A cautionary tale out of Boundary County

A pair of lost hunters were found safe and unharmed in Boundary County after spending a frigid night last week lost in the forest.

“Finding your way on a dark night, in an area you do not know, in the cold, is almost impossible without the proper equipment,” wrote Mike Meier, spokesman for Boundary County Emergency Management.

Meier, who shared the details of the incident in a press release Monday, said that thanks to the agencies who assisted in the search, it was a happy ending to a potentially deadly situation.

The names of the hunters were not released.

The search for the men, a father and son, began after the Boundary County Sheriff’s Office received a call at 11 p.m. Wednesday. The pair reportedly left home at 3:30 p.m., planning a quick hunting trip before dinner, but had not returned.

No information was available regarding the hunters’ destination.

The sheriff’s patrol did know that the hunters had headed out with a half-tank of gas in their vehicle, so the search was concentrated in an area that would be within that range.

Personnel from the sheriff’s office, search and rescue, the sheriff’s posse and U.S. Border Patrol assisted in the search.

The hunters’ vehicle was found around 5:30 a.m. on the east side of the Dawson Ridge area, northeast of Moyie Springs.

Using a patrol siren as a locator beacon, sheriff’s deputies began broadcasting for the lost hunters who responded with three rifle shots.

The hunters walked to their vehicle at 6:30 a.m. and were found to be in good condition.

The father and son had spent the night saying warm by a fire.

The lost hunters said they had been caught in the dark, with no GPS or navigation equipment.

“Building a fire and waiting for rescue is the best plan in this situation,” Meier wrote.