Any one who has hunted has been turned around in the woods I have been really lost twice in my life. You cannot relate the panic you feel when you realize that you have no idea where the heck your at or which way to go to get out.

The first time I got lost was when I was about 10 years old. It was Thanksgiving and I was at my Grandparents house in Elk county. They owned property on top of Boot Jack hill. There was a fire tower within walking distance and I hiked there in the morning. I took the wrong trail off the tower and it wasn't long I was lost. Five or six hours later I finally came to a road and flagged down a car. Funny it was a distant cousin who stopped and took me back to a cold Turkey dinner.lol My uncle told me I hiked about ten miles, that's the longest ten miles I've ever walked.

The second time was Archery hunting in Forest County, I was the first lost hunter in 1968. I didn't get out if the woods till midnight and that was because the fire department was calling me in with a bullhorn.

Feel free to share

I rarely hike(in the woods, meaning non state trails, etc)without a compass of some sort. I always make sure to take a safety bearing when I leave the truck. I always hunt with a GPS these days. Put a point in at the truck the second I get out. I sometimes walk 12+ miles into the woods when I hunt. THat can be a LOOOONG walk out if you are headed in the wrong direction for half the time :-) IT also helps when you can tell a buddy your location so he can help you drag out a deer!

'no idea where the heck your at or which way to go.'

I'm there now. I've got one bow in eight that I shoot to the right and don't know why. I may have to walk the ten miles, but I'll find the reason why and correct it.

GGShaft, you might get it shootin good and be shooting the other seven to the left.lol

I got lost in the Willapa Hills of Western WA while scouting for elk. Cloudy day, fairly flat terrain. Followed an elk trail with my head down, looking for sign. When I headed back to the truck, the elk trail branched off and so did I. Remained calm, back tracked, no luck. 4 hours later I hit a logging road. Which way? No idea. I was getting ready to spend the night when a pickup drove up with two loggers in it. I explained my situation. They took me a long ways and dropped me off on a ridge. They told me to follow the ridge line and it would take me back to my truck. I asked them to call my wife and off I went.....for 2 hours. As light was fading, I started to prepare a place to spend the night. While gathering wood for a shelter, I happened to glance up a hill and got a glimpse of something white. It was my truck. Funny thing about those guys....they rarely spoke except for simple directions, and they never called my wife. Angels among us? RKK

Aside and correction. Always quoted Tonto to the Lone Ranger: "Me not lost me here, camp lost."

Nope. Watching Netflix Season One of The Cisco Kid...it was Pancho to Cisco. "We not lost. We here. Shortcut lost."

Also, a variation which can cost friendships when you and partner disagree on the direction out...been there done that too.

Not yet! “Lost? Hell I ain’t never been lost! Been confused a mite a time or two, but never lost” Paraphrasing from Brian Keith in “The Mountain Men” Lance

Here's a real original one..."I'd rather be lost in the woods than found in the city." LOL!

Nope I never got lost in the woods or mountains. I always have a map or compass with me, both with me most of the time. Plus the eight years I did in the U.S. Army they were very good at teaching me land navigation. When I hunted out west I had a map, compass, and a GPS on me.

I hunt remote wilderness areas inside the Adirondack Region, have been doing it for years. Come out at dark with a headlamp routinely, sometimes miles from the truck. Born with an internal compass, blessed you might say. But I always pay attention to particular landmarks; outcroppings of rock, mountain sillohuettes, treelines, water, ridgetops, etc. Carry two compasses always. And have self confidence. If you get twisted up, and let the wilderness demons inside your head, your only going to get more confused.

That was Henry Frapp, Knifeguy...Bill Tyler's bud. ;)

If you ever realize you are lost, try to remember "STOP"=1.Sit down, you do yourself no good wandering around aimlessly.2.Think about what you were doing and how you got where you are. Many times you will remember the way out. 3.Observe your surroundings and condition, take stock of your gear. Do you need to make a fire or shelter? Do you recognise any landmarks? 4. Plan your next course of action. A calm person thinks more clearly about what they need to do next. Of course, all this goes out the window when panic sets in.

I always carry a compass and take basic readings.

I cant get lost because I don't care where i'm at in the woods.

If I'm in the woods I'm not lost. When I enter the concrete jungle I'm lost..

