Pennsylvania Game News - January 2018 - 43

Specially trained officers track down lost hunters
Always let someone know where you're going and when you'll be back.
Two hunters who became lost in
October on State Game Lands 33 in Centre
County were tracked down by specially
skilled Pennsylvania Game Commission
wildlife conservation officers and returned
to safety early the next morning.
The Game Commission was notified on
the evening of Oct. 21 that the two hunters,
58-year-old Jeff Cherry, of Altoona, and
his 17-year-old granddaughter Megan
Settlemyer, did not meet up with the rest
of their hunting party when expected.
As darkness fell and the hours passed,
concern for the hunters' safety grew
because Cherry is diabetic and did not
have insulin or food with him.
At about 11 p.m., wildlife conservation
officers and their deputies, state police,
members of the Mountain Top Fire Co.
and family and friends of the lost hunters
gathered to begin a search.
Wildlife Conservation Officers Mike
Steingraber and Derek Daly, both of
whom are trained in human tracking, put
their skills to work. Daly interviewed
members of the hunting party and learned
the direction the individuals had planned
to go. Steingraber and Daly then looked
at a map of the terrain to determine where
the hunters might have become lost.
Steingraber, Daly, his K-9 Unit dog
Gunner and Deputy Wildlife Conservation
Officer Jim Snook began searching at the
location the hunters last were seen. The
dog quickly picked up human scent and
the officers saw sign that someone had
recently passed through the area.
The officers continued to follow the
sign through the woods for about 2 miles
to an area with dense vegetation where
they thought the hunters might have
JANUARY 2018	

become disoriented. At about 2 a.m., they
called out to the hunters, who responded
from about 100 yards away.
"I don't think I've ever seen a hunter
that happy to see a game warden,"
Steingraber said.
Cherry and Settlemyer said they had
planned to spend the night in the area and
try to find their way out of the state game
lands in the morning.
Cherry said he accidentally walked a
little farther than anticipated. He sought
high ground to get his bearings and
realized that there was not enough time to
make it back out of the woods by nightfall.
"I had forgotten my flashlight and
I didn't want to risk trying to get my
granddaughter back out of the woods over
the rocks in the dark," Cherry said. "So, I
told her that we were just going to hunker
down and either wait until someone found
us, or wait until morning to walk out along
the creek bed. I'm very appreciative of
everyone who came out to search for us."
Steingraber said the hunters made a
good decision to stop moving since the
dense cover is hard to navigate.
"We have had multiple people get lost
in the same location because it is a tough
environment," he said.
The healthy hunters were happy to
arrive safely back with family and friends
around 3:30 a.m.
Steingraber said it's important for
hunters to tell someone where they plan
to hunt and what time they expect to be
back, and they should carry a backpack
with a few supplies such as warm clothes,
a flashlight and food in case they get lost.
No one ever expects to get lost, but it
is good to be prepared.
43
Pennsylvania Game News - January 2018

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