How to keep in touch

[AteUp]

Great forum here guys. I am a longtime hunter, mostly whitetail, but have really got in to elk hunting the past few years. I really enjoy heading out into the backcounry for several days, not coming out for a week or so. As a dad of 3 young girls my worry is something horrible happening while I'm away. Someone could be dead and buried before anyone could track me down in the wilderness. I have looked into sat phones but they seem very expensive and the plans asssociated with them don't seem conducive to only needing them for a couple of weeks a year. My question is, does anyone have any ideas for being able to be reached in case of dire emergencies that is somewhat practical? I would be sick to come out of the mountains after a week to find out some tragic news.

[Toby]

Great question and certainly a concern. Actually, I imagine our family worries more about us than we do about them when we are chasing elk and out of touch. I don't have experience with satellite phones, so can't help you there, but I don't know of any other way to make contact, unless you can get to some high point where you can get regular cell service. I was surprised that I could get cell service from some pretty remote ridge tops. I camp near my truck, so every few days I take a ride to some place where I can get cell service. If I were it bicycle out by myself, I would probably go the satellite phone route.

[Indian Summer]

First of all Ateup welcome to Elknut Forums... THE place to be for serious elk hunters. Hope to see you here in the future.

You have two options: First the SPOT locators give you the ability to send and receive texts. You can just check in with the family and send each other short messages like "everything is going good"

The other option is a sat phone. Here is the place to go for those: http://www.mobal.com/rent-satellite-phone/

Low price, free shipping, and a great plan. Look at the details. I think incoming calls are free. To keep the cost down you can call home and say "call me right back" We had one last year. It was cheap. We never used it but it was nice knowing it was there.

Hope that helps. good luck to you!

[elk.addict]

I use the Delorme inreach to send and receive texts. I think it works better than SPOT, seemed to be more reliable for me. Not sure why, I believe they both use the same satellite?

[Wyo67]

Welcome to the forum AteUp... Great question. As the Toby mentioned there may be cell phone service in unexpected places for you to check in at. I haven't used any of the SPOT or similar type devices. Having raised 3 kids myself, I understand your concern. But in my previous career as a U.S. Navy submariner, I can tell you it's something you'll just have to deal with -- or not go hunting. Back in those days, depending on where we were it could be days or even weeks before word would get to a person and steps could be taken to get them off the boat. With today's technology you at least have options.

If feel you need to be reached 24x7 while in the elk country, I'd recommend checking out something like http://www.satellitephonestore.com where you can rent a satellite phone.

[WapitiTalk1]

Welcome to "the" elk forum Dan. Glad to have you on board! I have very minimal cell service in the areas I hunt also. At best, we have to drive several to many miles to a point or two that we know works to phone home. I try to touch base with homebase every 3 or 4 days to keep wifey from worrying too much. I have friends who use one of the devices like a SPOT and are very happy with it.

[ctdad]

I tried a sat phone and wasn't impressed. Couldn't maintain a signal. A device that could text makes more sense since that only needs a signal every now and then. When I get to my computer I'll share the one I'm looking at. Can't remember name right now

[navet]

I use a Delorme inreach. You can send and receive text messages. It has an emergency button you can press for search and rescue. Your family can also track you live online. My wife and family thought that was awesome.

[ctdad]

https://cerberus.briartek.com/cerberlink/plans

I've never used one of these but it is interesting to me b/c they will rent them out for a few weeks at a time. Appears to work similar to the delorme inreach. It pairs to a smart phone and can send and receive messages that way. I think I'll rent one for my Colorado trip this fall. At least I don't have to invest much to see if I like it. The sat phone rental was fairly expensive only to find out it didn't really work very well.

[AteUp]

Good suggestions guys. I love to take off and disconnect from everything but have always had those thoughts kind of nagging in the back of my head. I don't want to be connected with everyday life I just want to know in the event of a dire emergency I could be found. The small texting devices sound like the way to go for that purpose. My kids would get a kick out of keeping track of me on the gps.

[zpd307]

to be blunt, I like the fact that I am disconnected from the outer world. I agree that some would like to be notified of emergencies, but the major allure of the mountains is the ability of going back into time where cell phones and satellites didn't exist. yes I would feel bad if I missed something terrible, but modern conveniences have only been around for a short time...

[ishy]

Ateup I see a sick rabbit in your future!

[ST52V]

The tracking feature is cool. We use the gen 1 spott. I link up some of my buddies so they can track me in the mountains. They along with my wife and daughter enjoy that feature.

[ctdad]

Good suggestions guys. I love to take off and disconnect from everything but have always had those thoughts kind of nagging in the back of my head. I don't want to be connected with everyday life I just want to know in the event of a dire emergency I could be found. The small texting devices sound like the way to go for that purpose. My kids would get a kick out of keeping track of me on the gps.

The best device for being found in a dire emergency is a personal locator beacon. I carry this one. No two way communication though. Just calls the calvary when you are up shit creek.

http://www.rei.com/product/815753/?cm_m ... 72131520|&{copy:s_kwcid}