I was looking back at huntfishtrap's compass question. Had me wondering how "lost" has anyone gotten and what was the resolution? I'll fill mine in on first post.

[land_cruiser_73]

I've never been lost. There have been times tho, that I had no idea where I was or how to get back.

[bowhunter75richard]

I was elk hunting in tough country, tough even for elk, it was snowing hard and fog was dense. I came across tracks in the deep snow. I was chagrined, and surprised. This was isolated, three hours from base camp, which itself, was a long day by pack train from trail head. I followed the tracks always until I noticed where the individual had relieved himself. The chilling realization hit me, these were my tracks. Until that moment, I thought lost people traveling in a circle was an old wives tale. I backtracked a couple hours, straighten myself out, and plodded back to camp

Lost ??? Me ??? I just tell people that there were a few times I just didn't know
where the hell I was, but if you are still in the same state that you started in, just how
"lost" can you be ? Besides, it gives you a good chance to learn more country and
maybe find a better hunting area, that is if you can ever get "lost" and find the same
area again !! So, "lost", no I just didn't know where I was.

[huntfishtrap]

To this day I regularly get turned around, perhaps lost in big cities. Skyways, subways, hallways in high rises more often than not get me walking the wrong way until I spend enough time becoming familiar with the surroundings.
Out in the country's fields, woods, mountains and swamps I rarely have any trouble finding my way. The exceptions are the times I did not have a compass or now a days a GPS. Those times are hardly worth talking about because they only lasted for some hours and resulted in a little longer hike than planned. I did learn early on never camouflage your tent, truck, boat, flashlight, knife, compass, etc..
I have had unplanned overnights while tracking elk, deer and bears as in the hunting technique not wounded game. In these instants darkness came before I found my prey so I just stay out overnight and resume the trail in the morning.

Thank you charlie. That's a good saying about worry; I'll have to remember that one.

[jcarlin]

To this day I regularly get turned around, perhaps lost in big cities. Skyways, subways, hallways in high rises more often than not get me walking the wrong way until I spend enough time becoming familiar with the surroundings.
Out in the country's fields, woods, mountains and swamps I rarely have any trouble finding my way. The exceptions are the times I did not have a compass or now a days a GPS. Those times are hardly worth talking about because they only lasted for some hours and resulted in a little longer hike than planned. I did learn early on never camouflage your tent, truck, boat, flashlight, knife, compass, etc..
I have had unplanned overnights while tracking elk, deer and bears as in the hunting technique not wounded game. In these instants darkness came before I found my prey so I just stay out overnight and resume the trail in the morning.

Good advice.
I've never done the "no gear" thing. I'd hate to end up on the newspaper "Man Imitating Bear Grylls Dies After Being Repeatedly Savaged by Crickets". In all seriousness, I've never not had at least a small backpacking tent. Maybe this'll be the year. I think I might start that attempt by taking a trip where I go tarp only and then step down in gear from there. I'm not afraid I'm going to just spontaneously give up and die, but my gear still has me on a safety tether.

[charlie elk]

To this day I regularly get turned around, perhaps lost in big cities. Skyways, subways, hallways in high rises more often than not get me walking the wrong way until I spend enough time becoming familiar with the surroundings.
Out in the country's fields, woods, mountains and swamps I rarely have any trouble finding my way. The exceptions are the times I did not have a compass or now a days a GPS. Those times are hardly worth talking about because they only lasted for some hours and resulted in a little longer hike than planned. I did learn early on never camouflage your tent, truck, boat, flashlight, knife, compass, etc..
I have had unplanned overnights while tracking elk, deer and bears as in the hunting technique not wounded game. In these instants darkness came before I found my prey so I just stay out overnight and resume the trail in the morning.

Thanks for the endorsement jcarlin. Worry is not the correct word hft because worry is the interest paid on a debt before it is due. I do not like paying interest. That being said injury and disease, particularly in remote areas is a concern that should be prepared for. Advanced wilderness first aid training is a no brainer. This not the kind of first aid that instructs to call 911 while keeping calm. Rather they teach suturing with a variety of materials, splinting, basic administration of antibiotic and pain killers. Fortunately I used these skills on others and have never needed to use them on myself.
There are host of skills required to stay in wilderness that I believe can only be gained by practice. If a tundra adventure is a goal then some primitive camping trips out on a vast prairie are in order. Other short outings 2-3 days with no gear, just the clothes on your back, matches, knife, compass and some twine. Work your up to the wilderness do not start there.

