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Be careful out there, Montana hunter found.

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Be careful out there, Montana hunter found.

Postby Ghost » 09 28, 2015 •  [Post 1]

http://www.montanaoutdoor.com/2015/09/montana-bowhunter-found-dead-after-8-day-search/ :cry:

If im hunting alone besides firestarter, backpack stove, water purifier, some extra food I normally just carry a 5 watt radio with, as Im getting older Im thinking more and more about something along the lines of a SPOT.

What does everyone else carry?
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Re: Be careful out there, Montana hunter found.

Postby Indian Summer » 09 28, 2015 •  [Post 2]

Google up ACR PLB (Personal Locator Beacon)

Talking to some guys from Anchorage last week it's all they use up there. I know people who have sent texts with other units that never got to the recipient. Not good! The big benefit is cost. Lots of units require an annual fee. This one does not. You buy it and that's it. More money initially but you save big time in the long run. It is good for 6 years (if I remember right) and then they give you a big credit for your old unit toward the purchase of a new one. It floats too which I like. I'm going to buy one myself soon. I bet wives and girlfriends would be glad to buy them for us for Christmas. :D

Here is a very good video worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTUQOWhyYAs
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Re: Be careful out there, Montana hunter found.

Postby Ghost » 09 28, 2015 •  [Post 3]

I'm going to buy one myself soon. I bet wives and girlfriends would be glad to buy them for us for Christmas. :D


I will definitely look into one of them!!

I rented a sat phone in 2006 when I hunted the selway solo, darn thing sucked, I was as high as I could get, Id have 20-30 seconds of air time and it would disconnect, wasnt worth the 100 bucks or so it cost me.
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Re: Be careful out there, Montana hunter found.

Postby Lefty » 09 28, 2015 •  [Post 4]

Younger than me. Heart attack,? Stroke?


I started getting cell reception way back .Im usually within 500 foot elevation and 3/4 mile from cell reception in the dead zones.
The area I hunt inst that far in or out to a road or ranch all downhill. My daughters and wife know the area just a bit, enough to find me.
How ever up hill after the cows are pulled ll only find hunters and no houses forever:
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Re: Be careful out there, Montana hunter found.

Postby Indian Summer » 09 28, 2015 •  [Post 5]

Sat phones are great. They have come a long way in the last 10 years. but it does help to be in the open and not in timber. But their downfall is cost. $2600 to buy and $1 a minute to use. Obviously though you can use them for lots of things other than emergencies.

But for an emergency only device the PLBs can't be beat. They work in trees etc and use an entirely different satellite system than products like SPOT.

I'll be picking one up before next year. That way I can get back to taking risks to achieve my goals. :lol:
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Re: Be careful out there, Montana hunter found.

Postby DirtyErn » 09 28, 2015 •  [Post 6]

I hunted about 10 days by myself this year. There is really nothing different I carry then while hiking alone. I always carry water filter, fire starter and wind water lighter, space ( mummy) blanket , whistle, garmin gps and compass, pack axe and saw( if hiking I'll throw in a machete for some trail clearing and of course my trusty .44 while hunting and .45 compact for hiking.
Almost forgot my headlamps
Camp with " friend " that carried 5 things off of Paul's list and thought he could just " borrow" items if need be. This was not taken well at nightly down time.
One thing I learned skiing. You don't carry a snow shovel and probes for yourself, you carry those items for others after an avalanche.
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Re: Be careful out there, Montana hunter found.

Postby jmez » 09 29, 2015 •  [Post 7]

ACR PLB is the best for getting help. They use a completely different satellite system than the SPOT type devices. This is the same system used by the armed forces. It will work anywhere unless you over 50ft underground. The same can't be said for Sat phones, SPOT or the Delorme InReach. If you need help IMO this is the only device that is reliable.

They are good for five years and then you have to send them in for a battery change. I researched all the different units quite a bit prior to getting mine. Couple guys in my group took Sat phones to Co couple years ago and it was a waste of money. Signal did not work at all under a tree canopy. Had to get to a high point in the wide open. Time of day made a difference as well. If you could get a signal it usually took 6-8 tries for the call to even go through and then if it did go through would disconnect every 15-20s. Very location dependent. You don't want to be laying on the side of a mountain with a broken leg and figure out your device won't work there. That won't happen with a PLB.

They now come with a subscription service where you can send an ok message home. They will only send a generic message and will not receive messages. This does shorten the battery life if you use it. They aren't that expensive. I got mine on Ebay new for $250. Pretty cheap insurance.
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Re: Be careful out there, Montana hunter found.

Postby Lefty » 09 30, 2015 •  [Post 8]

they found this fellow had passed yesterday.
85 and hunting alone,.. maybe not the worse way to go
http://www.localnews8.com/news/search-underway-in-granite-creek-area-for-overdue-hunter/35464262
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Re: Be careful out there, Montana hunter found.

Postby Ghost » 10 01, 2015 •  [Post 9]

I saw that, what struck me was the fact that he got much farther than anyone ever thought he could. A good friend of mine passed away years ago putting his treestand on the tree, he was 78, lower half of his heart hadnt been working for years, was living on borrowed time, when they found him a couple of the guys swore he had a smile on his face. When I go, Id much prefer to go that way, than laying in a nursing home.
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Re: Be careful out there, Montana hunter found.

Postby Indian Summer » 10 01, 2015 •  [Post 10]

A good old friend of our families named Bob Patterson was a guy who I always associated with hunting and fishing. He retired and opened a bait shop etc. Hunted turkeys when it was nearly impossible to find one. He passed away while whitetail hunting. He had killed a deer, dragged it to his car, threw it in the trunk and then had a heart attack. I guess he made sure he didn't go with an unpunched tag and nobody had to drag his deer for him.
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Re: Be careful out there, Montana hunter found.

Postby Lefty » 10 03, 2015 •  [Post 11]

My father in law knew an old timer that didnt show up after a hunt. His wife expected he passed on. My FIL was part of search and rescue, but was working when the search started.
My FIL told the searchers the old times always said he would die by his tree, deer hunting.
My father in law told the searchers to look under the tree up Dry Basin. They did,.. well sort of. Saturday rolls around My father in law had a "new"Jeep pickup at the time. Drove to the tree, dug though the snow and there was the old-time. The Old timer was froze solid. And they put him in the bed of the pickup,... said the old-timer kept sliding around in the bed of the truck

If I die in the woods hopefully it be too much trouble to find me
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Re: Be careful out there, Montana hunter found.

Postby zpd307 » 10 18, 2015 •  [Post 12]

an old family friend was found at the base of a tree during deer season.... he also was on borrowed time, over weight, smoker, and too many years of partying...
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