Hunting alone safely

[Hunt]

Please share your strategies for safe hunting, I love hunting alone and backpack hunting alone, the following is my strategy for safety: Inform someone exactly where you are going and when you will return, if you don't show up on time have them look for you. keep some form of signaling device with you, (blaze orange vest is good, flashlight with strobe function) Always keep on your person in your pockets and small pack supplies and water to survive a day or two if unable to walk out. I always take an aspirin daily and keep a few on my person if there is any cardiac problems, I also have some powerful prescription pain killers from when I passed a kidney stone I keep with me in case I get mangled up somehow. I Wear good boots and watch out for rattlesnakes some of them are extremely deadly. Very Important, mark your trails with something reflective in case you have to walk out at night and keep a spare flashlight on your person as well. In my day pack I keep thermals (enough to survive a night out), windproof gloves a wool ski cap, matches, rain poncho, water, trail mix, 2-3 flashlight, some form of reflective markers, something blaze orange usually a vest. I NEVER separate myself from my pack or the items in my pockets. One thing I may start doing is bring one radio from a pair of FRS radios with a preset channel, leave the other radio with whomever has agreed to come look for me if I don't return on time. I learned the hard way one time, taking my pack off at night and having no reflective markers to mark it with, got lost and separated from my supplies, fortunately after a few hours I found my pack, could have ended up bad. Backpack hunting alone is an unparalleled experience but it must be done wisely.

[AGGRO]

Spot 2 satellite messenger.

[Ninask]

Its not really safe to hunt alone,
you must restrict certain practises if you go alone,
hvae a well planned trip with the right gear,
maybe even have a beacon with you/communication in case of a bad event

[duckman1]

I have hunted by myself for up to 14 days at a stretch, it's empowering and really allows you to work some things out.

To be safe you need to be prepared for a short term stay, someone needs to know the area you will be hunting and your expected return date. Give it a try.

[kcjr1125]

you should invest in a GPS handheld device and spare batteries. it is very comforting knowing that i can mark a spot and know exactly where it will be. This isnt an excuse to be careless but a very good add on. another good thing to have on you is a Life Straw. they are really neat and small. as far as coordinating with someone on a specific time i would recommend that you give them the worst case scenario time. What i mean by that is that if you plan on returning by say 6pm tell them you should be there NO LATER than 9. this is to give you a few hours in case you want to stay longer and to not worry someone for no reason. your advice on taking meds is a great one. Headaches, slip and falls and other injuries can and will happen to most of us and having either asprin, motrin or tylenol are a must have in anyones pack.
I also like to have glowsticks. they have many cool uses, are really cheap and light.

[lewdogg21]

Hunt has a good list. To expand one item; tell someone where and leave them a paper map with the area marked or circled. Also leave a description of your vehicle with license plate #. I leave my wife a map bc under duress she may not remember the right details.

For the guy who says solo hunting isn't safe please expand on that and include your personal experiences as to why. Thanks!

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[Hot Holster]

Have a first aid kit and include a small mirror.

Have a sound device, I carry a whistle attached to a 12" length of paracord.

50' of paracord

a cheap poncho-Walmart has them for a few dollars.

extra batteries for flashlight

Thermacell if bugs could be a problem

A compass

[CSACANNONEER]

It's not safe to walk across a road downtown LA but, I don't think about it and just do it. It's sort of the same when I hunt alone. This morning, I have a friend trying to fill his A32 deer tag on the property I'm living on. He's hunting alone but, I know where he made his stand today and drive by him every couple hours.

[Tanner68]

When covering new ground and long distances, check your backtrack. Do this so you will have an idea what things will look like on the return trip. Especially do it at key junctions and places that you sense may be less than obvious on the return trip, when you are tired and it is getting dark.

For example, a hidden "Y" may seem obvious travelled one direction, but can be easy to blow by on the return. So it it's good to turn around and take a gander at what it will look like coming back.


And nothing like leaving an actual marked map with someone. That's a lot better than them trying to remember "Coyote Something; gulch, canyon, camp, or corral, I am not sure."

[Hunt]

good points guys! yes I do leave a map.

[molly]

good list and advice, Hunt. i would add some first aid gear to the list which included wound management supplies including Quickclot

[wjc]

non-battery map & compass
Headlamp..I hate fumbling with a flashlight when I need two hands.
I wear turtleskin snake gaitors when I'm in rattler territory..light and easy to walk in.

[Laddy]

When I reached my late 30's, my father and uncle hung up the hunting boots, and I started hunting solo.....then I started backpacking in from small camp grounds. My wife and I bought land in Idaho so I started solo hunting units 30-40 in some pretty intimidating terrain.

As a life-long backpacker, with a good portion of the PCT under my belt, I can say for sure that solo hunting is the most dangerous thing, without a doubt, that I do all year long. My wife doesn't sleep very well the week leading up to my departure, or when I'm gone.

I have a three page list of gear I bring, but right up at the top is:

First Aid Kits (note plural use)
ECR Beacon (ResQLink+ I bought last year works way better than SPOT)
GPS + topo and compass
Any kind of 'redundencies': batteries, fuel, fowl weather gear

I leave: maps and lat/long of where I'll set up base camp and park the truck (BLM campground) which I leave with my wife, my father, and a buddy who I know is capable of handling wife and father if something goes wrong, (b) the local DFG number/state police, AND, (c) the area I plan to hunt/stay--WHICH I NEVER DEVIATE FROM NO MATTER WHAT I'VE SEEN OR HOW MANY POINTS JUST BOUNDED OVER THE RIDGE.

It's all about building trust with the people who love you and will worry about you when you do assinine things like walk out into the woods by yourself.

Before I head off the highway and lose cell service I call my contacts (wife, father, and buddy) and let them know I'm going in. I've never gone past my "drop dead day", and when I get into cell range, they are the first ones I call. Building trust.

.....with all that said, I've gotten myself into a few "uh oh" scenarios when i've had to sit down and think of a safe way to proceed. It's the nature of the sport.

It takes a certain personality to solo hunt. Everything is done by Y-O-U and the camp chair you brought doesn't get much use.....always something to do.

[waterdog27]

+1 on the ResqLink personal locator beacon.

[Johnnie Wadcutter]

All good points.
Looking behind you is so very important, simple landmarks look so different especially at dusk and when you're tired your mind is playing tricks on ya.

I make a photo copy of my boot prints and leave it on the seat of my truck so in a worst case scenario S&R knows what boot prints to follow. Simple and could get S&R headed in the right direction.