doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Tough man!

I am now 82, and I'll be damned if I will sit home because other people decide I cant hunt or fish. My Dad went goose hunting with me when he was 91. He often told me "When your gun feels too heavy to carry in the field, get a heavier one" ....NEVER QUIT....

+1

SRH

Yes, what's meant to happen to you will happen no matter what you do. Eat well, exercise and NEVER QUIT,.....and PRAY HARD!

Like this guy, I managed to get myself stuck on a trail a few years back when my setter decided to take a walkabout and I made an unwise choice going to look for him. It wasn't cold and I did have a cellphone, although the battery died immediately after I made the 911 call. The worst that would have happened is that I would have had to either spend a night in my pickup or make a fairly long walk to the nearest house. But ever since then, I am somewhat more cautious when I'm hunting alone. I make sure my cell is charged, and I have a cord in the glove compartment so I can charge it in the truck.

I've quit doing a lot of the foolish things like floating the river for ducks or even going duck hunting at the lake alone. Fear isn't the reason, just the realization I can't handle a bad situation alone anymore.

I'm not that old, just sat behind a desk for too many years. Well, that and a stroke and heart surgery. The post about staying home and blowing one's head off was way more scary than any foolishness I might think up in the way of hunting risk...Geo

Winter driving - always a full tank, and a sleeping bag, extra winter boots, over pants and gloves in the back. This shows a good example of why.

grouse hunting - two gps', extra batteries, two compasses, lifestraw, lighter, waterproof matches, emergency blanket and a small first aid kit.

should have stayed with the truck and saved his fingers. But that's just me.

The walking stick is a lifesaver for some of us. When I was in the middle of several spinal surgeries, I fell in an open field while running my Wirehair. I couldn't get up, no matter how hard I tried. I had to crawl a great distance to a tree that I used to get back on my feet. A stick would have eliminated all problems. My pup is a great help in getting up, but at 50 pounds, she just couldn't do it.

Yes eightbore, falling is a worry for some of us. A cane is a Godsend some times...Geo

The guy is from Minnesota. I would have expected more foresight.

Coming from Winnipeg, Manitoba.....which on average is significantly colder than a lot of Minnesota, it should be second nature to have extra warm gear/candles/sleep bag etc in the car or truck. People die from the weather with regularity. Farmers die of exposure because they get lost going from the house to the milking barn early in the morning. People are found frozen in their cars 4 days after the end of a wind storm. Doesn't matter how much snow is falling, it's the sideways snow, along with the low temps, that is the problem. You are raised on a diet of news that drives home the point....be unprepared for the cold and you risk your life. And not in the theoretical sense.

Dal's comment is right on the money and really, the only part of this thread that has value. For those who don't know, or haven't considered what may happen, it's time to prepare a life saving kit for your vehicle.

I hunt by myself pretty often.

I carry a device called a SPOT. It has a GPS and a satellite transmitter built into it. SPOT sends my GPS location to a satellite which in turns sends it to a website which then displays it on a map. My wife watches my progress from home. It has a "Send the Medivac helicopter and shell out $20,000" emergency button. If I choose to press that SPOT will send my GPS coordinates to the service and they will notify local emergency services.

I turn SPOT on when I get out of the truck. I carry a spare set of three triple A batteries in my hunting vest should it run out of battery. As I remember the device was about $100 and the service was about $140/year.

I am diligent about keeping my cell phone charged. I often have cell coverage out on my birdleases. While I was out hunting my wife has texted me and asked if I had the SPOT on. Both times I didn't. So it has some value I think.

I keep a car battery booster in my hunting rig.