Thread: WHEN THINGs GO WRONG AND YOU END UP PUTTING YOUR LIFE ON THE LINE

@57jl .... You not at least double vaxxed? If you had been they could have tracked you?

A good tale with a good outcome ... all the best for the recovery.

Damn... I've near done that a couple of times, minus the leg in the hole trick that does up the anti a touch. But had several occasions where I've taken the wrong ridge and it's turned a half hour walk into a bloody multi-hour jungle bash up and down cliffs etc. Never needed PLB but was rooted at the end of them and needed a few days licking the pride and recovering. Nowadays it's a GPS with hansel and gretel feature engaged and waypoints pinged at pertinent places. Worth the hassle.

Well done mate. You kept your cool and made a good assessment of your situation. You showed real guts and determination to give yourself the best chance. That in itself is a stellar lesson for us all. I wish you all the best and a speedy,
complete recovery.

Wow
Much of what I would contribute has already been said. I will point out that last night I watched a movie called ‘Fall’. It is about climbing and the title is self explanatory.

To the OP, after your experience, you may find yourself second guessing yourself. You should not doubt your story telling skills. Your post had me squirming in my seat more than the movie. Even the all caps title didn’t prepare me for what I just read. This has been a stark reminder of how easily it can suddenly go wrong. I thank you for your post and wish you a good recovery.



I also wish to float an idea and see how everyone feels about the idea.

As the OP has stated there is ~2k worth of equipment out there in the bush. The OP cannot go and get it. I can’t help but feel for the guy especially considering it could so easily be me. I would be happy to pledge say $20-50 reward to the person (or a charity of their choice) who does find it and returns it to the OP. If enough of us pitch in it would be a worthwhile exercise for the finder.
The key would be keeping it honest and making sure the location of the gear wasn’t disseminated to anyone who might just keep it for themselves. What say you all?.

if I read story right....he dragged himself short distance to nearby scrape...and again to where chopper picked him up...there will be significant drag marks still there and the location of slip and fall should be easy enough to work out from there...... MOST LANDsar personal SHOULD be able to backtrack that with ease...if I wasnt so far away would be keen to go myself. if its a fly in jobbie HOPEFULLY the company concerned would help out with drop off and pick up...worth a crack contacting them...they SHOULD be able to put you right on the spot too.

Rescue heli will have pickup waypoint ….

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

Trouble is it's a private block
There's a bit of organising required to get access.
Highly likely the spot won't be hard to find for anyone that was involved in the recovery.
From what's been explained so far, it's also highly likely the gear will be quite close to where he was found.

Yeah the private block thing basically narrows it down to people that are going in to hunt deer and might have time to scratch around in the scrub looking for a bag when really they’re there to hunt and have paid for the transport.

If the bag was just up behind the hut I’m sure most guys would have a look, but in the first instance I’m picking (and the OP can correct me) it’s more than a 5 minute stroll from the hut. Second, it can be hard work finding stuff in the scrub. If whoever is searching doesn’t find it in the first ten minutes, it could easily blow out to 1-2 hours.

So recovering the gear depends first on someone from within a narrow band of options, having the information and motivation to go and search.
It then becomes a case of that person or person’s having either good luck or good determination. Hence my idea to stump up a reward, to help with the motivation and determination.

Bro thats hardcore

Goes to show there is no 100% best place to keep your gear.
I went away from a bum bag for the same reason and now keep it in my pack as chances are it will stay with me longer and if i do take a good tumble at least its a little more protected.

Good luck with recovery and enjoy spending time on google earth and planning future adventures.

As stated in a post earlier I carry an epithet in a secure pocket of hunting top along with a lighter that works, something to start a fire, knife, cord and emergency buggy bag. Other gear goes in bumbag, easier to negotiate tight scrub with than backpack, although I do use bp from time to time. I’ve taken some good tumbles over 40+ years of hunting and haven’t lost a bumbag yet, touch wood. I hunt a minimum of 3 days most weeks so the system works for me. Just my 2c. Again good luck with leg recovery, from experience it’s not fun and takes a while.

Just noticed flipping spell check corrected some words in previous post. Epirb and bumbag.

That story had me wincing... good lesson to keep the PLB in a secure top pocket.

In relation to finding the OP's gear I went to the horses mouth. Had a yarn with the chief pilot, know him reasonably well. He was flying HS's machine when searching. To give everyone a rough idea of the state of the country it took Land SAR an hour to cover 400 metres. The scrub is storm damaged manuka. The SAR guys searched for the gear up from where the OP fell. The site is in a gully towards the head of the block. Not pretty. If you've been in that shit you'll know what I'm talking about. If you haven't been, don't. The bum bag could have been seperated anywhere in that vegetation, and you not know it. The OP did extremely well to survive. Big ups to the team involved too.

I never thought this medicine could be useful in NZ before read this thread since here do `t have wolfs, leopards and snakes., but I have ordered three today, just in case since I may a lone hunter for sometimes.
The red pellet is to give me longer time to rescue, say two hours, maybe three f I got internal bleeding or extreme pain might cause me pass out. the powders is to stop bleeding, but it will cause more pain, more pains.... if use it on wounds, no matter how tough you are, you will feel it. You may find similar one in NZ, do `t buy it, it `s all fake.

Originally Posted by longshot

Yeah the private block thing basically narrows it down to people that are going in to hunt deer and might have time to scratch around in the scrub looking for a bag when really they’re there to hunt and have paid for the transport.

If the bag was just up behind the hut I’m sure most guys would have a look, but in the first instance I’m picking (and the OP can correct me) it’s more than a 5 minute stroll from the hut. Second, it can be hard work finding stuff in the scrub. If whoever is searching doesn’t find it in the first ten minutes, it could easily blow out to 1-2 hours.

So recovering the gear depends first on someone from within a narrow band of options, having the information and motivation to go and search.
It then becomes a case of that person or person’s having either good luck or good determination. Hence my idea to stump up a reward, to help with the motivation and determination.

yes it is not a cheap place to fly into anymore compared to what it used to cost when we went in 6 hunters flew out which makes for hard hunting with all that human smell around if I recover ok and can walk alright I can go back for a look my mate has been hunting that block every year for the last 44 years cost us $980 each this time for a 7 day booking for fly in and hut fees this time then there is food and travel costs etc on top of that, he rebooks the same time every year and if you don't it is hard to get back in the place.so for the cost i think you would be hard out hunting to get your moneys worth not searching for someones great. i have come to terms with losing that gear shit happens I need to concentrate on my leg now and do my best to recover i am 66 at the end of the month so not a spring chicken anymore the break is just above my titanium and plastic knee joint that was done 2 years ago so the challenge is not an easy one this time around to get everything bending and moving as it should in my right leg my misses reconds I am banned from going hunting anymore I got news for her

Originally Posted by RugerM77

In relation to finding the OP's gear I went to the horses mouth. Had a yarn with the chief pilot, know him reasonably well. He was flying HS's machine when searching. To give everyone a rough idea of the state of the country it took Land SAR an hour to cover 400 metres. The scrub is storm damaged manuka. The SAR guys searched for the gear up from where the OP fell. The site is in a gully towards the head of the block. Not pretty. If you've been in that shit you'll know what I'm talking about. If you haven't been, don't. The bum bag could have been seperated anywhere in that vegetation, and you not know it. The OP did extremely well to survive. Big ups to the team involved too.

yep got myself in deep shit trying to take a short cut I should have known better ABIG THANKS TO THE GUY WHO RESCUED ME