Written by: Anna DeBattiste; Colorado Search and Rescue Association

A successful hunt is not just a hunt that fills a tag – it’s also a hunt in which you don’t end up with a tag on your toe. 

Backcountry search and rescue teams in Colorado will tell you that hunters can be harder to find than other demographics like hikers, especially in archery and muzzleloader season.  Evacuations of injured hunters can also be lengthier and more complex due to hunters being off-trail.

Safe hunting trips start long before the trip to the trailhead and the camp. A solid planning and preparation process is critical, including:

• Leave a trip plan with a person who is staying home and can call 911 to report you overdue. This plan should include your day and time of departure, your expected day and time of return, how overdue is cause for alarm, the coordinates of where you’ll be parking, your vehicle(s) description and license plate number(s), your likely hunting, scouting and camping areas, and what you’ll be carrying in your packs. If you’re in a group, give the contact information of your person at home to the other hunters’ persons at home so they can communicate and coordinate with each other in an emergency.
• Items to consider carrying in your day pack:
  • The basic essentials 

• Battery banks and cords, enough for your phones and other devices to last throughout the trip and an extra few days, should things go poorly
• An old phone with downloaded maps for offline use
• Consider carrying a two-way satellite communications device, especially if you’re likely to be out of cell phone range 
• Extra mags or ammo for emergency signaling to other hunters in the area
• Plenty of extra water or a means to purify water 
• Carry your “must have” essentials in your glassing case or elsewhere on your body. Include medications, navigation tools, firestarter and tinder, a whistle and an emergency blanket.

• Make a group plan that includes the general area where each of you will go, how you will communicate, and where and when you’ll meet. Stick to the plan. Also, talk to other hunter groups in the area to share your general plans. Many false alarm rescue calls are caused by poor communication within the group.  Routt County SAR once had a call for an overdue hunter in which the group had planned to return to base camp the next day after a spot and stalk. But one member thought the plan was to spend two nights away from camp, so the rest of the group thought he was overdue. RCSAR launched a search and he was found napping under a tree, planning to hunt the next day.
• Make sure everyone knows the help signal for the group: three quick shots in a safe direction. Summit County Rescue Group once recovered the body of a hunter whose campmates thought his three blasts meant he was lost, so they stayed put and fired their guns to guide him back to camp. What he really needed was immediate medical attention.
• Download maps to your phone or GPS device so you can use them offline. E-scout ahead of time to know what areas, drainages and trails you will likely use, and share these with your trip plan person. Include contingency plans for muddy or icy roads and vehicle breakdowns. Hunting season in Colorado is typically a time when sudden weather changes can cause roads to become impassable with mud and/or snow and leave your entire group stranded at camp.
• Leave the keys at the truck in a location everyone knows, so the group can get in if needed. We often hear, “Oh shoot, the keys are with the guy who just left in the medevac helicopter…”
• Consider that there is no such thing as just a short hunt or scout; always take your pack and be 100% prepared to spend extended time in the woods. You never know when you’ll get on the trail of an animal or an unexpected storm will pop up.
• Plan to conserve your phone battery by switching to airplane mode or turning your phone off while hunting. You can turn it back on once in a while to check for messages, but if you need to call for help at some point, you’ll be grateful that your battery isn’t dead.
• Check weather forecasts right up until you leave, and be prepared for weather changes. Make sure you will have some way to continue to get weather forecasts in the backcountry once you’ve left for camp; if you can’t, be prepared for absolutely anything, including a blizzard.  

Once out on the hunt, know and respect your physical limits and those of your hunting party. If anyone has any significant medical conditions or is on daily medications, this information should be shared with the group, including medications to be taken in case of emergency like epi pens for an allergy or baby aspirin for a cardiac event. Routt County SAR once saved a hunter who had a diabetic episode but hadn’t told his hunting buddies he was diabetic. When they came back to the tent and found him unconscious, they didn’t know the cause and that resulted in a difficult rescue during a snowstorm to get the hunter to definitive care.

There’s no place outside safe from lightning, including your tent.  If you can’t get back to your vehicle in an electrical storm, at least know how to minimize risk.

If you’re hunting at altitude, watch for signs that you or another member of the group may have altitude sickness. Descend to a lower altitude immediately if anyone shows signs of serious altitude illness. Altitude can also stress underlying medical conditions and cause them to flare up, so consider if it is prudent to be spending time deep in the backcountry if you have a history of significant medical conditions.

