Illinois hunter survives two wintry nights in Colorado backcountry
Nearly nine inches of snow that fell in northern Colorado last week prevented rescue teams from reaching a 57-year-old Illinois man who became separated from his hunting group.
The man survived two wintry nights in the Rawah Wilderness before he was found.
The hunting group called authorities Monday evening to report their friend was missing, according to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office. The group had last texted with the man three hours earlier before they walked out to the trailhead to place their 9-1-1 call.
They reported the lost hunter was well-equipped with warm clothing, a sleeping bag, and water. He also had military experience.
JCSO immediately attempted to pinpoint the missing hunter's location with a phone ping, but that failed.
As the sun went down and the storm picked up, authorities decided it was unsafe for rescue teams to deploy that evening.
A search effort was launched the next morning. Aircraft were grounded due to snow and wind. After 10 hours of searching, the ground teams returned and the search was suspended for the night.
Those teams, fortified with additional teams and search dogs, went back in Wednesday morning. The storm cleared and aircraft arrived to carry searchers deeper in and assist the search from above, JCSO recounted in a social media post.
"Search operations were especially challenging due to winter conditions, including cold temperatures, snow, and difficult terrain within the Rawah Wilderness. These factors made navigation extremely difficult for both searchers and the missing hunter," the sheriff's office described.
Shortly after noon, the hunter was able to make several 9-1-1 calls. Those calls were routed to surrounding dispatch centers which used the signal to try to narrow down the hunter's approximate location.
Using that information, an aircraft located the missing hunter around 1 p.m. He was in good condition, having stayed warm by starting a small fire.
JCSO cited a large number of agencies which partook in the operation: Albany County (Wyo.) Sheriff's Office, Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, Arapahoe Rescue Patrol, Classic Air Medical, Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Colorado Search and Rescue Association, Fort Collins Fire Rescue, Grand County Search and Rescue, Jackson County Search and Rescue, Larimer County Search and Rescue, Larimer County Sheriff's Office, Larimer Emergency Telephone Authority, Northern Colorado Regional Dispatch Center, and Rocky Mountain Rescue Coordination Center.
