Storytime (Part 1): Turned Around

Ever been turned around when you’re out and about in the woods. I don’t say I’ve been lost but just confused a time or two. I want to share about my most recent experience being turned around but first I’ll talk about the first time I remember it happening.

The first time:

In college (I don’t remember the year). A friend had invited me to go deer hunting with him at Bayou Meto WMA near Stuttgart, AR. I had never been to Bayou Meto before so me being the map guy I am I looked at a map and picked a spot to go to for my hunt. I got the coordinates for this spot and put them in my GPS. I went to Bayou Meto after work on a Friday and just slept in my truck that night. I woke up early Saturday morning, got ready and walked into the woods before daylight. It was about a quarter-half mile to my spot I picked but hey I’ve got my GPS. I hunted that morning and walked out at lunch. Since it was daylight I didn’t need the GPS walking out. I ate some lunch at the truck and visited with my friend and some other hunters. I hunted until dark then climbed out of the tree I was in. I packed up my tree climbing stand with the help of a flashlight then headed out to my truck. Oh it’s dark now I need my GPS, after getting it out that’s when I discovered my first problem. The batteries had died and since I had not looked at it since early that morning I guess I left it on all day. No biggie I thought, I’ve got spare batteries. I put in the new batteries but found more trouble. On this GPS if it did not go through the proper shutdown process it did not save that day’s data! If only I had shut it down! I thought again no biggie with my blank slate of a GPS in my hand. I’ve got a map and compass (map nerd). I had printed a WMA map from the AGFC before leaving and stuck it in my bag just in case. I looked at the map and compass and headed out. Again I thought (that’s where I messed up, thinking!) looking at the map if I just head straight west I’ll hit the road out. Instead I walked to the bank of a slough that I knew from the map was past the road. How did I miss it? Looking at the map I knew it would be a tougher walk but I could just follow the slough north and get back to my truck. I walked a short distance along the slough northward and hit the road I was looking for. Oh smooth walking now! The road/trail ended and I had walked out right where the dead end was! After walking through some brush I was on the road. I made it back to my truck, met my friend, and we stopped in Stuttgart for a much needed hot meal before heading back to Monticello!

To keep this from being too long I’ll write some more on the most recent time I was turned around and share it next Monday.

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I want to say thanks for stopping by to read my ramblings. To say thanks more I have a few free phone wallpapers here.

Please do me a favor, if you enjoyed the post please share it with a friend.

Thank So Much! -Michael