Man i got lost once. Only difference was were i was at you cant get lost for long. I yelled help and could still hear my dog bark then i knew where i was. I was young it was not fun.

Will tell is right about the panic that can set in when you realize you are lost. Don't panic! NY Yankee spells it out just fine. Years ago (pre GPS) I was hunting alone in Western Colorado. I had hunted this particular area several times in the past and thought I had the lay of the land pretty well. As I started to head back to the truck, I checked my compass but did not believe it. (Always trust your compass). Thinking I am turned around, I came across a fence line that had not been there in years past. That caused me to panic. Where did it come from? I made myself sit down and think about it. I then realized the fence was fairly new. I took another compass bearing, believed it this time, and walked back to the truck. This whole deal took less than 10 minutes but it sure got my attention.

I am a wanderer! Never been lost, took a accidental 27 mile stroll once , the search party was starting when I strolled in. Dad and I circled the same place 4 hours later once while getting out of the woods in the fog, compass actually failed- had the needle come off the peg. Came back into camp a couple of times after midnight and it wasn't from a tracking job.

And was in Colorado one year and went over the continental divide all the water was correct but BOTH compasses failed me.(again) Lucky I ran into a local hunter and he informed the compassed had not failed me.

I've argued with the GPS a couple of times also. Ahh the memories!

"No, I never did get lost, but I was bewildered for three days once."

Daniel Boone

I was raised in the Appalachians, and came from a family filled with loggers, miners and hunters. They started teaching early, and would routinely mislead or misdirect me as a test, of the attention I paid to them, and to my surroundings. If I wanted to be with the men in the woods, instead of with the women in the garden or kitchen, I had no room for errors. I slipped up, from time to time, but managed to correct and keep them to myself. Fear is a powerful teacher. And my father taught me early about topo maps - first educated generation, with his book-learnin' and all that. Now I don't go anywhere new without a topo I've studied, a compass, and an overnight survival kit. Instincts honed by a harsh education only go so far.

Getting lost is the worst feeling. During gun season (i tend to roam more than hunt) I got sidetracked (nice work for lost) everything looked the same Late in the afternoon so temps dropping. I decided to head in one direction cutting thru someones yard , and coming out on a road (which i knew) Then walked the road back to the jeep which took me about till dark (2 hr walk)

SO yes I've been there. Don't want to be there again.

I take a GPS and a phone now (but these are not foolproof)

Best to have fire making items with you and a powerful flashlight....even an emergency whistle

and always tell someone where you'll be and when you'll be back .

Not to many years ago I was Turkey hunting in West Virginia in Randolph county. I went in the woods at 4AM when it was pitch black. I took a compass reading before I headed up. It took over a hour climb the mountain and hunted all morning. Now I figured if I walked down the mountain the road would be there. I pulled out my compass and it told me to head another direction. Being a little older I followed the compass and came out 40 yards from the Jeep. I would of bet a months pay that compass was wrong.lol

I used to hunt cranberry lake in the adirandaks. We’d boat in a buncha miles than hike a ways. Idk bout you but where I live there are mountains, they all go up one side down the next. Kinda hard to get real lost. In the Adirondacks they peak and drop all kinda ways. This doesn’t bother me as I can read maps and compasses. One morning when I was maybe 20 and knew it all I hiked back three mountain ranges w another guy that knew the area. I knew where I was going and figured when it was time to leave I’d grab my map and compass and head to pick up. One problem. I didn’t have the map. It was in my other jacket in camp that was drying. I was wet and started a fire to dry than foolishly started to hike out. Believe it or not I hiked far enough the correct way I picked up my earlier boot tracks in the snow. It had snowed/rained all day so vast areas were clear but I did make it to the lake right on time. Spent the night w a warm meal and in a warm tent but I was def lost and shouldn’t have left where I was

On the note of getting lost or confused? What are the best tools like compass or GPS to use and keep track of where You are? Not sure about a GPS being all that reliable? Electronics can have lots of problems? Any favorites among those who get out in the wild and wooly?

Been turned around a few times deer hunting in dense wooded stands, but the most embarrassing was when my 15 year old brother-in-law, who lived with us, got us back to the car. He was good with directions in the woods from night time coon hunting with his uncles with mules and hounds. Between him and my wife, who were kidders anyway, never heard the end of it.

