When tenderfeet get lost, nobody wonders. But how do experienced outdoorsmen just “disappear”?
Every year, hundreds of thousands of hunters head into the woods, and the overwhelming majority of them come home a few hours later. But every so often, experienced outdoorsmen go missing…and we’re left wondering how it could possibly have happened. A few weeks ago, we recommended a documentary called “Missing 411: The Hunted,” which explores a specific set of circumstances in which experienced hunters have been simply disappearing for hundreds of years. The documentary has a paranormal angle, but the fact of the matter is that much of the mystery can be explained by natural–but still very, very weird–circumstances. So how do experienced outdoorsmen just go “poof”?
Hypothermia
The first and most obvious reason why an experienced outdoorsperson might go missing is hypothermia. People whose body temperature has fallen beyond a certain point–usually below 95 degrees–are considered to be in Stage One of hypothermia. At this point, you’re fully awake and you feel alert. You aren’t. Hypothermia affects your cognitive function in much the same way that alcohol does, but there’s no “buzz” to let you know that your top isn’t spinning straight. Sometimes, hypothermic people simply wander off.
People sometimes rule hypothermia out because the weather was “too nice” for the missing person to have been affected. That’s a mistake. A 50-degree day with a 10-mph wind can become lethal if you fall into a stream and get your clothing soaked.
The confusion of hypothermia goes way beyond “wandering off course,” though. Sometimes victims will do two very, very strange things as their higher brain functions shut down one by one. The first is called “terminal burrowing.” The second is called “paradoxical undressing.” What happens is that, just before death, the body releases the last of its warm blood back to the extremities and the victim suddenly feels very warm. So they take off all of their clothes. Then they get the urge to tunnel down somewhere nice and safe, and they do that, and then they die. (And if they’re ever found, they’re found naked…and sometimes that takes the investigation into their death in the wrong direction.)
Fugue State
“Fugue state” sounds like a really great name for a ska band, but it’s also a really great way to get lost and never get found. Fascinatingly, there seems to be something about the human psyche that reacts very, very badly to the realization that one has been separated from one’s tribe. Put simply, “Humans Totally Freak Out When They Get Lost.” What’s more, this happens to literally everyone regardless of their level of outdoors experience. From the article:
“Ralph Bagnold, a pioneer of desert exploration in North Africa during the 1930s and 1940s and founder of the British Army’s Long Range Desert Group, recalled being seized by “an extraordinarily powerful impulse” to carry on driving, in any direction, after losing his way in the Western Desert in Egypt. He considered it a kind of madness. ‘This psychological effect … has been the cause of nearly every desert disaster of recent years,’ he wrote. ‘If one can stay still even for half an hour and have a meal or smoke a pipe, reason returns to work out the problem of location.'”
So, we know that sometimes lost people will ignore all of the sage advice to stay put and just run like Hell. But that’s not all. Sometimes they actively hide from rescuers…and if they’re found, they won’t be able to articulate why. From the article:
“Stories of people walking ‘trance-like’ past search parties, or running off and having to be chased down and tackled, are part of search and rescue lore. Ed Cornell, the psychologist who studies lost person behavior, says it is very difficult to interview someone just after they’ve been found: ‘They are basically scrambled’ and can remember little about what happened to them.
The Takeaway
What’s the takeaway? Well, it seems that Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy book cover had the right idea: DON’T PANIC. As we just learned, however, that advice is easier said than followed. There’s a very simple, easy-to-remember concept that they teach kids, and that is that “If you get lost, hug a tree.” The idea is just to force yourself to hold still for just a few minutes, which is generally going to be enough time to let that panicky fugue state pass. Then, once you’re calm, do whatever you need to do to get and stay warm…even if it’s not all that cold.
Daniel Grant Braatz says
Even monkeys fall out of trees sometimes
LocalHero says
Nice try but this doesn’t even come close to explaining the Missing411 phenomena. The fact is, NOBODY should ever completely disappear let alone thousands of people over decades. Something should eventually be found but many times not only does the person vanish but all their clothing, gear and guns are never found either.
