BARRHEAD - An Edmonton-area hunter is back safe and sound after being found in the Timeu area near Fort Assiniboine, about 50 kilometres north of Barrhead, where he spent over 40 hours exposed to the elements.
Barrhead RCMP Cpl. Filipe Vicente said there were two hunters, both in their 40s, moving through the area on the afternoon of Friday, Oct 3, starting close to the staging area near the Klondike Ferry.
"They were hunting along the power line when their machine [an enclosed side-by-side] got stuck in one of the creeks ... at 5 or 6 p.m.," he said.
Vicente added one of the hunters walked out to find help to pull the machine out while the other waited.
"When he returned the following day, his friend was no longer with the machine," he said, adding his friend, along with the helpers he brought to free the vehicle, searched for the missing man into the afternoon.
"When they couldn't find him, they called us," Vicente said, adding police, including an RCMP dog unit and a civilian drone with FLIR (forward-leaning infrared) equipment, arrived on the scene later in the evening.
"We had hoped to bring up [RCMP Air Services], but because of the fog and freezing rain the area was experiencing, the helicopter could not come out," he said, adding due to safety concerns, they terminated the search until the morning.
"The terrain was very treacherous, swampy muskeg, which was too dangerous for members to do in the dark, and we knew we would need additional resources," Vincente said.
When the search resumed, police were aided by Parkland Search and Rescue, the Klondike Trail Search and Rescue Association out of Barrhead, a Barrhead-based Alberta Fish and Wildlife officer, and members from the Goose Lake, Blue Ridge and Fort Assiniboine Fire Departments.
Search crews found the individual at about noon on Sunday, Oct. 5, estimating that he had been in the bush for between 40 and 42 hours when he was found.
Filipe Vicente thanked all the services that came together so quickly to aid the search, adding that about 25 to 30 people were involved.
"It is also a good reminder to anyone going out this fall season to have an emergency kit with fire-starting materials, as it could save your life during this time of year," he said.
Vicente added the temperatures for the weekend were chilly, saying the daytime temperatures ranged from three to five degrees Celsius and below zero at night.
"If he hadn't been able to start a fire, it would have been very easy to get cold, and the next thing you know, you are suffering from hypothermia."
Klondike Trail Search and Rescue Association Kyle Meunier agreed, saying that often, searches under similar conditions do not have a happy ending.
He added that when they found the hunter, he was in good spirits and was in good condition but perhaps a bit dehydrated.
As a precaution, the hunter was taken to the hospital.
"It is a spooky area. There is a lot of terrain, and a person can easily go unfound," Meunier said, adding the hunter told searchers that he believed that a cougar had been watching him almost from the start of his ordeal.
Meunier added the story could have been very different if it had not been for the involvement of the Fort Assiniboine Fire Department.
"Not only did they provide the most searchers, but because of them, we could access the private lands close to where he was found. Without them, it would have taken much longer to find the individual," he said.
Meunier added that the Blue Ridge Fire Department was also instrumental in the search, coming to a successful conclusion by using their Argo off-highway vehicle, which allowed searchers into areas that would have been difficult or impossible to access. The Argo was also used to transport the man out of the bush.