I was in a squad in Panama that got lost on the land navigation course. After finding the first two points, our squad leader had a private take us to the next one. We walked for about an hour on Lord knows what azimuth before a team leader checked the heading. The squad leader was too proud to shoot the panic azimuth and decided instead to navigate all the way back to the base that we were staying at.

Long story short - we spent the most of the night in the jungle until we heard the unit chaplain's vehicle on a road that we had been paralleling since the squad leader decided to walk all the way back to the base.

Flat dense swampy woods are the worst for getting lost in no references

The panic when you are lost or turned around is REAL. I was unable to make it back to camp twice, once in Colorado and another in Montana. In Montana I got out but had to climb straight up a mountain in hip deep snow as I knew where I was when I got on top.

In Colorado I had to stay out overnight. I had a survival kit as I always do so I was good until a nasty lightening storm hit about 3am. Then I got really nervous. I was balled up under one of those tiny space blankets til dawn. My legs were so "asleep" I couldn`t walk. I eventually walked out after figuring out where I was.

The REAL panic is for your buddy back at camp when you don`t return. My brother in law almost had a heart attack.

A compass is not much help if you do not know how to use it. There are very accurate procedures you can use if you know. One way to find them is to do an internet search on 'orienteering' which is a sport based on compass navigation. There clubs doing events in many areas. It could be useful and interesting to join them for a couple of events.

When I was in my prime I also found it a good way to meet single women, who seemed attracted to it as a safe way to explore the outdoors in a group setting. Smart and fit women who loved the outdoors. That's the best kind. - lbg

I tend to get "turned around" (as my Dad used to call it) more when I'm mushroom hunting. Im looking at the ground and not paying attention to land marks. I usually don't have the same problem hunting critters.

I've gotten a little turned around, but never lost. I have a compass and GPS but rarely need to use them.

Really thick flat terrain in mile after mile of woodland is where you have the hardest time keeping your sense of direction. Or snow or fog.

If I can see around I'm usually ok.

If you want to discipline your natural sense of direction, buy a coonhound and run him in the mountains. Everything seems thicker at night, and you can't see landmarks. I've been more tangled around at night running hounds than anytime else. Daylight hunting for the most part is a piece of cake in comparison.

I got myself separated from my 12 year old son while trying to move deer for him in a Nat'l Forest late on a cloudy day, then found a broken compass when I needed it. It was going to be very cool that night and rain before midnight, and we were wearing "stalking" clothes, not "sitting" clothes. Ya can't do many three-shot sequences with a muzzle-loader, either. I was very concerned for an hour or so.

I'd dropped of a ridge with a road along the top, and sidled along the ridge knowing I could go up to the road at any time. Didn't account for an unnoticed knob hill that got between me and that ridge. When I went up and over without finding the road...

I carry three compasses in there now. What do ya do if your two compasses don't agree?!

An 80-sumthing-yr-old got lost in there a couple years ago and survived a couple days drinking what he called "pig water" out of wallows.

And as for GPS? Stumbling around in the Colorado dark with a GPS signal being intermittently blocked by tall columns of water sure left me with a funny looking track on the screen when I finally found my truckful of buddies.

I moved from mountainous terrain to rolling hill country in 83. I decided to squirrel hunt on the local mgt area so I parked my car on the paved road and walked into the woods.

I was hunting squirrels with a TC 50 cal loaded down to the point where it went bloop instead of bang. A head shot on a squirrel at 25 yards was a chip shot and I soon had a bunch of squirrels.

It was bright sunlight when I left the truck, I wasn't going far so I didn't take a flashlight and hadn't thought about a compass.

I crossed one more ridge, went down in a hollow and the weather changed. It went from being sunlight to very dark, then the rain hit, blinding rain. I headed back to my truck but hit a creek I hadn't crossed going in so I turned and went the other direction. It got pitch black dark so fast it surprised me, the aforementioned panic rose in my throat as I realized I was lost and had no idea of which way to go in the dark.

I hit another creek and decided to wade it until it hit a road. In the dark I kept tripping over rocks and fallin so I moved to the bank, sat down under a tree to wait for dawn. Later, after I go out of the woods, I found I was indeed walking in a big circle and hit the same creek that I had walked away from earlier.

