Ohio Juvenile

[Huntster]

Wow. 

 

I've heard of people disappearing down "caves" on Prince of Wales Island like that, and people falling down into glacier crevasses. 

[wiiawiwb]

@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.

 

 

Edited July 14, 2023 by wiiawiwb

[Doug]

I would have liked to have something like that when it happed to me, but those were not available to the public in the mid 80s. I hunt alone less and less now, but even so, I wasn't hunting alone when that happened. I will look into that. Thanks!

 

[norseman]

2 hours ago, Doug said:

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.

Wow! Glad yer here! Where on earth in the Rocky Mountains are there sink holes like that? Was this an old mine? Yanno. When I walk around Yellowstone falling into a caldron of boiling water is always at the back of my mind….

[xspider1]

I too am glad that you guys are ok and that you are apparently not too worse for the wear!  The bff would not be nearly as cool as it is without you.  🥹

 

I feel a little bit better now about the time i almost lost a big toe wading barefoot in the Mississippi River (not recommended).

 

The new iPhone14 has a satellite link that has reportedly saved a few lives already, although, i usually wait until those are significantly less than $1K+ lol 8 ).

 

A reliable partner is always a wonderful thing!  👍🏼

[Incorrigible1]

1 hour ago, xspider1 said:

I feel a little bit better now about the time i almost lost a big toe wading barefoot in the Mississippi River (not recommended).

 

You've piqued my curiosity. C'mon, man. Spill your guts. What happened?

[Catmandoo]

17 hours ago, xspider1 said:

A reliable partner is always a wonderful thing!

 

If your partner can't see or hear you, you are Raven treats. Falling down is easy. The landing can be painful. Awake, injured persons may not be able to yell or talk. Young lungs, old lungs are factors.

There is a whistle that should be on your neck lanyard, next to your signal mirror.    ACME Thunderer 660, from England. You will be heard because you will sound like a referee at a World Cup soccer match. Simple, batteries not required.

 

?Big toe jam? I am in the PNW and do not know the range of the Alligator Snapping Turtle.  Turtle? Catfish?

[guyzonthropus]

Oh, yeah....well I spent my teen years driving the freeways of los angeles! Can't even begin to count the close(to death) calls! Was bit by a cottenmouth at 17(could have been the cobra though so I got off easy) Has some close calls up in the San Gabriel mountains where everything is decomposing granite so trails get iffy, even more so if you're running down them at night on mushrooms(only did that once, monkey learns) I've avoided getting shot or shanked, even though people have largely proven my biggest danger, I've usually been quick with words and that saved me many a time. But as an animal keeper I've been bitten by more species than I can remember..cats, dogs, big parrots, 5' monitor lizards, 12' pythons, a bunny..as a zookeeper I narrowly avoided getting  kicked to death by an angry/territorial male ostrich, eaten by a polar bear(or a heart attack from it!) Or my brain getting stabed by a pair of nesting kookaburas(which have 3-4" long serrated beak they'd try to drive into your temple at flight speed! )

it's been a perilous journey to be sure! 

[Doug]

On 7/14/2023 at 4:37 PM, norseman said:

Wow! Glad yer here! Where on earth in the Rocky Mountains are there sink holes like that? Was this an old mine? Yanno. When I walk around Yellowstone falling into a caldron of boiling water is always at the back of my mind….

It was in the central Coast Range in Oregon near the ghost town Of Valsetz. I was thinking it could be an old well that was filled and didn't get packed down and ground water made it loose, but knowing my luck it was probably an old outhouse.

[Doug]

The only other time I came close to death was after watching Cat Ballou with my mom. I was only about six years old and was intrigued with the hanging scene. So, the next day I climbed up on the dog house, wrapped my Tarzan rope around my neck and leaned out to see what it would feel like to hang. There I was leaning just enough to feel the tension. When I was satisfied what it would feel like, I stood up to release the tension and my feet slid out from under me and the knots in the rope hung up and hung me. I remember kicking and swinging and grasping the rope. I can still hear the sound I was making as I type this. A teen age neighbor kid happened to be be walking by and saw me hanging in the back yard and came running. I remember barely being able to see, but I saw him in front of me frantically looking around trying to figure out what to do. Then I saw a calm come over his face as if a lightbulb had come on and he lifted me up, releasing  the tension and carried me to my house. I had passed out and came to in my house and man did I have a serious rope burn. The doctor really lit into me about doing stupid things. I remember thinking, I'm kid, that's what we do.

[norseman]

7 minutes ago, Doug said:

The only other time I came close to death was after watching Cat Ballou with my mom. I was only about six years old and was intrigued with the hanging scene. So, the next day I climbed up on the dog house, wrapped my Tarzan rope around my neck and leaned out to see what it would feel like to hang. There I was leaning just enough to feel the tension. When I was satisfied what it would feel like, I stood up to release the tension and my feet slid out from under me and the knots in the rope hung up and hung me. I remember kicking and swinging and grasping the rope. I can still hear the sound I was making as I type this. A teen age neighbor kid happened to be be walking by and saw me hanging in the back yard and came running. I remember barely being able to see, but I saw him in front of me frantically looking around trying to figure out what to do. Then I saw a calm come over his face as if a lightbulb had come on and he lifted me up, releasing  the tension and carried me to my house. I had passed out and came to in my house and man did I have a serious rope burn. The doctor really lit into me about doing stupid things. I remember thinking, I'm kid, that's what we do.

My dad did two stupid things as a child that he survived. I swear they watched “our gang comedy”…. This is west Seattle.

 

1) They found a construction site with a hole in the chain link. They had started excavating a hillside and stopped. This is late 40’s. Dad said the hill was soft Sandy loam material but fairly stuck together. Probably a little clay mixed in. So the kids went home and stole garden tools and went back and started excavating the hill side. Dad said after a week or so they had a labyrinth of tunnels they were playing in. Anyhow they went home one day and came back the next day with their garden tools and the whole hillside had collapsed. Dad said their parents had no idea where they were and they never saw a soul on the job site. He said they would still be in that hill side if they had been in it when it collapsed.

 

2) My dad got the bright idea from WW2 that he wanted to be airborne. So he went to the army surplus store and after collecting cans and odd jobs bought a cargo chute. He asked the man behind the counter how to pack the chute. And like an idiot the guy told him just to fold it up, wrap the guy lines loose and stick it under your arm. I think he wore a leather belt to tie off too. When you jump just lift your arm and the force of the jump would unfurl the chute. No problem. (🤨 I would kill a guy for telling my kid that.) Well thank goodness my dad was afraid of heights. So instead of a bridge or tall building he climbed on top of the garage roof.….. He said he jumped, lifted his arm, hit the ground hard and knocked the wind out of himself as the silk chute lofted down and covered him like a newborn. The worse part was he had bragged to his friends, so Frankie had quite an audience when he jumped!

 

 

[xspider1]

On 7/15/2023 at 3:01 AM, Incorrigible1 said:

You've piqued my curiosity. C'mon, man. Spill your guts. What happened?

 

I'm not sure, Inc., except I don't think it was anything quite as interesting as a snapping turtle.  We were on the Mississippi river bank at night and we would wade out a bit, duck under the water, grab a rock and let the river current flow over Us.  It was a very dumb thing to do yet, it was quite exhilarating until I stepped on something extremely sharp.  It's odd too that, as mentioned above, the cut didn't hurt too much, until later. 

[guyzonthropus]

Owwww!