Thread: A cautionary tale

Hey guys,

Thought I'd share my tale of a hunt gone wrong to highlight the need for care & preparedness on all hunts, whether they be long multi-day hunts or 'simple' day trips.

This Wednesday I'd had a particularly productive day at uni, so thought I'd treat myself to an afternoon wander to find some goats. Drove out to a spot not far out of town. Left my car about 3pm & wandered down the track into the block. It's a spot I know & have been to a number of times recently (half a dozen times in the past 8 weeks in fact), & the track is generally good & well maintained (in fact DOC have been in there in the past few weeks doing some track maintenance).

Had walked about half an hour down the track on the way to where I wanted to go when things went wrong. Along one spot which narrows a bit I put my left foot down & the ground just slid away under me. I assume the rain earlier in the week must have softened the ground. It happened super quick, no chance to react, but all of a sudden I was falling. Fell about 3m straight down into the creek below, landing on a sharp nasty pile of rocks on my lower back. Luckily I didn't smack my head. Anyway, I lay there twisted over the rocks for a minute or two trying to compose myself. Was awfully close to setting off the PLB, but could move a little, so decided to drag myself back up to the track. Instead of 30mins it took an agonising almost 2hrs to get back up to the car, but I got there. Phone took a knock during the fall so couldn't ring for help.

Knew I needed to get to the hospital, but didn't want to show up with a rifle in the vehicle, so managed to drive myself home, planning to get the rifle away & then go down to the hospital. But upon arriving at home & struggling for about 15mins I couldn't actually get myself out of the car. Neighbour rang an ambulance for me & locked up my rifle. When the ambo arrive I got loaded up with morphine. They decided to send for a couple of fire engines, as I'd hurt my back they were debating whether to chop me out of the car (they managed to get me out after about 30mins without having to cut it open).

Got me to hospital, loaded me with more drugs, cut me out of my wet clothes & I had x-rays. Ended up with what the doctors think are hairline fractures on the transverse process of a couple of my vertebra, & my back muscles have taken a severe beating, along with a few other scrapes & bruises. Luckily only hairline fractures, & they are stable, so I'll be fine with no need for surgery, but the healing process will take a while & I'm currently still in hospital unable to sit upright or walk due to pain levels, & will likely be in for several more days (although I'm hoping I won't have to spend my upcoming birthday stuck here eating hospital food).

Anyway, just thought I'd post this as a reminder that you don't need to be out there on a big epic adventure for things to go wrong, they can happen any time on any trip, even if you're prepared & careful (although being prepared & careful will obviously help minimise the risk). Even though I was only planning to be out for 2-3hrs I had a PLB with me, & while I didn't end up using it I'm glad I had it. In hindsight it was probably a pretty stupid move to drive myself back to town in that condition, & the ambulance crew also said I should probably have just set off my beacon.

So please guys, be careful out there! & prepare as best you can for what could happen. Take a PLB, even if you're just out for an afternoon shoot in an 'easy' location. Have an adequate first aid kit, wear appropriate clothing for the conditions etc. Just remember fun & responsibility aren't mutually exclusive.

Alex.

Good story, glad there was a (semi) happy ending. Always pays to have enuff to spend the night out, doesnt take much at the end of the day. Also shows what you can do when you have do

FAAAA That's quite a tale Alex. We are glad you made it out alive. Hope your recovery is rapid...

Good reminder, easy to get a bit casual about gear when you're just popping out for a few hours walk.

look after yourself mate ,thinkin of ya.too bloody close for comfort.

spend the night out, doesnt take much at the end of the day.
Saw what you did there. 223nut

Thanks for sharing, hope you get well soon.

Originally Posted by Blaser

Thanks for sharing, hope you get well soon.

+1

far man hope you get better soon Dude

could have ended a hell of a lot worse then it did.

Thanks for sharing @Pixie Z

Hope you have a speedy recovery

My PLB goes everywhere with me now.

Cheers
Pete

Good reminder mate
Sucks about the injury tho speedy recovery eh

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Cheers everyone. I'm recovering well. 4 nights in hospital so far, but think I'll be able to get out soon & finish recovering at home. Managed to walk today for the first time since Wednesday with my trusty zimmer frame.

Yeah @223nut having to stay overnight was the one thing I wasn't prepared for. If I'm doing longer day trips I do take enough gear in case I need to stay overnight, but as this was planned to be a super short 2-3hr trip I hadn't bothered this time. But the big thing I'm glad I had is the PLB, even though I didn't use it. It definitely provides some piece of mind for both me & my partner. Just wanted to post this to remind people that even super short 'casual' trips need to be prepared well. It is easy to get complacent on those short trips.

Good on you for putting this story up pixie. hope recovery is going well

Good on ya Alex. A timely reminder to all. It sounds like you are one tough nut having endured the pain and difficulty you must have been in and still not setting off the PLB.

Originally Posted by Rushy

Good on ya Alex. A timely reminder to all. It sounds like you are one tough nut having endured the pain and difficulty you must have been in and still not setting off the PLB.

Had a slip on the hill recently as well, pinged my knee late in the day and was faced with the prospect of spending the night for the first time. Had a sit down and something to eat cleared my head and decided to get of the hill and back to camp. Leg was completely locked out but managed to get down by limping and buttscooting.

The walk out to the hut the next day was pretty fun, took me about 2 hours to get in there and about 5 to limp out.
Bit of a bummer as it happened on the first day of a 4 day heli trip, but all part of the game I guess.

Hope the recovery goes well, had a pretty bad spine injury as a kid coming of my skater, they aren't much fun.