For Hunting, fishing, hiking, boating or cycling in all kinds of
weather
Communication in the wilderness is a matter of survival, as well as convenience.
Before even leaving home, communications must begin. In fact, our first two
communications tips do not even require equipment or gadgets.
"Make sure that somebody knows when you leave, when you expect to return
(or get to your destination)," advises Chad Brown, owner of
Farm and Field fishing and
hunting equipment auctions, a website geared to hunting, fishing and
farming. "Provide as much information about your route as
possible.
Things can happen. Rocks can fall on your head while hiking. Boats can tip
over while fishing. Firearms can malfunction while hunting. Somebody needs
to know that you are late in arriving...and where to send search parties
to go hunting for you. In fact, this is the same advice I used to give drivers
in winter weather when I was spokesperson for
CAA Ontario.
The second tip is to never head into the wilderness alone. Just as one should
never go swimming without a swimming buddy, nor should one go long-distance
cycling or hiking, nor hunting, camping or fishing in a remote area without
a buddy.
My wife's uncle took the business end of large falling branch on his skull
while out in the forest, knocking him unconscious and cracking his skull
down the middle. Eventually his skull will heal, but only because he had
companions to get him into town. Otherwise, he might still not be
found.
Here is another report, this one from the
New
York State Department of Environmental Conservation about a fall from
a tree stand: "The subject had no communications equipment with him. No phone
or radio. If the subject had left word of where he would be and approximate
hour of return, a response may have been quicker. Cause of Death: The subject
suffered a broken shoulder, multiple broken ribs on one side, a punctured
lung, and a punctured spleen."
This is hunting equipment?
Assuming you are still conscious, it helps to have some communications equipment
while out hunting, fishing or camping. Of course, there is the ever popular
cell phone, which brings instant communications to almost everywhere in the
world. Except maybe your wilderness trek.
But there are many places where cell phone range covers your fishing lake
or hunting woods. The best part about a cell phone is that, even in the
wilderness, you can have utterly normal conversations with pretty well
anybody.
"Yes, nice weather we are having lately. OK, darling, on my way back into
town I'll pick up some milk and peanut butter and...wait! Was that a whitetail?
Gotta go." Click.
Not only that, with a cell phone you can even catch up on your email while
crouching in your tent or scaling a cliff, with an
email to phone service.
A two-way radio is a much surer piece of equipment, because it does not depend
on the cellular phone network to connect. The downside is that you get to
speak to a much narrower range of people: other two-way radio
owners.
"Hi there, Big Bear, do you read me? Can you get a-hold of my wife to see
if I have to pick up milk and peanut butter on my way back into town? Do
you copy? Oh yeah, you got the weather forecast there, by any
chance?"
Before you leave on any outdoors trip, it is wise to check
the weather forecast. But the weather
forecast can change quickly, so a cell phone or radio serves another
purpose.
"Whaddaya mean thunderstorms and hail?!? I just got here, darling, I don't
want to come home just yet. Oh...alright..."
Of course, you could just have someone email the weather forecast to you
on your cell phone.
Chad Brown also suggests another piece of hunting equipment - keeping a very
loud whistle hanging from your neck. If you are trapped under a tree, pinned
down by a boulder, or wrestling a grizzly bear, you might not have the reach
or the attention span to dial a number. If anybody is within earshot, they
will come running...if not to help you, at least to capture the scene for
America's Funniest Home Videos.
Our final tip might seem obvious, but make sure you know where to call. Have
the emergency number taped to the back of the cell phone (ignore your wife's
idea of tattooing it to your forehead; where would you find a mirror in the
middle of a ravine?) and make sure you know what frequency to call for help
on the two-way radio.
There you have it. You are prepared to go out into the wild and communicate.
Make sure to prepare, to have the right hunting equipment or fishing gear
for communicating, and know how to use them in an emergency.
And if the animals don't understand what you are trying to communicate to
them, you might not be any worse off than in the city.
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