenious that I have to have one. At the risk of being a big noob, how do I order one?

This is something i believe to be very underestimated by many as is the shock that so many would face with a first time sighting. Seeing one of these things for the first time would really affect many people, even ones that would think they would be more mentally prepared than others. Self confirmation of the existence of this animal via a sighting and the huge mental toll that it would take on someone is very real, especially if it isn't deemed to be on completely friendly terms or isn't in a situation where you feel completely safe.