Elk hunters found dead

[contender]

My local news has had a story over the last few days about a pair of young men,, (in their 20's) who were missing in Colorado,, on an elk hunt. Their vehicle was found at a trailhead,, and they hadn't checked in with family some days ago.
Search & rescue was started a few days ago.
Their bodies were found. The news had the story last night. Not too many details,, except that (1) guy was from Asheville NC,, and he & his buddy were bowhunting for elk in Colorado near the New Mexico area. Camping equipment was found in their vehicle.
Speculation is either hypothermia, or a possible lightning strike.

I don't know them, or anything,, but it's bad to lose young men who obviously enjoyed hunting.

 

[hittman]

Yeah kinda strange. I know many facts aren’t reported yet. But one thing I read it seemed like they were very well prepared with gear and equipment but once there just walked off into the woods with nothing.

Gotta be more to the story.

 

[Delbert]

There's definitely more to this story than what's being told. Seasoned hunters know how to pack for game and prepare for weather, especially a hunter(s) from out of State.

I've lived in Colorado for many years and the weather can be very deceiving from day to night temps.

 

[contender]

I have zero knowledge of their experience. And since they both were young,, (in their 20's) I would wonder about how "seasoned" the were for a western hunt.
We didn't get any more details tonight on the news. Likely won't either.

My first elk hunting trip I took in 1996,, I know I was a bit of a PIA to the guys I went with. I kept mentioning that I needed to find a place that sold topo maps for the area we were going to hunt.
Then,, I planned to stay out all day instead of hunting until late morning,, coming out for lunch & a nap,, then back in the afternoons. They didn't like that too much either.
Yet,, I also carried with me,, a light backpack with enough stuff to survive at least 2 overnights in extreme bad weather if necessary.

Then I really peed them off. In 3-1/2 days,, I had tagged out with a 5x5 mulie, and a 4x5 bull elk. Public land,, non-guided.
Oh,, any my maps,, were quite helpful in many ways.

But these 2 guys,, I wondered about. I wish I knew more.

 

[Mobuck]

I have doubts about hypothermia but I wasn't there.

 

[bedfordboy]

Our local news had this, not really many answers as to what happened

https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/albemarle-county/two-found-dead-elk-hunting-colorado/amp/

 

[contender]

Two miles from the trailhead,, is a long distance for inexperienced hunters in such a place.
Tragic.

 

[kmoore]

Many times the police or ME will release simple statements like "this appears to be caused by natural causes, exposure, homicide". Followed by more time and examination is needed. But nothing like that has been said. Strange. Autopsy and tests can take weeks depending on the case.

 

[Jim Walsh]

This intrigues me. They appeared to be well equipped and were not complete neophytes if the local news reports are accurate.

 

[Mobuck]

With all the 'modern technology' available, it's hard to understand this scenario. As a 'flatlander' hunting in the mountains 20-30 years ago, I was surprised by how easily one can get 'turned around' while following game trails or stalking. I realize that GPS or whatever can lose signal and 'get lost' now and then but it takes considerable time to succumb to natural causes unless some other factor was involved.

 

[Sam Summey]

A compass, map and as an excess a functioning GPS.

 

[Jeepnik]

A compass, map and as an excess a functioning GPS.

You might be surprised how few folks go into the wilds with a map or compass. Heck even if they had them they wouldn't know how to use it.

 

[mirglip]

As a 'flatlander' hunting in the mountains 20-30 years ago, I was surprised by how easily one can get 'turned around' while following game trails or stalking.

I find that it's much easier to lose my bearings in flat land. In the mountains the terrain is one more landmark to prevent me from getting lost.
I had GPS once but never carried it because it was too procedure intensive. I carry maps on my ATV and UTV but not on foot. I do carry a compass. but never a phone. I live in the Montana backcountry and the only time I ever got lost was when I went to retrieve a bull Elk in Idaho I went up the wrong draw, that was in 2004. I found the main road an hour later.
The way to avoid getting lost is to turn your head every so often and look back the way you came.

