The Pocket Outdoor Survival Guide: The Ultimate Guide for Short-Term Survival (13 page)

Know the medical condition of your companions. If a member of your group has a heart problem, seizures or other medical problem, make sure a buddy hunts with him. An unconscious person needs to be found quickly, but is extremely difficult to find.

Each member of your group needs to know how to locate the nearest conservation officer, forest ranger or sheriff’s office. In most counties in the United States, the local sheriff is responsible for search and rescue. In Canada, the local Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer is usually responsible for searches. Everyone should carry the phone numbers of these officials. Delay in getting trained search and rescue help can be deadly.

Always be aware of how your fellow companions are dressed, what type of boots they wear and the state of mind they are in. This information is extremely valuable to search officials.

The most crucial time during a missing-buddy crisis is when you first realize he or she is late coming into camp and you get no answers to your signals. Don’t panic. The first rule is to stay calm and THINK. In most cases, lost or stranded situations are merely a sobering two- or three-hour adventure.

Signaling is an important part of the early search, as rescued people often say that while they were lost or stranded they thought no one would bother to look for them. Select a logical point, such as where he was last seen, the logging road or field nearest his “most likely” area, camp or his vehicle if he drove in, and blow an automobile horn or police whistle. Either of these signals is an indication to the missing person that someone is looking for him. If he is nearby, he can walk to the sound. For this reason, it is crucial that the signaling be done from one spot and not done as you move around.

Blow the horn or whistle in bursts of three so that it is obviously a signal and not some unrelated noise. Pause between bursts of three and listen carefully for a reply. If the missing person has a whistle, you may hear a response immediately. If you are getting no response to your initial signaling and feel that your buddy may be in trouble, seek out a forest ranger, conservation officer or sheriff’s department official to get trained search and rescue people on the scene as soon as possible. If you leave to obtain professional help, leave someone at the signal point.While one person goes for help, another should always stay to continue signaling and listening if possible.

Attempting to set up your own search is generally a bad idea since most untrained people with the best of intentions usually do more harm than good. They destroy valuable clues and often become lost or hurt themselves. Searching for missing people is a skill best left to those trained to do it.

 

When searching for a lost group member, appoint a group leader to coordinate the search and oversee the best use of resources.

 

However, in some specific circumstances, such as when help is hours away or when the tract of land is not large and it is known almost exactly where the missing person is likely to be, fellow outdoorsmen might conduct a limited search. In those exceptional cases, follow these guidelines:

• 1. Get the entire group together to plan your search. To help identify clues, find out what each member knows, such as when and where the missing buddy was last seen, did he file a trip plan, what brand of cigarettes he smokes, what type of sole does he have on his boots and their size, where he is most likely hunting and so on.
  
• 2. Establish someone in the group as leader of the search, and have everyone do as he says.
  
• 3. Leave someone at the original spot to continue signaling.
  
• 4. If a specific hunting spot is known, two hunters should begin the search with a thorough examination of the immediate area in case there was a health problem or injury. Take care not to destroy any signs. It is important that only one or two do this, as a larger group will destroy clues that might be helpful if a professional search is needed.
  
• 5. Look for signs such as tracks or, in the case of hunters, blood trail markers for an indication of the missing person’s direction of travel.
  
• 6. Due to the excitement of the moment, searchers often get lost themselves, so mark the trail you take in so you can follow it out.
  
• 7. Consider what sounds the missing person can hear, farm, railroad, highway, mill whistle, etc., and send someone to that location. Rather than sit still, many lost people will try to walk to sounds such as these.
  
• 8. If there are roads around the area, a vehicle should patrol these roads regularly, but do not blow the horn as you travel.
  
• 9. If there is a long opening in the area such as a railroad, gas line or electric line rightof-way or large fields, have someone watch these areas with binoculars.
  
• 10. Plan a signal or specific time for calling off the search. If the missing person has not been found within a short time, turn the search over to professionals.
  

If you and your outdoor companions have prepared for the day one of you is missing, chances are you will never be faced with a tragedy.