gettin turned around! lost if you will

[ICEMAN]

Great stories.   Once you are that cold your brain shuts down.   Do it outside sometime with good supervision.   It will freak you out.  Kind of why I came off the mountain this fall.   It was getting hard to get a fire going (and I am damn good at it), the conditions were deadly, and I was by myself.   Instead of hunting I was surviving.   Kinda fun but kinda not.   One part of solo hunting you need to pay attention too.  There is no one to bail you out once you cross that line.

No kidding. I have worried about firestarting for years... Everything I have read about hypothermia and how it affects your brain and your hands, really makes a guy re-think his firestarters. Rivers are worse than snow. Guys who get tossed in wet have only minutes before their hands shut down and are useless. I carry roadflares cut down in length in my river vest for some of my more idiotic winter steelhead river scaling trips... (moron)

High country, totally agree. I have solo winter camped in slush just to practice those skills. I made a alcohol/esbit/woodburner stove just for that type of bushwhackin.

[boneaddict]

Excellent advise High Country and Ice.   I had the fortunes of having a great Father who made damn sure us kids knew how to survive before turning us lose.   If you missed out on that from either your environment or so on, practice makes perfect.   Practice trying to get a fire going when its wet.  Practice some survival like High country says.  Try starting a fire without a gallon of diesel with you.  I'm not talking rubbing two sticks togehter, though you should have two methods of doing it as sometimes your lighter WILL FAIL, or your matches WILL GET wet.  Go shove your hands in a snowbank for a couple minutes then try to start your fire.......
(road flare...interesting idea.  I could have used that on one of my winter duck hunts when I fell in)

I got some negative feedback from my hunt this year.   Apparantly it was hard for someone to swallow that you can live out there without your RV.  

[high country]

27x faster heat loss in the water. a flare might be your only hope as by the time you get out of the water.....it is likely too late.

[halflife65]

the best thing  I ever did was start bivy hunting. it is very comforting knowing that you have what you need to get by. I strongly advise my buddies to go out in the yard and give your gear a go. I spend a night or two every winter on my inlaws ground outside republic. very reasureing knowing the house is close by, but still gives a great survival test as it is raw forest. I also suggest that cold weather hunters carry a couple ounces of methanol and a supercat or popcan stove with a small cup....nothing helps more then something warm to drink.....and you can have it for a 2 ounce weight penaly and the size of a small cup.

Great idea about the gear test in a "safe" place before you rely on it in bad winter conditions.  

I've certainly been turned around a couple of times but for not more than a half hour at a time.  It's mostly been flat ground that's kind of featureless and under timber.  One time I was following the side of a big ridge.  I ended up going out a side ridge and when I dropped down I didn't recognize where I was supposed to be.  Way off course and in the wrong drainage and it took me a few minutes of looking at my map and compass to figure out where I was (pre-GPS).

Even on little short hunts I take a compass and/or a GPS and a headlamp.  I really need to throw in firestarter (I have a little plastic container with cottonballs covered in vaseline + a lighter and it weighs next to nothing.  I went out in the spring with a bunch of different firestarters - magnesium, cotton balls, some dry tinder stuff and hands down the cotton balls were the best to light a fire in damp conditions.)

[high country]

for those who have never tried it, or do not know......take a dozen cotton balls from your wifes stash, grab about 2 tablespoons of vaseline and mash it into the balls. add as mush vaseline as it will accept. you can wrap them in a bit of wax paper which makes it easy to get them out of a pill bottle and burns very well. to light, simply fuzz a small section of the ball and hit it with a spark. they wil light even if  they have been under water. do not fuzz the whole ball or it burns too fast. you will get 3ish minutes from each ball and enough heat to get wet fir and pine needles to light. do not be greedy and have lots of tinder handy......it will go. I have had to use up to 3 balls in the worst weather.

fire is the best moral booster besides the comfort of a partner when out deep.......take care of it, you need it.

[boneaddict]

Its what I use.

[high country]

I use this because it NEVER fails. with some practice you can do better with it then a lighter and it will last forever and work in subzero temps.
 http://www.outdoorpros.com/Prod/Brunton-81-100700-Striker-Magnesium-Fire-Starter/13834/Cat/1393

[halflife65]

huh, just bought one of those - I think it was a different brand but it looks identical.  I should revise my above statement.  I made a couple of little fires in my test and I used a lighter for some and (at the time a different one but the same idea - it was just a lot bigger and heavier than the new one) a striker and it worked great.  Like Highcountry said, it does't take a lot of spark to light the cotton balls and you have something that can't fail when you lighter refuses to work.  I carry the lighter and the striker as a backup.

[spikehunter]

put me in the woods and i'm fine   put me in a shopping mall and i get turned around 1 minute in. as far as survival many years ago little naches elk huntin' 12" snow, cold ,foggy, drizzle, after a couple hours tried to get fire started thought i could start fire anytime with perrifin, double-baggedt.p., lighters, wind /waterproof matches, NOTHING worked every little twig and branch were soaked, was shaking cold by this time, lips turning purple etc. told my bro. I was headed out back to the truck and along comes good ol' pop's said he was cold too "let's get a fire going" pulled out a hiway flare within 5-10 minutes had 5' flames and heat. ended up staying in the basin and killing a spike bull that day      needless to say i AWAYS carry a flare  

[beau6hunter]

sounds like magnesium and vaseline cottonballs and roadflare is a must have! imassist me also! thinkin i need a good gps to

[PolarBear]

Hypothermia is a bitch!  I've had it twice.  One time I don't remember how I got home or how I had the sence to get in the tub and slowly soak my temp back up.  I do remember that it took me over 6 hours before I could feel my hands and face plus once I got warmed up I slept for 18 hours.

[halflife65]

Jeez, polarbear, I've been cold but nothing like that.

[longstevo]

Getting turned around happened to me just two days ago! 

There's a road that runs east/west, and we parked at a gate with intentions to hunt north to a canyon.  Easy enough.  Except the land is mostly flat and a thick fog had set in.  So I went out not worrying too much about it. 

Then I came across a road with heavy traffic tracks in it.  What the hell?  Where is there a road out here???  Its all enclosed timber land.  I wanted to know who got access.  Then it clicked for me. 

I managed to hunt in a semi circle from north, to north west, then to west then finally south until I hit the same road that we came in on. 

It was compass in hand for the rest of the trip. 

[Boss .300 winmag]

Has any one ever used pitch wood, i use a short candle holds flame, put wood on candle flame. Or magnesium tablets you get from surplus stores.

[Huntbear]

I carry a magnesium stick, and I carry dryer lint smeared in vaseline.   I also keep one of those presto log fire starter things... bought a case a few years ago, when we had a fireplace... they burn a good long time.  A chunk of candle works great, but you have to have flame to get it burning.

I also keep my headlamp with me at all times.  Never know when you need it to signal with, or walk out after dark even if unplanned.