[jcarlin]

I went fishing one morning really early, taking my nagging wife with me finally. It was so foggy you couldn't see nothing ! But she was adamant that I launched the boat ! So,I launched the boat, thinking we would just hug the shoreline until the fog lifted. The wife caught a fish and as I was taking the fish off (yes, I had to do that and bait her hook also) I took my eyes off the shore for a few seconds and when I looked up I was turned around ! We "trolled" for 2 hours until the fog lifted and we was somewhere up in the creek feeder part of the reservoir that I've never been in. I started back downstream into the main reservoir and the trolling motor battery went dead. We was in my 10' johnboat and had no paddle ! I found a floating stick and used it to swish my way back toward where I thought the boat landing was. We finally made it back,7 hours after we left. I never took her fishing again !

Don't feel to bad about that one.
I took a buddy out on my boat on a local lake one day. Little 14' shallow V, 3.5hp Johnson and a trolling motor. Get out maybe 3/4 of a mile from the launch and the motor sputters out. Out of gas. Realize I left the small gas can, a gallon of which would go ten miles on that rig, in the truck. Switched to the trolling motor... nope. Not really.
That day reinforced one of my long time JIC moves. If in doubt of where I want to go on a lake, take the upwind option. Always easier, particularly on a battery, to come home down wind. In this case I managed to basically on fumes in the carb in a few short 25- 50 yard bursts place us upwind of the dock. In half an hour we blew in. Missed the dock by about a 150 yards, but was within 50 yards of where the truck was parked. Had one of those collapsible paddles, but they're not worth much.

[jcarlin]

I actually haven't been really lost very often. The one situation that comes to mind was in the summer a few years ago. I was going to check a couple trail cameras I had put out on a piece of public land the week before. They were about 1 1/2 miles from the parking lot, and I knew there were some rain showers in the area, but I didn't think it would amount to much if it did rain, so I went anyway. I got back to the cameras and had just started to return when it started to rain lightly, and before long it was absolutely pouring. I was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, but it was probably 70 degrees, so I wasn't worried about getting cold, but it was still miserable getting soaked. I had been walking for long enough that I knew I had to be getting close to the parking lot, but it was raining so hard I couldn't see more than 20 or 30 yards in the thick timber. All of a sudden I realized the ground was sloping the wrong way, and I had a brief moment of alarm before I forced myself to stop and think things over. I finally realized I had overshot the parking lot and was actually past it, so I turned around about 120 degrees and was at my car within 5 minutes.

Also, I don't think I used enough exclamation points in the dialogue with my wife. She was angry and afraid and was truly yelling at me in the middle of the woods about it.

[jcarlin]

I actually haven't been really lost very often. The one situation that comes to mind was in the summer a few years ago. I was going to check a couple trail cameras I had put out on a piece of public land the week before. They were about 1 1/2 miles from the parking lot, and I knew there were some rain showers in the area, but I didn't think it would amount to much if it did rain, so I went anyway. I got back to the cameras and had just started to return when it started to rain lightly, and before long it was absolutely pouring. I was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, but it was probably 70 degrees, so I wasn't worried about getting cold, but it was still miserable getting soaked. I had been walking for long enough that I knew I had to be getting close to the parking lot, but it was raining so hard I couldn't see more than 20 or 30 yards in the thick timber. All of a sudden I realized the ground was sloping the wrong way, and I had a brief moment of alarm before I forced myself to stop and think things over. I finally realized I had overshot the parking lot and was actually past it, so I turned around about 120 degrees and was at my car within 5 minutes.

Some places are just off. There's something that tickles the senses. I grew up in row homes in Philly. Everyone for blocks and blocks and blocks around had the exact same unfinished basements. I'd been in hundreds of them. There were two that I'd been in that no one liked being in, and one that I saw a grown man run out of screaming.
The game lands it wasn't really a strong thing, but for some reason I get jumpy every time I'm there and the sun goes down.
The forest we won't pack in was the Lackawanna State Forest, not to be confused with Lackawanna State Park, which we love.
Camped along the Pinchot trail system, I think towards the southern end. Can't remember the stream name anymore. I'm never going back. I'd sooner spend a night in the pine barrens. You can say what you want, but even in broad daylight there's just something wrong about that place. If there's anywhere in the state where you can use the phrase "Malevolent Sylvan Presence" that's it. I couldn't take a leak without keeping my head on a swivel and seriously expecting something to be looking at me when I turned around. Maybe I'm being a big sissy. I aint goin back there.

