Local News Comments

how sad. It's a high price to pay for the chance to slaughter a wild animal for sport. someone please take away this guy's gun and keep him out of the woods.

This is very sad. A person can get lost in the mountains when it gets clouded over... there are no referance points. For future wilderness people...when lost; find a stream (any stream) follow the steam downhill..It will lead to a river..follow the river downstream..the river will lead to a road..follow the road downhill...then one gets out. If packed in by horse with the proffesionals..sit tight..they will get you.

Better to have a GPS and clothing for changing weather conditions. The article does not say why they were separated, I know if I had my grandkids out hunting and we were lost, I sure as heck would not let them out of my line of sight. Even in good weather I would want to know were they were at all times.

When lost in the woods hunting or what ever STOP BUILD A FIRE AND STAY THERE if hunting you have a wepon use it to get attention BUT STAY PUT.

What a feeling to know that your responsible for someones life. And to think that this was Devin's second rescue. How tragic!

Hugh, that advise will kill people. Please stop.

In analyzing Lost Person Behavior, we find that there are six "Un-Lost Tactics" which lost people employ to get themselves out of their jam: Trail Running, Traveling a Straight Line, Direction Sampling, View Enhancement, Employing Folk Wisdom, and Staying Put.

The first five rarely result in success. The last one is the only one I will advocate for when teaching John-Q Public. The tactic you suggest is a text book example of "Employing Folk Wisdom"; in fact it is the example used in most "Intro to Lost Person Behavior" Search & Rescue Classes. A lot of statistical data exists which Search Managers use to plan Searches; that data shows that usually, your advise results in death. Trust me, I have seen it many times. Please stop spreading it.

A tragedy such as this is terrible. There are no words to convey the sorrow and misery.
May this child find surfeit and joy in heaven.

Hugh, I prefer to teach this stuff in a class room, then through field exercises, & then by attaching the "student" to my hip on actual calls, rather than set people loose on the net and "less than credible" information. However, in this case, allow me to point you toward this paper. Kenneth Hill is one of several people who have been collecting SAR Data for over 30 years, analyzing responses, reactions, lost person profiles, outcomes, etc. The data they have collected (books of it) plays a huge role in how Search Managers plan searches.

http://husky1.stmarys.ca/~khill/psychologyoflost.pdf

I wish more emphasis was place on PSAR (Preventative Search and Rescue). I would love to be teaching the public how to avoid being the subject of a search... or worse...

This is a tragedy that will never end for these families; I can only pray they are able to find some peace. Hopefully someone will learn from this and prevent another tragedy in the future.

Hugh, building a shelter, small so that it retains the heat, is what should be done in this situation, a shelter for two where they could huddle closely together and wait out the storm. Don't work up a sweat, try to stay dry. Stay hydrated. Most heat is loss through the head/torso, keep them warm. Most people don't realize that if their feet or hands are cold, it's because they are losing heat elsewhere. If your hands or feet are cold, put more layers on your head/torso. Maybe the lessons learned here will help someone someday.

@Hugh your intention's are good but advise not so good. Take a couple of courses in wilderness survival. Let the experts give advice, not what you see on TV.

Mountain Res-Q, are there classes like that available? That would be a great thing for our community to have. Most of us do spend lots of time in the woods and we should be taught these things. I wish a class like that could be arranged and made widely available to the general public, maybe especially highschool students.

@ Shawna: Depends on what you are looking for.

The information I provided above is meant more for the Professionals, and should be included in SAR Team Training Programs; Ground Searchers need a firm grasp on lost person behavior so they can tailor their assigned search tactic to meet the expected actions of the missing subject (& to keep from getting in trouble themselves while in the field) & Search Managers need to know that stuff in depth so they can place Searchers in areas with higher probabilities. Personally, I wish the college would resurrect their SAR Program and bring in SAR Tech, Survival, Lost Person Behavior, Navigation, etc Classes; but their SAR Program is largely dead. If not for the logistical & liability issues, I would love to teach that stuff independently... <sigh>

(continued)... If you are looking for more "for the public - don't become a Search Subject" training/classes... again, it would be great too do so real comprehensive training out of the college (find a way for me). Past that, I would recommend contacting Big Trees State Park. Calaveras County Search & Rescue teaches an evening "Hug-a-Tree" Program weekly at Big Trees (summer only?). The program is taught across North America to teach kids (primarily, although not only kids) what to do when they get lost in a wilderness or outdoor environment: i.e. "Hug a Tree"; don't panic and run, don't follow rivers down, don't keep going and increasing the theoretical search area for the Professionals! If you have kids, that is ABSOLUTELY worth taking them to. It has proven to work even locally.