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October 13, 2004
Hunter overcomes dire circumstances with help
By Ann Butler, Durango Herald Staff Writer
A 49-year-old Texan narrowly escaped death Monday night after he cut a major vein in his leg while quartering an elk.
La Plata County Search and Rescue was called out at 9:51 p.m. Monday to an incident about 19 miles northeast of Vallecito Lake.
The man, whose name was not released pending notification of his family, slipped while he was dressing a large bull elk and pushed his knife deep into his inner thigh at 5 p.m. Monday.
Butch Knowlton, director of the La Plata County Office of Emergency Preparedness, said the emergency was "kind of an epic story that could easily have been fatal."
The injured man's companion ran down the mountainside into the valley, where he knew there were other hunting camps. That's when the Texan's luck began to turn. At the first camp, the companion found four soldiers from Fort Carson, at least one of whom was a combat-trained medic. The four climbed back up to the wounded man.
"They could issue immediate care and slow the bleeding," Knowlton said. "They put the hunter on a mule and brought him down to Granite Peak Guard Station."
Then came the second piece of luck. At the station, they found a doctor from the Front Range and someone with a satellite telephone. The doctor administered additional care and called Teller County Dispatch, and they called Hinsdale County (where the guard station is located). Access was easier from the La Plata County side, so Knowlton coordinated the search with the Hinsdale County Sheriff's Office.
After initial confusion over coordinates and the location of the hunter, Knowlton got the proper bearings. He and longtime Wilderness Ranger Biff Stransky, who was at the station, spent the rest of the night talking every 15 minutes for updates. At daybreak, Air Care One from Farmington picked up the injured man and transported him to Mercy Medical Center, where he underwent surgery Tuesday afternoon. The man's condition was not released Tuesday night.
End article
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We see this same type accident every year. Be VERY careful with that skinning knife and those broadheads. Also note that a Sat phone was used to help in coordinating his rescue.
Hunter overcomes dire circumstances with help
By Ann Butler, Durango Herald Staff Writer
A 49-year-old Texan narrowly escaped death Monday night after he cut a major vein in his leg while quartering an elk.
La Plata County Search and Rescue was called out at 9:51 p.m. Monday to an incident about 19 miles northeast of Vallecito Lake.
The man, whose name was not released pending notification of his family, slipped while he was dressing a large bull elk and pushed his knife deep into his inner thigh at 5 p.m. Monday.
Butch Knowlton, director of the La Plata County Office of Emergency Preparedness, said the emergency was "kind of an epic story that could easily have been fatal."
The injured man's companion ran down the mountainside into the valley, where he knew there were other hunting camps. That's when the Texan's luck began to turn. At the first camp, the companion found four soldiers from Fort Carson, at least one of whom was a combat-trained medic. The four climbed back up to the wounded man.
"They could issue immediate care and slow the bleeding," Knowlton said. "They put the hunter on a mule and brought him down to Granite Peak Guard Station."
Then came the second piece of luck. At the station, they found a doctor from the Front Range and someone with a satellite telephone. The doctor administered additional care and called Teller County Dispatch, and they called Hinsdale County (where the guard station is located). Access was easier from the La Plata County side, so Knowlton coordinated the search with the Hinsdale County Sheriff's Office.
After initial confusion over coordinates and the location of the hunter, Knowlton got the proper bearings. He and longtime Wilderness Ranger Biff Stransky, who was at the station, spent the rest of the night talking every 15 minutes for updates. At daybreak, Air Care One from Farmington picked up the injured man and transported him to Mercy Medical Center, where he underwent surgery Tuesday afternoon. The man's condition was not released Tuesday night.
End article
====================================================
We see this same type accident every year. Be VERY careful with that skinning knife and those broadheads. Also note that a Sat phone was used to help in coordinating his rescue.
