First responders in Saguache County, Colorado, saved a lost hunter from exposure Friday night after he managed to contact authorities for help.
The hunter, whose name was not released, told officials he was lost, hypothermic, and could no longer walk, according to a statement by Saguache County Search and Rescue. Passing thunderstorms and snow showers had soaked his clothing, and he reported that he was wrapping himself in an emergency blanket and a plastic tarp.
The Gunnison County Sheriff’s Office dispatch managed to obtain the man’s GPS coordinates before his cell phone battery died. It’s not immediately clear what SOS device the hunter used to contact authorities.
At 9:18 p.m. the Sheriff’s Office paged Saguache County SAR, which responded with a volunteer crew of eight people and three vehicles. The crew of medical first responders and technical rescue personnel drove to a “very remote” location in the Gunnison National Forest. (At least two responders had to drive 98 miles one-way to reach the hunter.)
The rescue team managed to locate the hunter 300 yards from the road.
“The survivor had ingeniously used a mylar rescue blanket and tarp to improvise a sleeping bag,” Saguache County SAR wrote in its statement. “He had also used his cloth game bags as insulation. Wisely, he had removed his wet clothing, replacing it with extra dry clothes from his backpack.”
Rescuers used chemical heat packs to re-warm the hunter, and offered him “hydration, nutrition, electrolyte replacement and dry wool socks.” These reinforcements allowed him to recover enough to walk, with assistance, to the road, where he was driven back to his own vehicle. The rescue crew reported freezing conditions and a thin coat of ice “on all surfaces” that made hiking challenging.
The entire operation took seven hours.
The rescue comes just days after officials in neighboring Conejos County concluded a massive six-day search for two missing elk hunters after storms swept the area. The two men, 25-year-olds Andrew Porter and Ian Stasko, were found dead. An investigation into the cause of death is ongoing, according to the coroner of Conejos County; officials reported that they didn’t immediately suspect foul play nor could they immediately identify any obvious injuries. Porter and Stasko, both experienced hunters, dropped out of electronic communications on Sept. 11 and were reportedly last seen by another hunting party on Sept. 12. They were located Thursday by “Colorado Search and Rescue,” according to a statement from Porter’s aunt on the men’s GoFundMe.
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The Saguache County SAR also participated in those recovery efforts.
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