The rain came in sheets all night long, the mosquitoes came in a cloud and ate me alive. I had coyotes howling within 25 yards of me. Realizing I was in a survival situation I thought " I wonder what a raw squirrel tastes like" and gave it a try. A couple of bites and I decided hunger was the better option.

When daylight came I saw I was within 10 yards of a rock overhang that was completely dry underneath.I realized if one is lost, make plans to spend the night before it is too dark to see one's surroundings.

I followed the creek in the morning light until I hit an old logging road. Still not knowing where I was I went to the sound of traffic on a distant road. As I topped a ridge I could tell that the traffic sounds I heard were from a major road 5 miles in the distance, the topography had magnified the sounds to make them sound like the road was very close. I then knew I was going in the opposite direction from my car and reversed my path. I walked about 1/2 mile, hit the Mgt area access road and could see my car in the distance. Talk about a relief!

I checked a map later and found the creek that initially confused me that I didn't cross going in came out of the ground and started 100 yards down the hollow from where I went in. I was headed in the right direction coming out but did a 180 degree turn when I hit the creek.

Up to this episode I had amazing homing skills, I could be anywhere in the woods and walk directly to my truck over any terrain as long as it was daylight.

I lost my homing skills for several years, even got panicky in the woods if I got out of sight of my truck.Now I never go into uncharted territory without a day pack with a compass, flashlight, fire starter(no more raw squirrels for me) and a backup flashlight.

My episode was 35 years ago, I have been briefly confused a few times but found my way out with my compass, I have never been completely lost again.

I hunted Wyoming's Bighorn Mountain's high canyon country for a few decades. Long enough to be extremely comfortable in regard to getting around and finding my way in huge tracts of country.

I couldn't see how one could get lost...landmarks everywhere, topography with long distance sightlines, easy place to navigate.

So after many years I didn't even carry a compass, let alone topo maps.

Until...I experienced conditions I'd critically overlooked. Getting caught in a near whiteout snow storm! The story is too long to tell in this format, but suffice it to say...after gathering my thoughts and planning my movements I made it the few miles out of a canyon, across a mile of a sagebrush flat, straight into camp.

The mountains do NOT suffer fools! Since that experience I don't go anywhere without a compass, and out west I carry maps and an emergency kit should I be forced to hunker down for an overnighter.

But, my home state Wisconsin heavy forrests, swamps, and relatively flat topography is really easy to get lost in. I carry a compass everywhere here, especially so on night blood trailing in deep forrest country. Even in country I've hunted for a lifetime.

Besides that...true orienteering is fun in of itself. A skill every hunter should strive to master.

First thing I was taught as a pup bookoo moons ago was if you get turned around on a drive the find a run and take it down hill or a stream and eventually will take you to a town and then ask where you are.

I was like 12 yo and with my father up state Pa. Center Co. and thats big country.

Now I know in ME its different and you better have a GPS especially on your dog some told me.

I did get a little turned around last season in SNJ when I was looking for a deer. My buddy said stay in stand I am going to be late to pick you up. I didn't I got down to find the deer. and I did and then I wasn't sure where I was. It was a dark night and real thick. I got out my cell phone.

Hellow anyone there? LOL Yo not sure where I am exactly I'm at the deer then I saw there flashlight coming to get me.

I was happy the Jersey devil is in them woods too.LOL

Where I live its easy to get "turned around" in the woods or swamps because of lack of landmarks (terrain features) and clear evenings. When it is dark , it's dark. I never leave the truck without a compass. I've only spent one night in the woods but I was single then I don't want to take the thumpin' Sue would give me if she sat up all night worrying about me.

quote: "Flat dense swampy woods are the worst for getting lost in no references" agree. went with a buddy to one of those type areas. i pulled out my new GPS and marked the truck. he laughed " dont need that, been hunting here most of my life". cloudy overcast day, no sun. few hours later, "i dont know where we are" me: compass says that way is north, GPS says truck is NW. him:NO WAY!! 30 minutes later "OK, let's try your GPS" 30 minutes later we walk out at the truck. next day he bought the most expense GPS he could find. lol

Cat brought up a solid point, and one I told any newbies hunting those Wyoming canyons I referenced: If in trouble...with no other recourse...follow the water. It will lead you to somebody's ranch. Might take you a couple days, but it'll lead you out.