Causes of injured hunter rescue calls include tree strikes, impalement hazards in deadfall, or injuries from sharps in the field like broadheads and field dressing knives. Many of these can be avoided if you take extra care; don’t walk through deadfall with a nocked arrow, be attentive while field dressing, and keep an eye on your surroundings to avoid being under dead trees or caught by a tripping hazard. Carrying a tourniquet in your first aid kit can save a life in case you need to stop serious bleeding.

If you have generators or stoves in your tent, keep the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning in mind and make sure you’ve got adequate ventilation. 

Are you traveling by horse? Routt County SAR reports that some of the worst hunter trauma calls they’ve responded to have been caused by people getting bucked off or rolled over by a horse. Consider that horses may not be the best option for inexperienced riders, especially rented horses you aren’t familiar with. It may be safer to use horses as pack animals rather than riding them, especially if trail conditions are slippery. The same risks apply if you’re using ATVs or UTVs; wear a helmet, and consider keeping inexperienced riders off the machines in steep, rugged or snowy terrain.

If you’re packing out a rack or skull and cape, put fluorescent flagging tape on it to ensure other hunters can easily identify that you are not a target. And don’t forget firearm safety and your mandatory CPW hunter education course!  Rescue teams occasionally respond to injuries – or worse –  caused by accidental discharges.

What if something happens and you have to call for help? Backcountry SAR teams in Colorado are activated through a call to 911 or an SOS from a satellite communications device. If you need help, don’t waste time and battery calling your family; call 911 right away.  Your friends and relatives can’t help you, but search and rescue can.

Greg Foley from Grand County Search and Rescue says, “One of the first things our team is going to do is send you what’s called an SMS locator by text. It will be a text message from a number you don’t recognize that looks something like this:

It is critical that you activate the link. If you don’t have cell service, move to another location if possible and try again. Your location service on your phone must be turned on from the locator to work. If you have enough charge, leave your phone on so search and rescue can continue to track your location.”

Once you’ve made the call, prepare to wait; we are all volunteers responding from our homes or workplaces, and once we get to the trailhead we have to hike or ATV into the field just like you did. If you’re off trail and in rugged terrain, that will add response time. If you’ve done your job in the planning and preparation phase, you should be able to stay warm and dry while you wait. You can read more about handling a backcountry emergency here.

If you’re lost, remember the STOP acronym: Stop, Think, Observe and Plan. If you determine you can’t find your own way back, make the call for help and then stay put. Continuing to move around will make it harder for us to find you. If you’re calling for a buddy that’s lost, try to give the 911 dispatcher some specific descriptors to help us find the person. “White, adult male wearing camo” is typically not very helpful. SAR teams also need a last known point to begin their search, such as a vehicle, confirmed sighting, or the area they have a tag for. Sometimes a call comes in from a concerned family member at home but all they know is that the party was hunting “in the Flat Tops,” which encompasses parts of four counties and over 240,000 acres.  Without a more specific starting point, it will be more challenging for a SAR team to initiate a search.

Bow hunters should be aware that wearing only camo makes it extremely difficult for us to see you, especially if you’re off trail. Carrying a brightly colored tarp, game bag, or other means of visually signaling and attracting attention is very important. 

If you know we’re already searching for you, stay put and keep your eyes out for aircraft that may be part of our operation. If you see a helicopter, drone or small fixed wing plane circling, make yourself as visible as possible. Move to a clearing or open field if possible and wave your arms, a space blanket or brightly colored piece of clothing, or a flashlight or headlamp. If conditions allow, a signal fire can help guide teams to your location.

Routt County SAR, a team that has a high number of hunter incidents every year compared to other teams, reports that the most frequent cause of calls is miscommunication or lack of coordination within groups. Harry Sandler, an incident commander with RCSAR, comments, “We get a lot of calls for overdue hunters. But are they really lost, or did they just have a successful hunt and are field dressing their game and late getting back to camp? Did they accidentally miss a check-in, or is there a true emergency? We often don’t know because the members of the hunting party don’t know either; they didn’t have a solid plan for how they would communicate and coordinate.” 

Backcountry SAR teams don’t charge for services in Colorado and would like you to call sooner rather than later when you need help. Want to learn more about how they are funded, including how the surcharge on your hunting license is used? Read more here.