Lost hunter survives two nights alone in remote, snowy wilderness, CO cops say
A lost hunter survived two nights alone in a remote and snowy Colorado wilderness area, deputies said.
The man from Illinois texted his group he was lost at 3:21 p.m. Sept. 22 in the Rawah Wilderness area, near the Jack Dickens Trail, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
His hunting group contacted authorities after 6:30 p.m. to report the missing 57-year-old man, deputies said.
But rescuers couldn’t search for him that evening because of “deteriorating weather conditions and darkness approaching,” authorities said.
The hunter, who has military experience, was prepared with warm clothing, a sleeping bag and water, deputies said.
Search teams spread out to find him the morning of Sept. 23 amid “snowy, cold and windy conditions,” deputies said. They looked for 10 hours but couldn’t find him, describing the area as having difficult terrain.
More efforts continued Sept. 24, and included using search dogs and a helicopter to find him.
During the search efforts, the missing hunter called 911 several times, and he was found at about 1 p.m. Sept. 24, deputies said.
“He was found to be in good health and credited his survival to staying calm, starting a fire, and using his sleeping bag and clothing to stay warm,” deputies said.
The Rawah Wilderness is in Larimer County, in northern Colorado, and is a roughly 100-mile drive northwest from Denver.
The wilderness area spans more than 74,000 acres and is a mountainous area with 25 named lakes, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
