hey, ya'll, first time here-great wisdom and some humor' too! Thought I'd pass on a couple of things that I practise when I'm out hunting by myself. I work weekends so Iam forced to hunt by myself quite often. It goes without saying that you need to have survival gear with you at all times (first aid, emergency shelter, fire building skills, food, water, etc.) Never leave your camp or rig without your gear-not for one minute or 100 feet! but that's been covered, so I'll get to it. I never explore an unfamiliar road in my 4x4 past 12noon. I'll mark it and come back the next morning. this way if I go past the point of no return (daylight-wise) and I happen to get stuck or break down, I still have plenty of day light to walk out. No one wants to hike unknown territory in the dark, and I hate leaving my rig out there if I have options. Besides, that would be the time that I bag my trophy buck, and now I have other issues. What the hell, I'd probably take the shot and worry about my truck later, but I'd rather not be in that predictament. Also, I leave one of my walkie-talkiesat home with my wife, on a preset, locked in channel, along with a map of the area that I'm hunting. I leave a second radio in my truck, in case I have to abandon it. Any searcher that finds my rig will find the radio and a copy of the map and instructions on how and when I will be using my radio. I leave my rig unlocked. If I haven't checked in at home, or I'm overdue, my wife knows to contact the authorities nearest my intended hunting area and to provide them with the radio that I left with her. I carry two other radios with me at all times in case of damage or loss. To save on battery life, I will broadcast a mayday at 5 minutes to the top of each hour till 5 minutes after the top of the hour. example: 11:55 to 12:05. And yes, I always pack an extra watch. This gives my wife A little peace of mind, and narrows the odds to my favor a little bit. It may seem like overkill, what with two watches, four radios, passing up new and intriguing territory, but I want to be able to hunt again tomorrow and next year and the next...Besides, my cheap hunting partners know I have four radios, so when we are able to spend time together in the woods, the bastards use my radios and batteries. Oh well, good huntin pards are hard to come by and well worth the price of any gear that we can share. Well, I hope these little bits of info can help some one else. And by the way, I too am a native American. I was born here in the good ol USA, just as TruNative was. Funny thing, anthropoligists have all but proven that " native Americans " most likely came to the Americas over the land bridge from Asia. My wife is half Choctaw, and neither one of us finds ANY word offensive, we judge all people on their honor and integrity, their actions and deeds. We are not threatened nor made to feel insecure by the words of others, unless it's the words of liberal politicians who want to take our rights and guns from us. So keep on sharing these ol Injun tricks and keep on shootin straight. Ya'll be safe.
