Believe Me! Believe It!

By A. Sayward Lamb

If you are like most hunters, you carry many items in your pockets or fanny pack to enable you to survive in case of some unexpected mishaps while hunting. I was checking out my fanny pack last fall prior to hunting season. It so happens the pack I carry is larger than most. By that I mean it has more pockets than most and in fact, the one I use has pockets completely around my waist. One is a large center pocket with a zippered top and the other pockets are smaller and are held closed by smaller zippers.

 

I was amazed when I laid out the contents of that pack. It contained: A folding saw, a whistle, wooden matches with waxed heads, a cigarette lighter, two space survival blankets, foot and hand warmers, Band-Aids, tow rope, toilet paper, roll of fluorescent plastic tape, knife sharpener, dried pemmican, beef jerky, dried apples, and two compasses. My hunting knife is carried in a leather case on my belt.

 

If I could only take one of those items with me when I go into the woods, it would be not only one, but two, compasses. I believe this is most important because it can save you many unnecessary steps while traveling through the woods and in some instances, a compass could save you from serious harm or even death.

You may think it isn’t necessary to take a compass along with you when you are hunting in familiar territory, such as near home or in areas where you have hunted over a period of many years. Maybe you don’t need it but I am a believer that a compass can come in handy at any given time, especially in storms or when in thick undergrowths which I often refer to as “pucker brush”. It can be invaluable in heavily forested areas with limited visibility. Swamps, for instance are notorious for being a great place to “get turned around”. Even in the best of weather, visibility is limited to only a few yards. When the sun is shining, it isn’t too difficult to keep somewhere near on course but on cloudy or stormy days, it is very difficult to walk in a straight line. Perhaps many of you do not know that most of us “walk in circles” as we travel in the woods. This may be due to various reasons. First of all, our line of sight is limited making that imaginary “straight line” hard to follow. The second reason may be due to the fact that we may have one leg longer than the other, making an ever so slight variance in direction with each step. Another possibility is the fact that the stride on the “leader foot” is slightly longer (this is the foot we use first in stepping or jumping over obstacles such as small streams, blow downs, etc.). Even if that stride is less than an inch in difference, the distance that most hunters cover in a day can make for a very circuitous route. I find it much easier to use my compass occasionally, even while traversing very familiar territory. It saves not only many steps but you can concentrate on hunting rather than worrying about where you are going.

Several years ago, I found an area where two bucks were frequenting. I really wanted to get one of them, so I waited until one snowy day to hunt that area. A light snow was falling as I entered the woods and as I do before ever striking out, I checked my compass before I entered the woods. This provided a way to get my bearings so I would know the correct direction to travel when I wanted to return to my starting point. Soon after starting out I found fresh deer tracks, even with the light snow falling and I became very engrossed in the hunt. Soon the falling snow turned to huge flakes making visibility very limited. I was in a very familiar area so I continued hunting and following the deer tracks. It wasn’t long before I came upon a set of man’s tracks in the snow. This made me wonder who on earth would be hunting in the same area as I was? I followed the tracks for a short distance and then I decided to place my feet into the tracks- and I found that my boots and the stride were exactly the same as mine. Surprise! Surprise! I was walking in my own tracks! I had unknowingly taken a complete circle and came upon my own tracks that I had made about a half hour previously. It was snowing so hard that I had no way of spotting any landmarks, even though I was hunting in mountainous country. So, I decided it would be wise to check my compass. Almost immediately I knew the direction to take because I had checked my compass before entering the woods. I decided if it was snowing that hard I would have little chance of seeing deer so I would leave those deer alone until another day. After following my compass bearing, I came out only a short distance from where I had left my vehicle. This would have been an almost impossible task without a compass, especially with it snowing so hard.

Now for some reasons why I always carry two compasses: Twice in my lifetime, I have had a pocket compass reverse polarity. These were not cheap compasses but the standard make with a metal case and a lid that closed down to protect the glass and the compass itself. The lid had to be lifted to show the compass face and needle. It so happened that both times the compasses changed polarity while they were being carried in a side pocket of my wool hunting pants. I had my compass tethered to a rawhide lacing to avoid losing it. One end was tied to the compass while the other end of the leather lacing was tied to one of the belt loops of my hunting pants.

As I mentioned before, I always check my compass prior to entering the woods. In both instances when the compasses’ polarity were reversed, I happened to be hunting in familiar territory so I knew which way was north, south, etc. Each time I took the compasses to the store where I had purchases them and had both replaced. However, we never did discover why this happened. I did not have anything metallic in or near the pocket where I carried the compass which happened to be the front right pocket. I hunt left handed so I carried the rifle on the left side or cradled in my arms with the barrel pointed up on the right side. Fortunately, it was many years ago when these incidents happened and thankfully it has never happened since. I may still be overcautious but this is one of the most important reasons why I carry two compasses. I had rather be safe that sorry.

