how deos this happen in Indiana?

[BigBoxaJunk]

Got lost in the woods at night once in Missouri. Was scouting an area in Mark Twain national forest for deer hunting. I was confident I knew where I was at. It started getting dark and I started to head back to the truck. I was wrong. I tried not to get upset, but its not a good feeling being lost in the woods at night. I walked for over an hour and realized I had walked in a huge circle, was right back where I started. So I just sat down and occasionally I would hear a vehicle off in the distance. I just started walking toward the sound of the road. When I finally made it to the road I was only about a mile from my truck. But it was after 10pm. That was no fun.

I was deer hunting in a big chunk of Hoosier Nat. in Jackson Co. many years ago. I was using the compass that got for Christmas, more to get from camp to my stand directly than to keep from getting lost. It worked fine when I was scouting the spot, but for some reason, I had a problem on the first day of the season. I knew where I was going, but my compass indicated that I needed to go a different way, so I followed it. When I came upon a certain gnarled oak at the top of a ridge, I knew for sure I was going in the opposite direction than I should have been. That's when I realized that I was holding my compass with one hand and my TC Hawkin with the other and the gun was messing with the compass. So, the only time I almost got, not lost, but way off track was when I trusted the compass more than my sense of direction.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

I was deer hunting in a big chunk of Hoosier Nat. in Jackson Co. many years ago. I was using the compass that got for Christmas, more to get from camp to my stand directly than to keep from getting lost. It worked fine when I was scouting the spot, but for some reason, I had a problem on the first day of the season. I knew where I was going, but my compass indicated that I needed to go a different way, so I followed it. When I came upon a certain gnarled oak at the top of a ridge, I knew for sure I was going in the opposite direction than I should have been. That's when I realized that I was holding my compass with one hand and my TC Hawkin with the other and the gun was messing with the compass. So, the only time I almost got, not lost, but way off track was when I trusted the compass more than my sense of direction.

Also - there's a big difference between using a compass to know what direction you're headed... vs. orienteering. You can get just as lost with a compass as you can without one - if you're not using it properly (No - not a dig at you personally, I promise. Though it is funny that your ML threw the thing off!)

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

Also - there's a big difference between using a compass to know what direction you're headed... vs. orienteering. You can get just as lost with a compass as you can without one - if you're not using it properly (No - not a dig at you personally, I promise. Though it is funny that your ML threw the thing off!)

Yeah, I know what you're saying, although I have no experience with orienteering.

 

[LtScott14]

Call Bear Grylls. He's at the hotel doing nothing!
Take your gear in a belt pouch, don't leave it in a backpack. Does not take a lot to learn the compass. Tell someone when/where you will be.
Remember the jingle " A three hour tour" from Gilligans Island!
Good luck.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Yeah, I know what you're saying, although I have no experience with orienteering.

I only had bare minimum orienteering "lessons" while in Boy Scouts. I think I was 13 or 14 at the time. Over 20 years ago...

I think I forgot what all I'd learned about three days after that day was over, actually.

I understand the principle - quite sure I couldn't execute it.

 

[Bluestarbass]

I think not knowing the terrain kills you. I got lost in the desert in AZ once. I think people there would know better, and laugh at me. I would have no issues navigating anything in indiana, or this kinda of terrain.