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Post by One Man Gang on Dec 7, 2023 10:17:47 GMT -5
Which one of you great woodsmen was this? Mr ogBohica, was this you again? Come on man! Getting lost in a STA? How about Levys, power lines, sunsets? Leaving early enough to see your way out if you lack outdoor/terrestrial nav skills? share.newsbreak.com/5lhodnlr
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Post by bullfrog on Dec 7, 2023 11:29:44 GMT -5
I’ve never been lost or turned around in the woods. My grandpa drilled into me to always trust your compass over your gut. If the compass says the directions are laid out such and mind says no they’re laid out this way, the compass is always right.
There have been plenty of times where I’ve scouted new areas in the evenings and had to circle out way off course than planned because I ran into ponds or thick areas I didn’t anticipate and had to edge them slowly and pick my way out in the dark. I generally still knew where I was. I just wasn’t where I planned to be.
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Post by cyclist on Dec 7, 2023 11:47:27 GMT -5
I’ve never been lost or turned around in the woods. My grandpa drilled into me to always trust your compass over your gut. If the compass says the directions are laid out such and mind says no they’re laid out this way, the compass is always right. There have been plenty of times where I’ve scouted new areas in the evenings and had to circle out way off course than planned because I ran into ponds or thick areas I didn’t anticipate and had to edge them slowly and pick my way out in the dark. I generally still knew where I was. I just wasn’t where I planned to be. On a late night bike ride on a cloudy night, a group of 7 or 8 of us got turned around in a new parcel we were poaching (public land). Two of us pulled out a compass and they were both opposites... one had reversed polarity. We used our gut instincts and the hint, possibly, of a very distant I75 (or was it the wind) and we headed south. Turned out we were correct but had to run through some suburbanites yard. He was not happy as we all rushed through with bright lights and yelling "we have a man down, man down". The gentleman (from India) chased us kicking dirt on our feet as we ran down his driveway to the public road.
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Post by bullfrog on Dec 7, 2023 12:10:05 GMT -5
I’ve never been lost or turned around in the woods. My grandpa drilled into me to always trust your compass over your gut. If the compass says the directions are laid out such and mind says no they’re laid out this way, the compass is always right. There have been plenty of times where I’ve scouted new areas in the evenings and had to circle out way off course than planned because I ran into ponds or thick areas I didn’t anticipate and had to edge them slowly and pick my way out in the dark. I generally still knew where I was. I just wasn’t where I planned to be. On a late night bike ride on a cloudy night, a group of 7 or 8 of us got turned around in a new parcel we were poaching (public land). Two of us pulled out a compass and they were both opposites... one had reversed polarity. We used our gut instincts and the hint, possibly, of a very distant I75 (or was it the wind) and we headed south. Turned out we were correct but had to run through some suburbanites yard. He was not happy as we all rushed through with bright lights and yelling "we have a man down, man down". The gentleman (from India) chased us kicking dirt on our feet as we ran down his driveway to the public road. The way I deal with the concern of an untrustworthy compass is to always use a quality one and to check the cardinal directions against it before I leave my place. I’ve never had a quality compass fail on me. I’ve had plenty of cheap ones act weird. To my mind, the only compass a woodsman should have is the tritium military compass. That was the compass my grandfather trained me on. I’ve only ever needed to own two. The first succumbed to about a decade’s worth of DEET exposure. My second one has lasted about 20 years and still going strong. I have various others in my camping gear that I test before field use. I never test the military compass anymore. I don’t know if my first was a Cammenga or if a different manufacturer made them in decades past. Here’s what I’m talking about: www.usamm.com/products/tritium-lensatic-compass-3h#:~:text=The%20Army%20Official%20Tritium%20Lensatic,Specifications%3A&text=Made%20in%20the%20U.S.A. www.amazon.com/Cammenga-Phosphorescent-Waterproof-Backpacking-Orienteering/dp/B000E90E44/ref=asc_df_B000E90E44/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=647244438850&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4083685031443919340&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1015150&hvtargid=pla-950294428750&psc=1&mcid=1e62eeec5ea038e784b4e774aeca34ba
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Post by One Man Gang on Dec 7, 2023 13:39:51 GMT -5
A compass is a valuable tool in the deep dark woods and open water, but you would be hard pressed to lose sight of a levy or a set of powerlines while duck hunting in the STAs.
Unless the victim was permanently Bidenesqued, or in a temporary state of Biden, there really is no reason to be lost in there. Then again, it was a STA, and you never can know for sure what kind of stupidity you will encounter there.
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Post by pinman on Dec 7, 2023 13:45:44 GMT -5
Was lost bad running the duck skiff in the morning darkness and fog on Lake Okeechobee about 30+ years ago. Before GPS so all we had was a compass. Fog was so thick you couldnt see the bow with the spotlight on. Going was slow and daylight started to creep up and we heard another boat. Motored over to a Shiner fisherman checking his traps and asked him "where is Coot Cove?" (name changed to protect the innocent). His reply was "son, you are IN Coot Cove". We knew how to get there but just couldnt tell.
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Post by Stumpy on Dec 7, 2023 14:12:51 GMT -5
I've been turned around from where I thought I was in the woods, but never lost. I use Spartan Forge GPS app on my phone now days, keeps me going the direction I need too
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Post by meateater on Dec 7, 2023 15:11:09 GMT -5
i usually take a needle and rub it on my jacket then place it on a leaf floating in water on a hollowed out tree stump. perfect compass.
