Hi everyone, this is Ron's wife. He's in Colorado (near Vail) right now hunting with another member and had been checking in with the SPOT periodically since Saturday night so I knew he was ok. I got a message Sat at 10pm, Sunday at 11am and 9pm and Monday at 8am. It's now Tuesday at 3:30am and I can't sleep for worrying. Hopefully everything is fine...but when should I start to worry? I don't want to overreact, yet I don't want to assume everything is ok if it may not be. We didn't talk about how often he'd check in but I know he intended to check in at least twice a day. We also didn't talk about what to do if I don't hear from him. He isn't due back home until next Wednesday and was supposed to hunt this particular area for 3-4 more days. I know the area is having some severe weather right now so I don't know if something happened or if the weather or geography could affect the satellite transmission in any way. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Ron's wife - when to worry?
- Thread starter rhendrix
- Start date
focker34
Lil-Rokslider
Is there any way you can get ahold of the person he is hunting with? Possibly a family member of theirs even might have some info.
- Thread Starter
- #3
cody covey
WKR
I dont know anything about the Spot device but is there anyway to to track it from your end even though hes not sending updates?
- Thread Starter
- #5
That's a tough call. My own experiences with a generation 2 Spot was that it was reliable most of the time, but would fail to transmit messages at unpredictable times, and certainly not always when you would expect it to have issues (due to geography, etc). Outright failure of a device like the Spot certainly isn't out of the question, either. In short, I wouldn't take just the lack of Spot messages as a sign that bad things happened.
I really wouldn't fret it. With no real plan on when they need to check in, you just have to assume that he's OK. He's learned a lot from the folks on here and seems resourceful enough to handle anything if anything were to go wrong. It appears that they've been checking in about once a day, so missing last evening shouldn't be a reason for concern. I understand the worry, but you'll need to get that under control for this trip or you'll drive yourself crazy, and use this as a reason to have him understand and talk through your expectations for the next trip. Like I said, they checked in yesterday and without a plan, missing last night really isn't missing a check in. I'd guess they'll check in this morning.
I would hate to tell you not to worry but the chances that something happened to both of them is astronomical, I would also think if something did happen to one of them the other would take the spot and get some help, it could be just a problem with the Spot and there is simply nothing else to worry about.
It's really hard to advise you on what to do until more time has gone by, I have often missed checking in and would not want the Calvary called in unless there was a definite problem, with my wife we both know that 48 hours after the end of my hunt and no contact from me there will be a call made.
It's really hard to advise you on what to do until more time has gone by, I have often missed checking in and would not want the Calvary called in unless there was a definite problem, with my wife we both know that 48 hours after the end of my hunt and no contact from me there will be a call made.
Colo4x4XJ
Lil-Rokslider
Do you know which drainage he's in or trail he's off of? I live in the area and certain areas up high have had a very low cloud ceiling with lots of moisture. Could be making it hard to get a SPOT signal out
Keep that head up I bet you will getting a check in message soon!!! Next time def. plan on check in times. Exact location. Have him give you some lat and longs and tell you his plan of movement (as best he can) and sounds like maybe check into a couple other resources. For communication. Stay positive. Talk to someone or people if you need to 
5MilesBack
"DADDY"
I know it's hard for some people to not worry, and my telling you not to worry won't help that, but don't worry. Things happen up there. Sometimes you just can't get good weather for transmitting. Sometimes you're in an area where the rocks seem to throw everything off. Now, don't take this the wrong way......but if this was my wife asking this, I'd recommend she take a day at the spa and relax. But I'm one of those guys that enjoy my time away from technology and the world, and usually go it alone. Even if they are a couple of city boys, they should still be fine out there. One day without communication is not too much. I tell my wife to send out the search party if she doesn't hear from me in a week.
In an attempt to add a little levity to the situation, I would suggest getting really pissed off at him. Perhaps some yelling around the house and breaking a few things would help too. Before long his ears will be burning so bad that he will have that gut feeling that he is in trouble. If that doesn't work, go shopping and rack up the credit cards. That will most definitely pique his Spidey senses.
I've used a Gen. 2 spot for 3 years now... they are quirky. If the batteries get low in mine and I send an "OK" message, the device will show it sent.... but none of my contacts recieve the sent message. It will lose signal when I"m on the North side of a mountain very easily, and sometimes takes hours of being in open sky for it to re-aquire signal on its own. I now reset the unit manually a couple times a day to insure that it is in fact sending out signal. I ALWAYS have the the "track" feature enabled and pay extra for it..... do you know if you husband had this extra feature? It allows you to see where the unit is at all times without him sending you an "OK" message.
Very possible they were exhausted and forgot to check in or didn't wait long enough for the entire Spot sequence to finish before turning the unit off which is a common reason for a message to not go thru. Try not to worry and don't post the GPS coords on the forum. Give it a few days. He probably is having a blast and has zero clue that you didn't receive the last message.
His lack of communication is most likely due to a technology problem. Hunting by and large is a safe endeavor, and as stated above, when hunting with a partner the odds are close to nil that something bad happened to them both. As much as it may be hard to do, I would encourage you not to expend your energy worrying.
bivouaclarry
Lil-Rokslider
- Joined
- May 9, 2014
- Messages
- 151
I would concur with the general consensus. I also use a Gen 1 SPOT and have thought that my message went out when it acutally did not. Trees and cloud cover can cause transmission issues and it's very easy to think you left it on long enough to transmit when you actually didn't.
- Thread Starter
- #20
Ok first of all, you guys are awesome. I don't hunt but I'm tempted to join the forum just for pep talks!
Second, he did check in late this morning...thank God! I was hoping for some reassurance that the SPOT device isn't quite as reliable as everything I read online because having issues connecting made the most logical sense to me (although I'll admit I thought of literally every other horrific scenario imaginable). I think he checked in a bit more frequently last year so my expectations were probably set based on that. We DEFINITELY need to have a conversation about how frequently he'll check in and when to freak out, for future reference.
Before he got out of cell phone range, he told me he was really struggling with the altitude and said he may end up suggesting that Todd go up without him and he'd catch up....so the idea that he could possibly be alone added to my stress a bit.
A spa day sounds like a fantastic idea! Unfortunately between working and taking care of 3 kiddos there's not much time left for that at the moment. I do think he owes me one when he gets back though!
Thanks for talking me off the ledge...you guys may have prevented search and rescue teams from ruining his trip
Second, he did check in late this morning...thank God! I was hoping for some reassurance that the SPOT device isn't quite as reliable as everything I read online because having issues connecting made the most logical sense to me (although I'll admit I thought of literally every other horrific scenario imaginable). I think he checked in a bit more frequently last year so my expectations were probably set based on that. We DEFINITELY need to have a conversation about how frequently he'll check in and when to freak out, for future reference.
Before he got out of cell phone range, he told me he was really struggling with the altitude and said he may end up suggesting that Todd go up without him and he'd catch up....so the idea that he could possibly be alone added to my stress a bit.
A spa day sounds like a fantastic idea! Unfortunately between working and taking care of 3 kiddos there's not much time left for that at the moment. I do think he owes me one when he gets back though!
Thanks for talking me off the ledge...you guys may have prevented search and rescue teams from ruining his trip
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