A few years ago, while hunting in northwestern Maine with an out of state friend and an old hunting buddy, we were about to head into the woods. My hunting buddy and me both pulled out our compasses and took some bearing readings before we were to head into the remote woods near the Canadian border. We parked our truck at the end of a wood road about seven miles from the paved highway. I noticed that my out of state friend did not check his compass, so I asked, “Where is your compass?” “I don’t have one,” he replied. “Do you think I need it?” We quickly let him know that there were no paved roads in the direction we were traveling for many, many miles and it might be well to have one rather than face the possibility of getting lost. The rest of the day my friend made sure he remained within sight of me as we hunted.

A couple of years ago, Leon Baker and I were hunting together on snow a few miles south of the Canadian border. Hunting conditions were ideal and we decided that each of us would take a circle around the area. He went one way while I went the other. I had only been hunting a short time when I came upon several fresh deer tracks. I followed them a short distance and noticed fresh deer beds. It took a few minutes to read all of the tracks, trying to determine which way the deer went. Soon I was on the trail of three running deer. They proceeded downhill and eventually came to quite a steep ledge which dropped off rather sharply. I must have been close on their tracks because all three deer apparently slid on their haunches down over the embankment for about forty feet before they took off running in great long strides. I decided to follow them down over that steep slope so I sat on my butt and also slid down over on the slippery snow. When I got up and wiped the snow off, I noticed my compass was still attached to the leather thong but was outside my hunting pants pocket. I picked up the case and immediately noticed the compass itself was missing and only the empty case remained. I knew I didn’t stand much chance of ever finding it in the snow. I also knew I had a second compass in my fanny pack and could use that when the time came to return to our vehicle. Peace of mind can be immeasurable, especially when hunting in such a remote area as I was hunting in that day.

This past fall my son, Jim, and I were hunting together adjacent to property we own in the Dead Man Curve area of West Paris, Maine. The area consists of wetlands and lowlands adjacent to the Little Androscoggin River and Moose Pond Stream. It is interspersed with old pasture land along with swale, swamps, “pucker brush” and scrubby knolls. It is just the type of country that deer love to hide in. I decided I would tromp through some of those thickets looking more for deer signs than deer. I hunted for about there fourths of an hour, when I came upon similar surroundings that I had seen only a few minutes before. Of course I knew I had traveled in a big circle. My intent was to hunt towards the area where I knew Jim would be hunting. So, I struck out once more. The water in the boggy areas was skimmed with a layer of thin ice. I knew it would be wet in those places so I was wearing my waterproof knee boots. This enabled me to travel through some of the wetter areas without taking detours which I hoped would keep me moving in a straighter line. This was not the case because in a few minutes I came to an old wood road a short distance from the river and to my amazement, I could not remember seeing this road before. I have hunted in that area for about forty years but had not been in that particular area for three or four years. I expected things to be slightly different, but to save my soul I could not place this location. I walked along the old road for a short distance until the river came into view. Was I ever surprised to find the river was on my left side when it was supposed to be on my right side! I also noted that the river was flowing in the opposite direction from what it should be moving.

At that moment I knew I was going in the opposite direction from what I should have been traveling. That particular day the skies were overcast so there was no sun to help guide my direction. As I said before, I was also hunting in heavy swale grass, swamps, and thick undercover. I was keeping my eyes toward the ground most of the time, trying to watch for deer signs. All of these things contributed to my being completely turned around and traveling in the opposite direction. This time I made my way without any more difficulties and met up with Jim in about twenty minutes. When he saw me, he said, “It’s taken you quite awhile to get here.” I was not ashamed to tell him that I traversed some of the same country more than once so it took longer than I expected. Ever since that day I have been trying to picture in my mind just where I was when I first saw that old road. I will never be satisfied until I go back to that area and check it out. This only proves a person can get turned around in very familiar territory where you have hunted for many years. Luckily, that doesn’t happen often but having a compass on hand can surely save a lot of steps and offer peace of mind as well.

One of the hardest things to do when turned around or lost in the woods, is to remain calm and not go running off through the woods without rhyme or reason. It is much better to sit down and use your compass to get your bearings. If you checked your compass before entering the woods, you can generally take a reading and come out somewhere near the location from where you started. First, though, you have to believe your compass, and use it frequently. Don’t be ashamed if you get confused as it is an easy thing to do. If a hunter tells you that he never got lost or mixed up with his directions in the woods, then I believe he was never much of a hunter. It can and does happen to the best of us. My recommendation is to be sure to have at least one compass with you when you go hunting but I believe two compasses are even better. Use it frequently to keep yourself on course. It only takes a few seconds to check you bearings and it can save lots of steps and give you peace of mind by the assurance that you are going in the right direction and “Believe me! Believe it!’

A. Sayward Lamb
Woodstock, Maine 2004