[jcarlin]

Huntfish passing the parking lot brings something else to mind that always amuse me.

There's a piece of state land only 20 minutes from my house, I haven't hunted there much the last couple of years, but I've probably spent a couple of dozen days there since I moved to the area, and gravitate to the same far corner every time I go.
I take one route in, and every single night I walk out, some trick of geography and multi-flora rose has me take a slightly different route out.
I know it's going to happen. I'm adamant that it's not going to happen this time, but like clockwork I end up coming out just a hundred yards further down this utility line than the way I came in. I'm never really lost, but I never really take the route back I intend to. If I hunt just the morning, doesn't happen. It's like a weird mental block when it gets dark up there.

Just 3. One that's some sort of small milk goat mix and her even more mixed doe from last spring. A young pygmy wether that we'd gotten to keep her company until the doe was born. I figured at first a couple of months of being a loner until the little one was born was no big deal. Bad call. If someone wasn't out there with her she wouldn't eat anything. Nothing at all.
All are between one and 2.5 years old at this point. I was Ok with it for the groundskeeping, my daughter wanted a milker.
Latter part never got into full swing, and I really don't have time for that. Most of the year they don't cost me anything and save me on power equipment gas. Winter time is a bit more money and work to keep them comfortable, but I like the routine. They maybe cost me 10 minutes on a really cold day. Little different than the effort for the small chicken flock, but not much.

[huntfishtrap]

To this day I regularly get turned around, perhaps lost in big cities. Skyways, subways, hallways in high rises more often than not get me walking the wrong way until I spend enough time becoming familiar with the surroundings.
Out in the country's fields, woods, mountains and swamps I rarely have any trouble finding my way. The exceptions are the times I did not have a compass or now a days a GPS. Those times are hardly worth talking about because they only lasted for some hours and resulted in a little longer hike than planned. I did learn early on never camouflage your tent, truck, boat, flashlight, knife, compass, etc..
I have had unplanned overnights while tracking elk, deer and bears as in the hunting technique not wounded game. In these instants darkness came before I found my prey so I just stay out overnight and resume the trail in the morning.

charlie, I have a question too if you don't mind. This might sound silly, but do you ever worry about breaking a leg, getting sick, etc. when out in the wilderness? That would be one of my main concerns about wilderness hunting where help is a long way away, if it should be required. Maybe I'm just a wimp though.

[huntfishtrap]

Huntfish passing the parking lot brings something else to mind that always amuse me.

There's a piece of state land only 20 minutes from my house, I haven't hunted there much the last couple of years, but I've probably spent a couple of dozen days there since I moved to the area, and gravitate to the same far corner every time I go.
I take one route in, and every single night I walk out, some trick of geography and multi-flora rose has me take a slightly different route out.
I know it's going to happen. I'm adamant that it's not going to happen this time, but like clockwork I end up coming out just a hundred yards further down this utility line than the way I came in. I'm never really lost, but I never really take the route back I intend to. If I hunt just the morning, doesn't happen. It's like a weird mental block when it gets dark up there.

Interesting, we have goats too. How many do you have?

[huntfishtrap]

I actually haven't been really lost very often. The one situation that comes to mind was in the summer a few years ago. I was going to check a couple trail cameras I had put out on a piece of public land the week before. They were about 1 1/2 miles from the parking lot, and I knew there were some rain showers in the area, but I didn't think it would amount to much if it did rain, so I went anyway. I got back to the cameras and had just started to return when it started to rain lightly, and before long it was absolutely pouring. I was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, but it was probably 70 degrees, so I wasn't worried about getting cold, but it was still miserable getting soaked. I had been walking for long enough that I knew I had to be getting close to the parking lot, but it was raining so hard I couldn't see more than 20 or 30 yards in the thick timber. All of a sudden I realized the ground was sloping the wrong way, and I had a brief moment of alarm before I forced myself to stop and think things over. I finally realized I had overshot the parking lot and was actually past it, so I turned around about 120 degrees and was at my car within 5 minutes.