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Post by swampdog on Dec 7, 2023 18:10:28 GMT -5
I’ve been turned around while following a bird dog on a cloudy day, while blood trailing a buck after dark, and after a coon hunt after midnight. When I was ready to head back to the truck, I had to stop and carefully think in which direction to go. Luckily my memory ran through some kind of mental recollection exercise and I walked back to the truck each time. I think I have some kind of directional recall that I can’t explain. I remember telling my dad the story and that I was like a migratory duck heading home. Dad said more like a Loon was about right…
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Post by johnnybandit on Dec 7, 2023 18:30:25 GMT -5
I have got turned around in the woods... But I have always found my way back.... I have a good sense of direction and awareness. I do not know why... I can sort of see which direction I need to go in my head..... My Granddaddy Cone was like that... Maybe I inherited from him or I learned it without knowing. As I spent a ton of time in the woods with him.... He did have a compass. But I never saw him use it.... He always said God and the woods would show him the way..... I do not have his devout religious faith. But I do trust what I see in my head.
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Post by 4ward on Dec 7, 2023 18:45:04 GMT -5
I got turned around a couple weeks ago. Overcast, fog, 2-3’ deep in a dense swamp. I wasn’t “lost” but it took me an hour+ to figure out which way to go. I found a nice stump to kick back on until I could figure it out. It’s work walking in that kind of shit, figured it would be better to sit than go in circles. I was trying to take a shortcut 😁
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Post by ogbohica on Dec 7, 2023 20:47:29 GMT -5
Which one of you great woodsmen was this? Mr ogBohica, was this you again? Come on man! Getting lost in a STA? How about Levys, power lines, sunsets? Leaving early enough to see your way out if you lack outdoor/terrestrial nav skills? share.newsbreak.com/5lhodnlrPathetic s fk.... probably had new duck commander gear on with a neck full of duck calls and fake bands strung on the lanyard.
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Post by One Man Gang on Dec 7, 2023 21:23:51 GMT -5
I don't recall ever being lost but I may have had instances where I wasn't sure of the easiest or quickest way back. Like some of you, I believe I have a pretty good sense of direction, and I pay attention to landmarks. Using a GPS in recent years has significantly dumbed that ability down but it's still reliable when i need it.
Screwing around in fog out in the glades (and the coastal areas in the gulf) can be challenging so going slow is important for multiple safety reasons. Navigating in the fog is a bitch no matter what you're doing unless you have a good GPS. Even then I'm always on edge.
About 30 years ago while tuna fishing out of Trinidad I was setting gear about 250 miles of the coast of Guyana or Suriname. I don't recall which one but it was a 4 day steam back to Port o Spain from my last known position.
On the very first day we hauled about 7 miles of gear and I went inside to write down notes and record our position, only to find that I had no working electronic navigation equipment. The GPS completely gave up the ghost. I had a total Venezuelan crew at the time and had to use Spanish to communicate with them which frankly sucked. I told them we were not going home and would continue fishing for another 7 days to cover expenses and hopefully make a few bucks for our troubles.
Now that doesn't sound like a big deal to some of you but at that point my best guess as to where in the world I was currently at was based on Intel that was about a hour old. The first section of gear drifted that first morning about 7 miles to the south after sitting in the water for about 10 to 12 hrs. Everything from that point forward would be sheer speculation. We fished about 40 miles of gear every day and going forward I had no way knowing which way, or how far it would drift after cutting it off after setting it. With every subsequent day of fishing my guesswork would be significantly less accurate. I only had water temp to follow while setting my gear out and prayers that the whole shooting match didn't end up drifting inside the 200nm EEZ of any country I didn't have a permit to fish in.
So, with no other boats around, I fished 7 more days not knowing where in the hell I was on the planet. The only thing I knew was that Trinidad was about 4 days to my west, and the longer I stayed out fishing, the less I would know when it was time to head home.
Surprisingly my dead reckoning was accurate and within a few hours of my estimate. We only ran into a problem after I stayed up the entire 4th night to make sure we hit the passage between Tobago and Trinidad. I didn't want to let some inexperienced guy overshoot Tobago and sail up into the Caribbean. Once we hit the pass we could follow the coastline across by radar to the Bocas and turn south, then east to Port of Spain. At that point I laid down and let my Venezuelan mate take over who ended up driving right past the Bocas without waking me. When I got up we were over in Venezuelan waters and had to back track a couple hrs to get back to the Bocas.
We made it back, obviously, and even though I didn't know where in the world I was for a week, I never once felt "lost".
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Post by micciman on Dec 7, 2023 21:27:57 GMT -5
I've been turned around as weel a time or two in unfamiliar woods after dark. ON the lake as well socked if with fog.
I guess if you hunted within eyesight of a levy or powerline it would be hard to get lost.
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Post by One Man Gang on Dec 7, 2023 21:42:45 GMT -5
For those of you who don't know... You're hard pressed to not see a power line or levy in the STAs. They are a compact area of vegetated cells with paddle in only duck hunting. A little paddling effort in any direction will put you on a levy.
Frankly, there is no reason that I can think of why anyone would get lost to the the extent that the sheriff's chopper would need to be called in to find you.
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