Semi-lost once (had relied on two other guy's 2 GPS-es instead of my own reliable compass/map navigation... abandoned those guys and navigatied back by memory and visuals.

Amost-totally-lost once, had relied on compass, visuals, and excellent topo map but didn't realize the world looks different, even on a topo map, from 6000' than it does from 7000". Got lucky-unlost on that hunch about altitude. Got a traditional. pocket-size non-electronic altimeter immediately after and it still works accurately 30 years later.

My dad taught me by getting us lost 3 times when I was a kid - that man could get lost in his own back yard! Once he was hunting solo on a horse in Colo, when a snow storm came in - horse kept wanting to "go the wrong way", so instead of letting horse take him to camp, he got off the horse, smacked it on the ass and told that dumb critter to get - then after the horse went back to camp my dad continued to stay lost for 3 days till a sheep herder run into him and told him there were about 20 guys out looking for him. Best way for a kid to learn directions - don't depend on dad and learn to imprint topography in your mind.

One of my friends was hunting with a group when one of the guys wandered off. These guys were mountain men except for the greenhorn that got lost, they could find their way home in any conditions.

The looked and yelled for the guy for hours, looking down a logging road they saw him cross it running at full tilt. They yelled at him but he didn't stop or acknowledge them.

One of the guys ran him down and just about had to tackle him to get him to stop. He was in full blown panic mode and oblivious to anything around him. Later he said when he realized he was completely lost something inside made him want to run away from the situation and he lost control.

Once, when I was a little kid, I followed some older kids off a trail at a state park. Hours later, we just happened to come upon a dirt road and started following it. A little later, a game officer pulled up in a pickup truck (looking for us) and says "You boys lost?" Boy were we lost! We all climbed in the back and went back to the park. Our Moms were all sick with worry. My mom never said another word about it.

Later, as an adult, I was hunting a piece of woods my uncle owned. I thought I'd walk the "right hand" side of the property up to the line marker. A couple hours later I realized I was on the far side of the lake that was behind the property. I had walked around the backside of the lake. Another 3 hours later, I had walked all the way around the other side to get back to the car via the main roads. My Brother was just coming out of the woods as I got to the car. He says "did you see anything?" "Nope".

I have never been lost... only exploring places that I have never been. It is all in your state of mind.

Main part of Basswood Lake on the US Canadian border. Fog so thick I couldn't see ten foot in front of the canoe. No wind so we decided to just go straight across until we could make out the tree line. We went by a tiny island with a Rapala stuck in a branch. I asked my wife if she needed to get out, then I was going get that Rapala down. a little while later while we were paddling straight across, my wife says, "You still want that Rapala, here it comes again. Maybe, it's time to get out a map and that fancy compass." I had done the compass trick many times when crossing lakes in the dark, I guess I expected the fog to thin up, it didn't.

twice once near bealton va the land is flat as a pancake & on an all day exploring hunt I figured I should have been back to the field already & it was getting late so I decided to head West & came out where I had planned just hours later that I planned. the other time I was on a mountain i hunted for years & the fog came in so thick viability was 10' & I ended up on the wrong ridge I knew it when I heard the train so in both cases more misplaced than lost but not a good feeling nonetheless

I'm afraid when I got lost there were no GPS available. That was some George Jetson gadgets in those days. It's been 50 years since Ive got really lost and carry a compass now and have two GPS that I should learn to use. I don't wander too far from the Jeep these days, not because of getting lost but I can't drag Deer too far anymore.i sure miss the big woods but don't miss those mile long drags.lol

Grew up with three brothers and while Dad was at work, Mom let us roam pretty much wherever and whenever, and if she wanted us back home she set the dog with a note tied to her collar. Been an incorrigible wanderer ever since, every chance I get. A reliable compass can be a huge time-saver, but being lost is just a state of mind. As noted above, it is hard on the folks waiting /looking for you, so with marriage came some rules about letting somebody know a general area and time of my meanderings.

Top of Boot Jack is still wild. Not much has changed around Ridgway.

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