 

[Mobuck]

I've not been 'lost' in the mountains but a couple of times I wasn't where I thought I was.
On our first DIY elk hunt in Montana, one of my hunting partners did get 'lost' even though we were less than 1/2 mile from a road that basically circled the area. Lots of downed timber and no clear view in any direction except up. We spent at least 2-3 hours following his tracks and it was dark before we caught up with him and all this happened in an area basically 1 mile square.

 

[Threespears]

I have never been lost in the mountains.
Powerfully confused for a day or so .. but not lost.
If you don’t care where you are at you can’t be lost.

 

[Jeepnik]

The problem with lost folks is they think going faster will solve the problem. I did that as a kid.
Dad straightened me out and said just stop, sit down and relax a bit. Then go back to where you last knew where you were.

 

[hittman]

https://www.foxnews.com/us/colorado...g-missing-rugged-terrain#&_intcmp=fnhpriver_2

 

[twriggen]

Just saw a report that they have determined they were struck by lightning. Rough one for sure.

 

[contender]

Dern,, lightning did strike twice,, sorta!

Tough way to go! But at least they were in a beautiful place that God made!

 

[Threespears]

Dern,, lightning did strike twice,, sorta!

Tough way to go! But at least they were in a beautiful place that God made!

And doing what they wanted to do

 

[kentucky yeti]

I just got back yesterday from 2 weeks in the mountains of colorful Colorado. Along with a couple snow squalls and several showers, we experienced firsthand two electrical storms. Until you've been in one of them, you have no idea what it's like to be on those granite peaks with the lightning jumping all around you. We had a tree get struck- it was less than 100 yards away. Sulphur and brimstone fill the air. It feels like your eardrums have exploded. I've been up there with lightning before, but this year's storm was by far the worst one I have encountered.

 

[Don Lovel]

Mountain sickness hypoxia can cause dismal decision making, getting sweaty or rained on will chill you to teeth chattering hypothermia in 15 minutes
San Juan mountains are rough terrain and its easy to get lost or bluff stuck. I know some bow hunters who got off into a bad blow down in Sangre De Cristo back country. They said the level of physical exhaustion was scary.
Why their gear was still in the car really makes me wonder.
I have had lightning in the middle of the night scare the crap out of me from deep sleep at 10,000ft

 

[Jim Walsh]

https://coloradosun.com/2025/09/22/hunters-found-dead-victims-of-lightning-strike/
My condolences to their family and friends.

 

[TheTexasRAT]

Why their gear was still in the car really makes me wonder.

I figure that they thought they would try and find a base camp before lugging all the gear around, and then got turned around/lost and then the cold took them. Seems as if they could have started a fire to stay warm though if they had a way to start a fire. Even when wet pine-knots catch fire easily, and LORD knows there are plenty of dead pinion pine tree in south Colorado. Always carry a touch lighter out there as the wind can make it hard to start a fire otherwise.

 

[Mobuck]

It doesn't appear that the area is that bad. Lots of finger ridges and draws but not 20 miles back into the wilderness. Also, the temps weren't low enough to be deadly to ambulatory folks.
I can understand the camping stuff in the vehicle--still lots of folks bopping around the camping areas so the chances of pilferage would be high-- maybe they picked up their camp daily.

 

[mirglip]

I figure that they thought they would try and find a base camp before lugging all the gear around,

In my area you can spend hours walking around looking for a place flat enough to pitch a tent. It makes perfect sense that they would have scouted around first and then got struck by lightning.

 

[tazbigdog]

Been in many storms while patrolling in the woods or waters. I paid attention to the weather, how fast it was moving, direction, etc. So sorry to hear this.

 

[BULL'S-EYE]

Back in the early 80's we had several cows that were lying around the base of a large cottonwood tree that was struck by lightning killed...And, I mean they were fried!
It split the 100' tree open from the very top down to nearly the base of its trunk, and amazingly the tree lived and is still there today.
It was a sight to behold.

 

[arfmel]

“Just saw a report that they have determined they were struck by lightning.”

Got a link to this story?

 

[BULL'S-EYE]

Saw it on foxnews.com earlier...
https://www.foxnews.com/us/young-hunters-colorado-died-instant-coroner-reveals