Norm Satterly says
It was early fall a few guys from the air base decided to go bird hunting in and area that we were told had plenty of birds, We walk into a heavy grassed field with a few trees. We walked straight across the field put a few birds in the air some were even shot. the sun had set we started back to the road. it was not long before 2 of the guy started to panic thinking we were lost. We were a bit off course but I did not think we were lost. I had to convince the men to follow me. When we walked into the field I could here the sound of a jet engine on the test stand at the base. It was on my right side. I told them if we keep the noise on our left side we would at some point come to the road.; twenty minutes later me on the road about a half a mile south of the cars. it pays to take stock of what sounds and sites before going afield.
kimberpross says
Bow hunting (Still Hunting and scouting for muzzle loader season the next day) in Northern Arkansas on a vast piece of TVA land that I had never been on before I became disoriented. This was heavily wooded ridges that all had drainages that lead to Bull Shoals lake. I followed one ridge down to the lake looking for whitetail sign walking along the lake for a few minutes. It was getting late in the afternoon so I decided to start hunting my way back to camp. I walked up the ridge for several minutes and when I was on top I didn’t recognize anything. I had taken a different ridge back than what I brought down thinking it was the same ridge.. While trying to figure out where to go I came upon a cedar glade on top of the ridge that was open enough for me to see the sky. I decided I would return here if it got dark on me before I figured things out. I knew the camp was to my east and I could locate the north star. I continued to still hunt (I thought) while figuring things out when one of my hunting partners whistled to me. He was hunting form the top of a big cedar tree, climbed down since it was nearly dark. He walked to me and said “You were lost weren’t you?” Yes, I said, how did you know. He said I heard you coming for about mile, sounded like you were running..
Mike says
I’ve learned to turn and look behind me every 50-100 yards for anything unusual. Crooked tree, dry creek crossing, rock shapes, etc. I recognize these familiar things when heading back. These things sometimes look different when viewing them from the outward bound side, so I need to see them from the going back side.
Ted says
When I was 15 years old (50 years ago) I left camp for a short morning hunt in a new area. The area was extremely dense with timber and brush. After hunting for a couple hours I broke out of the dense cover and I was several feet above a creek that I was sure went by camp. After following a game trail that was parallel to the creek for a half hour or so, it came down to the creek and I discovered it was going the wrong direction to be going by camp. I freaked out and started to panic, but some Boy Scout training stopped me before I got far and I was able to get control of the panic. I was able to find foot steps in some patches of snow to get me back. I don’t go hunting/hiking now without survival gear, regardless of how long I’m going out. A compass has been in my pocket/pack ever since, regardless how well I know the area. It doesn’t rely on batteries or a signal from some distant transmitter. I have used it from the Alaskan bush to the dense woods of North Idaho to the open prairie of eastern Montana and never got a “No signal” message.
Mick says
Good story and even better advice, I live in Northern Minnesota, you can get lost, but usually it’s winter so the threat of freezing is real…ncars break down, you can flip your sled, or just get too cold to move forward. Gear and a compass will likely be the only thing that will save your life.
Dan says
When I was 13 years old we were hunting a new area and since my dad had a disabled leg he couldn’t walk very well over rough ground, the other person with us, an adult friend of dad’s, took me with him. At one point he left me to go to the bathroom and never came back. to where he left me. After a while i started walking to where I thought the truck was but could not find the road. The panic feeling was terrible. I was thinking of shooting a chipmunk with a 30-30 for food. My dad had taught me that if lost fire three shots spaced a few seconds apart. I did and dad answered with three shots and directed me back to the truck.
After that i ALWAYS NOTED LANDMARKS and carried extra ammo. After the Marine Corps I always carried a compass and survival gear. I now also carry a GPS and radio.
Dan says
I got disoriented while hunting in Colorado in areas I had never been. When I turned around to retrace my steps nothing looked familiar. I admit I panicked, and started frantically searching for something familiar. It took awhile and luckily in about 10 minutes, (maybe not even that much, I wasn’t thinking too well). I came upon a meadow that I had come through. So I clearly understand the point being made here. Since then, I carry a compass only to determine which direction I started. This way, when sun is not visible, I can at least go in the correct direction to get to the car., or at least, the road I’m parked on.