Now that you mention it, there have been places where I've experienced that kind of feeling too. One in particular is a spot I deer hunt every year, and no matter how many times I hunt there, I get nervous when the light starts to dim. I usually leave my stand before the end of shooting light because of it. I know it's irrational, but I can't shake it. I'm not afraid of the dark in any other spot, just there.

[jcarlin]

I actually haven't been really lost very often. The one situation that comes to mind was in the summer a few years ago. I was going to check a couple trail cameras I had put out on a piece of public land the week before. They were about 1 1/2 miles from the parking lot, and I knew there were some rain showers in the area, but I didn't think it would amount to much if it did rain, so I went anyway. I got back to the cameras and had just started to return when it started to rain lightly, and before long it was absolutely pouring. I was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, but it was probably 70 degrees, so I wasn't worried about getting cold, but it was still miserable getting soaked. I had been walking for long enough that I knew I had to be getting close to the parking lot, but it was raining so hard I couldn't see more than 20 or 30 yards in the thick timber. All of a sudden I realized the ground was sloping the wrong way, and I had a brief moment of alarm before I forced myself to stop and think things over. I finally realized I had overshot the parking lot and was actually past it, so I turned around about 120 degrees and was at my car within 5 minutes.

I'm generally not a nervous type, but there are a couple of pieces of ground over the years that just give me the creeps. Nothing I can put my finger on, just unsettled when I'm there. One of them, is the SGL I mentioned in my slight veering off course on the way out every night. I don't go there much anymore because for some reason my adrenaline is up every time I leave.
Another is a state forest spot that my wife and I had backpacked to a couple of times.
Second time we were there was the last. Nothing ever happened there no event, so sight, no sound, no smell.
Breaking camp one morning on the second trip when my wife asks me, "Do you like it here?".
"Nope, it's beautiful and peaceful and I hate it here."
"I keep looking over my shoulder thinking there's someone there."
"Yes, I forgot about that from our first trip, but I didn't sleep at night that time or this time, and I keep thinking someone is watching me. As soon as we got into the woods yesterday I had the same feeling and remembered but figured we were committed."
"I hate you, I can't believe you let us come back here, the place creeps me out and you're always the one who says if something doesn't feel right, listen to that becuase it's probably not right."
"Yep.. I hate it here."

[jcarlin]

To this day I regularly get turned around, perhaps lost in big cities. Skyways, subways, hallways in high rises more often than not get me walking the wrong way until I spend enough time becoming familiar with the surroundings.
Out in the country's fields, woods, mountains and swamps I rarely have any trouble finding my way. The exceptions are the times I did not have a compass or now a days a GPS. Those times are hardly worth talking about because they only lasted for some hours and resulted in a little longer hike than planned. I did learn early on never camouflage your tent, truck, boat, flashlight, knife, compass, etc..
I have had unplanned overnights while tracking elk, deer and bears as in the hunting technique not wounded game. In these instants darkness came before I found my prey so I just stay out overnight and resume the trail in the morning.

Charlie, Anything you'd care to share.

Editor's, I've read a lot from this man over the last few years, I think it's time he's on the payroll.

[jcarlin]

Sorry folks, I was away all weekend at a pistol class and not here when you decided to share. Thanks all.

I could spend a day (actually I did yesterday) talking about that.
Check out Tactical Response's Fighting Pistol. They have a website and there are reviews and youtube videos everywhere.
What I will say is I had high expectations of the class. It was a blast. It was at least as informative as I expected it to be. Where it exceeded all of my expectations was the effectiveness. By the end of Day Two, and I think this speaks to the average person there, you were concentrating on cover and movement. Mag changes and acquiring sight picture I don't even remember doing, it was so drilled in that those things just happened as a side effect of the drill. You were concentrating on the skill set they were teaching you and bullets just went where you sent them. And that appeared to be universal for the students. Even with a 85% civilian class of all levels starting the morning on day 1, by the end of day 2 for most people you could have stood next to the silhouette while they were shooting on the move and from multiple positions and in a hurry, and you'd have been in little danger. THAT part, the level of change in EVERYONE there, was shocking to me. I'm not saying everyone was magically transformed into a high speed, gun-fighting ninja, but those guys know their business as trainers.
For anyone who carries for self defense, I'll tell you my only regret was not having taking that specific course 15 years ago. I'll be back to them for something annually now if I can help it. They're out of Tennessee, but travel. This class was outside of Hershey, PA.