What If?

[Swede]

You have been out hunting by yourself and fail to show back up when you should. What is your routine, and how would anyone know when to come looking for you and where to start?

If I am hunting alone and there is no one with me in camp, I generally call home every day. I share my hunting plans with my wife. If I fail to call in the evening, I will call the late the next morning. My wife would not panic if I failed to call for one day, but would be concerned if I missed two days. She would call my son who would leave home and head out on the six hour drive to start looking for me.
If I have other hunters in camp, we know generally where each other is hunting. We may know the exact tree stand location our companion is hunting. By 9:00PM, after evening hunts, we head out and start looking for the one that did not return. If they were only going out for a morning hunt, we would be looking for them by 1:30 PM or 2:00 PM. We hope to find the missing person, happy with a dead elk. We have two way radios available to us, but rarely carry them on a hunt. Cell phone reception is very spotty where we go.

[idahoghost]

What If ? Pretty much on my own. I hunt (normally) by myself. Cell service in almost nonexistent. I something happens I'll just have to deal with it the best I can. While there are a few that know the general area I hunt, specifics are hard, as I move around a lot.

Been doing it this way for so long, I really don't have many concerns. All my true friends know I'd rather feed the coyotes, then be in a hole near the city anyway.

[Elkduds]

PLB added to kit this year, just for situations like this. I push a button, it sends a message to wife that I am OK, and includes my location's GPS coords when it sends. If it works right...

[stringunner]

When up hunting alone, I call home every night and generally send a message via my spot device when I get to the location I am going to hunt in the morning, that way if I don't call in the pm folks will have a general location of where to start looking. If I move locations throughout the day I will send a spot message. When hunting with my dad or friend in camp we communicate where we are going to be. Once it gets dark we usually give it an hour and a half before we go looking. Either way I still call home each night, it keeps the wife happy and I don't have to worry about coming home to a fire storm! we have cell reception in the area we hunt and I have to drive by several locations with reception to get back to camp so it's not a big deal for me to stop and call. When alone and hunting an area without cell reception I rely on my spot to send messages home.

[Njdiverdan]

When hunting alone I check in late morning and then once back at camp each night via my SPOT. I am upgrading to the DeLorme this year so I can have two way communication.

When my buddies are out, we check in at the top of each even hour on the two way radios until 8 pm, and then every hour after 8 pm until all are accounted for. Rule is if you miss more than three check-ins we start looking. The three check ins give you time if you are on elk or in an area without reception to get where you can contact someone. We also tell each other where we plan to be that hunt and if we are planning on spiking or coming back to base camp.

-dan

[Lefty]

Now that I have some cell service where I elk hunt my wife expects a call.
If Im not home Sunday for church a buddy will be on his way, likely my wife and a daughter or two riding with him
Likely Ill make an evening hunt and drive home. If they haven't heard anything by midnight
where I bear hunt service is limited but I need to find a location and let her know Im OK
If Im with someone she doesn't worry

[Toby]

This year I will be much like Idahoghost. My hunting partners can't make it and I won't miss a year elk hunting. So, I will camp and hunt alone and will call home every few days, bit need to drive an hour round trip for cell service, so won't do it every day. Hopefully there will be guys camping nearby that I can keep in touch with. I will leave a note on my bunk in my tent so people might know where to start looking.

[Shawn Ryan]

SPOT keeps my wife from worrying. Cell phone calls when available from ridges or camp. Somehow I get a weak Idaho cell tower most of the time from my Oregon Eagle Cap Wilderness camp. And I leave detailed written plans at home with locations and times to expect me plus names and numbers of who else might know where I am or have been, e.g. the name and number of another solo hunter I've met who generally hunts the same area. If I don't come back, maybe he saw me during the hunt sometime.

[easeup]

What If ? Pretty much on my own. I hunt (normally) by myself. Cell service in almost nonexistent. I something happens I'll just have to deal with it the best I can. While there are a few that know the general area I hunt, specifics are hard, as I move around a lot.

Been doing it this way for so long, I really don't have many concerns. All my true friends know I'd rather feed the coyotes, then be in a hole near the city anyway.

this....it takes a 1/2 day out to get a cell signal and another 1/2 day back to camp.

[ST52V]

I think it would be better to at least find a used spot 1st generation than drive to cell service. The time and gas you would save would pay for it. Not to mention the peace of mind of family members and the small price compared to your life.

[Glacier Country]

PLB added to kit this year, just for situations like this. I push a button, it sends a message to wife that I am OK, and includes my location's GPS coords when it sends. If it works right...

What is a PLB ? Similar to a SPOT ?

[navet]

PLB is a personal locator beacon. So same as spot or other PLB like Delorme

[Toby]

What does Spot or similar things cost? My wife has suggested that she go along this year since none of our other guys can make it. I would love to have her, but don't want to put her through the rigors of tent camping for a couple weeks.

[Elkduds]

I found a SPOT 1st generation on CL for $20, barely used. It costs $100/year subscription fee to use their network. You can spend a lot more, but I thought I'd go cheap at first, to see if the technology is reliable in the places I go.

[jmez]

PLB is a personal locator beacon. So same as spot or other PLB like Delorme

Similar but not the same. Personal locator beacons run on a completely different satellite system than Spot and Delorme. The PLB's use NOAA satellites, the some ones used by the military. Spot and other devices run off of a private satellite system and are much less reliable. The PLB's send out a much stronger signal and are guaranteed to work unless you are over 50 feet underground. Canopies, low ceilings, deep rocky holes, etc they will still get a signal out, the Spot or similar systems may or may not.

The PLB's send out an international distress signal picked up directly by search and rescue. You push the button and search and rescue is coming. You have to register them with NOAA when you get them. You can also go onto a website and put in where you are going. When the signal is picked up they then pull up your account and can immediately see if you were planning to be in the area where the signal is coming from.

I researched these things pretty hard after I had an accident. I wouldn't trust my life to a Spot or similar devices. I read literally hundreds of reviews and they are pretty unreliable as are satellite phones. The PLB's are very reliable. You need to send them in every 5 years and have the batteries changed on them.

They cost about $250 and then there are no fees associated unless you sign up to be able to send a message. They aren't really a communication device. You can buy a subscription so that you can push the test button on them and it will alert a cell phone number that you tested the unit. It is way to send an ok message home. This of course uses battery so then you have to keep track of how many times you do this and have the battery replaced more often.

A lot of good info here: [urlhttp://www.acrartex.com/products/catalog/personal-locator-beacons/resqlink-plb/][/url]
.

[navet]

I have a delorme. I hunt solo. I send a text each time I leave the tent to hunt and when I return in the evening. It also sends my whereabouts every 10 minutes to my map online. My wife/friends are able to track me real time(on that map) while I am hunting. It also has the emergency button, if things go south fast, and the search and rescue will be dispatched to my location.

[POk3s]

I also have a SPOT and it's always sent the message out. You read reports on it not working for people and they are mad. If you are patient with it and let it work it's crazy how good it actually is. It's peace of mind for you as well as everybody back home. I don't have to walk at all to use it. If I have a view of the sky it will work.

[Trophyhill]

What If ? Pretty much on my own. I hunt (normally) by myself. Cell service in almost nonexistent. I something happens I'll just have to deal with it the best I can. While there are a few that know the general area I hunt, specifics are hard, as I move around a lot.

Been doing it this way for so long, I really don't have many concerns. All my true friends know I'd rather feed the coyotes, then be in a hole near the city anyway.

This^^^^^^