lost in the woods

[cva54]

ever been there? I have 1st thing is Panic. I like doing it when I am in a boxed area like 10 20 miles and test my skills do it right before dark is adds to the fun. Witch brings me to bow hunting this fall what it is 5 mounth 2 weeks. Going back up to lake jenet (typo) MN just S of canda border there is the big woods. Let me tell you it 5 foot steps in sep. and you are LOST and with bear hunting going on. (Why cant we carry a side arm it make no sense) I had compas and gps a lorance I finder it has no topo in it. didnt have a map with me going to have 1 this year! (A GOOD ONE)This is what I am trying to do I want to pin point were I am at oin a map. Map reading were can I learn this? best of all what do all the numbers mean?

[Outdoors Junkie]

I deer hunt near Upper Red Lake.  There is a lot of state forest land near there.  I have been hunting in that area for over 20 years.  There has been several occasions that I have been turned around in the big woods.  I always carry a compass with me.  There has been more then a few times where I look at the compass and question it.  If you know your compass is good, never doubt it.

Before you enter the woods, always look at your compass and make a mental note of which direction will be back to your starting point.  If you know other land marks, make a mental note of them as well (example:  there is a river near here to the east and if I go too far north, there is a lake).  This way, if you do get turned around and come to one of these land marks, you will know which directions you will need to travel to get back to your starting point.  Make note of where the sun is in the sky.  If you do get lost, walk in one direction and stick to it (example: I know my vehicle is parted southeast of where I entered the woods...I will walk southeast and stick too it).

I have walked in the woods scouting deer and have got caught up with following some great sign.  Then realized I am not sure where I am at.  I listen to my surroundings and here loggers in the distance in a specific direction, or I can hear running water and know there is a stream near by.  This helps me to get my bearings and then come up with a plan to get out of the woods before dark.  I have walked out to the closest road knowing I will have a longer walk back to my vehicle on the road vs. trying to beat darkness and walk back thru the woods.  It always gets darker inside the woods faster then in an open area or road.

These are a couple tips that I have found to help when you are lost.  Just don't panic or freak out.  Take a moment to think things thru and listen to the natural signs in the woods around you.

[kenhuntin]

If anyone is lost in the woods near dark the first thing that usually happens is they run to find their way back faster. This is a big mistake and is usually how they are lost to Hypothermia. As they run and are getting heated up and start to drop hats,gloves and jackets. one thing to do is go to a high area to try to see something familiar. Or the best thing to do is hunker down and build a fire.

[beeker]

land navigation is very important in the large forests. always remember when using a compass use it often. pick a point and walk to it, then check your compass again. know your pace count. for instance (70 of my steps equals so many meters) that way you know how far your traveled when you are walking in to your your stand so you now how far to go when you walk out. a gps and a compass is good, but the time to learn how to use them is not when your lost. go to a park you know and try to navigate out using just the compass and the gps. pick points on the other side of the park and try to navigate your way there using just the gps compass. a good book to pick up is the military nav book you buy them at most gun shows (theres always a guy there with a table of manuals) or online at cheaper than dirt of uscalvalry. also it's good to have a buddy or let the wifey know what the plan is so when you don't show up you have someone to come looking for ya.

[cva54]

All of this vary good stuff as for me I grew up running around in the woods and hunted the same places for years. You cant beat knowing the woods like your back yard I got a few places I still hunt like that and I love knowing that 2 foot wide spot cutting throught a swamp. But lately have ben going farther out area I dont know. So land navigation is what I need and I got it all just sitting here got to use it. the map book I got is a MN atlas & gazetteer this is my 3rd book now so I know how to read it. It has gps grids and longitude latitude. I grabed my gps pulled up the cords. for up there wrote them down. Did a google on it. Figyerd it out. How it works looked it up in the map/book did it by the cord. numbers on the side of the pages (didnt cheat realy) and came within 2 miles of the spot. Did it to two other spots same thing. The map dont go that close. National Geographic got a program with other people to it is at REI stores $20.00 a map and it gets realy close water proof to. If any 1 else is into this typ of stuff go there check it out. Thay sell it to $50.00 or so. It is a realy good way to scout out new area

[cva54]

Just rememberd when we are out in the woods deer hunting rifle season the leaves are gone you can see and there is a blasze orange army out there. But in sept. bow opener it is all green I cant see through all the leaves. What if you got to track a deer or bear and it is full over cast trees and clouds? It could happen

[cole]

The best advice I could give you is to get comfortable using your gps.  Figure out the ins and outs of it.  Learn how to use the way points you can store points and navigate to them so if you store your truck location you can use it later if you get lost to navigate back.  Also if you take a piece of paper and a zip lock bag you can write down the coordinates for your truck location and keep it in your pocket also use a pencil because the lead dosen't smear when it gets wet.  then if you have any trouble like the gps losses you points you still have the coordinates and can get back to your truck etc. Also just remember the hand held "personal" gps is a close enough type of machine they get you within an area.

[cva54]

that is waht I had in mind but I am going to carry a map to.

[brandbll]

I always carry a compass while i'm deer hunting.  It's pretty much stupid not to at least do that.  Last year on the last day of dear hunting two buddies and i went grouse hunting.  Neither of them carried a compass and i was wearing my bird hunting vest and left my compass in my deer hunting jacket.  I'm pretty damned good at keeping track of where my directions are.  We walked fairly deep into the woods going north from teh end of the road my buddies cabin is on.  Well, we decided it was time to head back. 

I said go one way, and both of my buddies said to go another.  I told them i was pretty sure i was right but it was my buddy's cabin(although his sense of direction is awful).  I sure as hell wasn't going to split up with them, and they weren't going to listen to me; so we went their way, which ended up being North-east.  We realized we were not on the right direction after a while but luckily hit some clearance for power lines.  Had we turned just a little more to the North we would have missed the power lines completely and could have been really screwed, although luckily it was in the middle of the day.  Turns out i would have pointed us out in the road just a little to the west of where we came in at.

Bottom line is, don't panic, EVER.  There's just no reason to do so, period.  There's always the breaking branches method to help you retrace your steps...

[BigWinnieDuece]

yeah, being lost in the woods is definitely a tester.  Bow season is indeed upcoming and should be great as always.