A few week ago a friend of mine died while elk hunting from hypothermia. He was 70 years old and in very good shape. He took pride in the fact that he was in good shape and could still hunt and function in the cold of Montana. He went elk hunting a few weeks ago by himself. He told his wife he was going to go to his favorite spot (a place he knew very well) and would be back after dark. Knowing that he usually returns late, his wife went to bed. When she woke at 4 AM and found he had not made it home she called the search and rescue. She told the S&R where he went hunting. The S&R found his truck right where he said he was going. At daylight the S&R followed his tracks and found his body less than 1 mile from the truck. From what the S&R found this is what we can piece together what happened. He left his truck sometime in the afternoon and hiked up a ridge to his hunting spot. Sometime during the afternoon he found and shot an elk. After field dressing the elk he decided to try and retrieve the elk by himself instead of getting help. After quartering the elk he started to drag the quarters one at a time. It appears that while dragging the quarters he started sweating and between the snow and sweat his cloths got very wet. As night approached the temperature started dropping and with the wet cloths he must have started to get hypothermic. How long he was hypothermic we don�t know but at some point he must have realized something was wrong because he left the elk and started back for his truck. His tracks got to within � mile of the truck and suddenly turned and started away from the truck. He walked for quite a while making various turns before he died. The S&R figure by the time he turned away from the truck he was in severe hypothermia and had become disoriented.

My reason for posting this message is to remind other hunters to be careful and take the necessary precautions. Even experienced outdoorsmen can make deadly errors. There is not an animal out there that is worth risking your life for. My friend died because he did not want to leave his elk and get help. My friend is only one of several hunters who died this year in Montana from exposure. My hope is that other hunters will read this message and think before putting themselves in a position that could be deadly.
mtelkhunter

mtelk:
Sorry to hear about your friend, my prayers are with his family...Thank you, for the reminder as well. An animal isn't worth putting your own life in danger, no matter how high it would score in B&C...remember that, and live to hunt another day.

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God Bless and Shoot Straight

MtElk,

Sorry to hear about your loss. Thats a real shame. He is the second one to die in MT this year from hypothermia. There was the 12 year old boy west of the Divide that was left by his Dad. Seems to happen every year.
We all think we can perform like twenty year olds even when we are fifty or sixty. That hurts a lot of us. Plus we have that idea "it wont happen to me". It sounds like your friend had his act together but all the bad things that could occur all caught up with him.

I went to a few winter survival courses when I was an air crewman and one really has to be aware of hypothermia and its affects.

Again........Sorry to hear about the loss of your Friend.

FN

mtelk, great reminder to all of us. Something that a lot of people don't realize is that hypothermia is very common in temperatures as high as 60 degrees F. Heat loss in your body core from being wet or malnourished is the most common cause.

I was severely hypothermic one year and almost died from it. Luckily, I've had a ton of cold weather training and recognized it in time to get to a warm place and sit still long enough to get back to health. A few more minutes of disorientation and I would have been lost for sure. This is usually the first clue to watch for in your hunting buddies- if they start acting strange, disorientated, lost, or shedding clothing when the conditions don't call for it they are already in trouble and MUST be brought inside and warmed up, then should be taken to a hospital emergency room as soon as possible. Shock is a very real threat at this time and must be treated quickly.

Sorry to hear about your friend- hopefully your post will make a difference in someone's life somewhere reading this forum.- Sheister

Sorry to hear about your friend...

When out hunting it is best to know your limitations and act accordingly. There is no way a 70 year old man should be quartering and dragging the meat alone in those temps. Also dress accordingly and wear clothes such as wool that wicks moisture away from the skin. Wearing a cotton t-shirt as a bottom layer is a no no....

Sorry about your friend. I myself have had to help out people in severe hypothermia. It never seizes to amaze me that not more are lost; it seems the standard Western hunting garb is a pair of jeans. When the sun goes down or the wind comes up, the right kind of clothes can save your life in a hurry.

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JD

mtelk,
My condolences for your loss.

This should put us all in our place. No matter how what physical condition your in, how much hunting and outdoor experience a person has, or how well a person knows an area we all are at the mercy of the system that surround us.

Godbless your friend and his family.

That's tragic Mtelkhunter.

As someonewho has lost more than one friend to the mountains, I understand your loss.

I've experienced hypothermia, both with myself and with my brother. Luck for us, in one case we noticed it in my brother, and got him warmed up in a hurry. I wasn't so lucky, as I was on my own, hunting.

Since it was pretty early in the stages, I was able to stop, light a fire, and warm myself up. I was walking down a mountain to my truck in the dark, thinking I knew where I was going.

I don't know if I was truly hypothermic, but I was disoriented, cold, hungry, and wanted to sleep...

I stopped, lit a fire, cooked a grouse i had killed earlier, and prepared to spend the night on the mountain, without slleeping bag, tarp, etc. Good thing I stopped- I was heading in the wrong direction.

Cold night, but I'm still here.

Again, sorry to har about your friend. A loss like that is terrible. My best goes out to you and his family.

mtelkhunter,
My condolences for loss of your friend and fellow hunter.
A lot of good comments were made above.

One of my first duties as an Alaskan flight surgeon in 1985 was to try to comfort the family of a young airman, barely twenty years old, who had died while deer hunting on an island in Prince William Sound, Naked Island, ironically.

Temperatures were about 40 F and he had done the paradoxical undressing thing as he wandered about disoriented, separated from buddies by some some mishap, perhaps soaked by wind and rain. A tragedy.

One shouldn't hunt alone in adverse conditions, though many must do so as a rite of passage of some sort, or they forget the risk because it is so familiar. Familiarity breeds contempt for danger. Bold and old is no better than bold and young in these conditions.

Shivering comes early in hypothermia, and then it stops. By then ones mind may be affected.

I got wet to the gills breaking through the ice of a creek in Alaska one time, on my only solo caribou hunt. Temperatures had just reached subzero that November day on the Peninsula.

I ran for camp as it got dark, and jogged in circles when I lost the trail, then remembered that an aircraft wreck I stumbled upon in my flashlight beam pointed the way to my tent. It was only a mile, but my clothing was frozen on me. I had to cut off the hip waders with a knife ... then the double sleeping bag and chemical heat packs for three hours brought sensation back into my extremities and I found some dry clothes.

For the next five days alone there, I did not cross creeks, and was content to just commune with nature until the bush pilot came back to get me. I had tempted fate enough. Never again.

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RAB

[This message has been edited by DaggaRon (edited 12-15-2001).]

mtelk
My prayers are with you, your friends family and friends.
Thank you for posting this sobering reminder. It may save a life some day if someone here recalls it at the right time.
God Bless X-Ring

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Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition!