Knowing where you are.

[Rex in OTZ]

This comes up from time to time, wondering where you are or how to find a place with general directions, what way is east that sort of thing, I noticed some folks have a good sence of direction and some dont.
I may not ever know my exact location but useally have a good idea what general vacinity Im in in refrence to over all location.
Finding your way around without GPS and roads to follow.

[Winter Hawk]

I usually can keep myself found.  One day however, I got off in a dog-hair thicket of spruce about 20' tall, probably 20 acres or so I had to cross.  No telling where the sun was, no compass... I finally stayed put and waited until a car came by on the Richardson Highway, from the sound I could tell which way to go.  If that road hadn't been close by I would probably still be in that patch!

-WH-

[blind ear]

Stars or sun if it's clear, better a compas. Have gotten out of the woods knowing which way blackbirds were flying to roost. ear

[Pat/Rick]

I generally carry up to three compasses. One is a spare packed away(pocket compass). One used while moving for general direction and orienteering if needed (Silva "Ranger"). And the other, most used one is any pocket compass with a bezel ring. This one is used before I leave the road, I'll take a few steps in the general direction I'm going to travel (hunt), face the truck and point the "travel arrow" at the truck, while facing the truck, I rotate the bezel until it lines up with the north arrow. If I get turned around for what ever reason I have my truck/road general direction already set. Where I live I have hunted for awhile and am familiar with the lay of the land as it were. I have a major obstacle south of where i hunt, the Columbia River, so I tell folks that if I or you get hopelessly lost to head south (if able)in a days time you'll hit the highway and river. All the guys I hunt with have started using a "truck compass" the "new guy" has used it a couple of times now when the fogs rolled in.

[boommer]

Next time your out walking or driving around just look around and look at the trees and the majority of the trees will ever so slightly lean to the East and little more growth on the east side.
I think it is because the majority of the wind are prevailing from the west or SW or NW and sun coming up in the East draws them East.
In the mountains it's a little trickier because of the valleys and draws. 

[Dee]

I got turned around in a river bottom early one morning goin to a tree stand. No moon, heavy timber, and heavy clouds. No light at all. Got my Photon I keep around my neck on my medical alert necklace, and my compass, and went to my tree stand. If not for those two, I would have had to set till day light. Only time I've ever been turned around in the woods. In big cities at night thats a different matter. For that? GPS!

[Empty Quiver]

Grew up in the flat lands of central Il.

I am not gonna lie, woods, mountains, and rivers give me great concern. You see, in central Il. it'a awfully hard to get yourself lost You have to put in considerable effort not to run across a road exactly one mile from the last road you found. On top of that they are always going N-S or E-W. Without knowing it I grew up not paying too much attention to direction and was never lost and considered myself pretty adept at navigating the praries. Heck there was always a water tower or grain elevator within sight and you knew the siloette of every one of them in the fifteen miles you could see.

Moving to the big woods of Mn. was a rude awakening. Never truely lost but lets just say I pay a lot closer attention to where I'm walking. Then starting the hunts in the Rockies, holey buckets that was disorienting to say the least. It took a couple days to get comfortable with how the terrain layed and navigating without following my tracks. GPS has become my friend I don't trust it a whit but I do ask for some guidance occasionally (battery life).

[scootrd]

A little off topic but not too Far. 

I had just finished Basic training and was on leave at home at a bar celebrating a last night in the states with my friends before boarding a plane for overseas. A guy started talking to me , he asked what the party was all about  and I explained I was headed for Korea , We started talking and I found out he had pulled 2 tours in Vietnam and left 7 months before the fall of Saigon. At the end of the night as he was heading for the doorway he turned and asked "can I give you a bit of advice?" one soldier to another , I said sure , He said "always know where you are,  and what direction your headin in"  then he just turned and left.

The next day I was already in my plane seat when the stewardess came over the intercom requesting me to the front of the plane. I unbuckled my seat belt and walked to the front. When I got there she said a man missed me at the gate but wanted me to have this  -  with that she handed me a note along with a beat up old military issue Vietnam era compass.

All the note said was ... To help you always know where you, are and what direction your headin in.   

You know I never got his last name , but first name was Steve and I never forgot it, and I kept that compass
on me or close by all the way through my military career right up until the day I left.

The day I left I was in Chicago Ohare airport having a couple of drinks waiting for my connection home
when I started talking to a very young and nervous Private , I found out he just finished Basic and was
headed for Germany We talked for a bit and when my flight was called for boarding I took that compass
out of my carry on luggage and handed it to him and said here I want you to have this  - It's to help you
always know where you are,  what direction your heading in.   

I think Steve would have liked that ... it made me feel good passing it on , and I like to think some years down the road that soldier handed it along to another new recruit in need of assurance and support.

[hillbill]

i guess iver never been lost. i am home now, if id of got lost i wouldnt be here? would i?

[Mikey]

I'm still lost.  The old axiom about moss growing on the other side of the tree is true, but it doesn't help much......

[Old Fart]

I've spent a lot of my life out snooping around in the great outdoors.
One thing I've learned is some people don't have any business walking in the woods.

[scootrd]

I've been turned around hunting over ridges a time or two back when there was no such thing as GPS.
I remember entering the woods , hearing the cars way off on the distant highway, then after hunting over
quite a few ridges all day having the snows start late in the afternoon drowning out all noises.
one takes directional pause  as the landscape and markers you remember take on a very different look
very quickly.

Compass kept me in general direction but popped out into civilization about 3 miles away from car once
Just as last bit of daylight was quickly fading.

[Exoticimager]

A trick my grandfather taught me and I've passed along to my kids and grandkids.
While hunting or hiking, every 5 or 10 minutes, stop, turn around and look where you came from. Locate landmarks, The return trip will look familiar. Have fun.

[Hooker]

Yeah I'm one of those guys that dose not have a built in compass , but Ive never been lost in the woods.
I always know how to get back to camp or to the truck. I have been temporarily displaced a few times but it never takes me long to work things out.

Pat

[blind ear]

Long ago saw an indian on tv that said his tribe didn't have a word for lost, they could only be "crazy" in the jungle.  Myself, I have been lost. ear