Happy ending for stranded hunters after two-day search

The families of two 16-year-old hunters from Greybull who found themselves stranded in a remote area of the Big Horn Mountains for two days are breathing a sigh of relief after the young men were found unharmed by search and rescue teams on Tuesday morning.According to Big Horn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn, the Greybull High School students, Isaac Roser and Taven Pharris, were cutting wood with a group of family members on Sunday in the Half Ounce Creek area of the Big Horn Mountains when they left the rest of the group to go on a brief bird hunting foray just before dark. The family reported them missing to sheriff’s dispatch at around 8:30 p.m. that same night, after they did not return after sundown as expected.The young men were driving a Ford Explorer four-wheel drive vehicle that was painted with a camouflage pattern, which made it especially difficult to spot them in the forest. The vehicle became stuck as they were traveling on Forest Service Road 125, also known as Little Horn Road. According to Blackburn, the young men, who were found more than 10 miles north of where they were last seen by family, “wisely” stayed near the vehicle.Blackburn said around 50 to 60 volunteers searched for the two young men over a two-day period. Multiple rescuers scoured the mountain looking for the two hunters, including members of fire and rescue teams from North and South Big Horn County, Sheridan County, two Blackhawk helicopters with forward looking infrared capabilities provided by the Wyoming and Montana Air National Guard, the civil air patrol, local ranchers and hunters in the area.[caption id="attachment_11789" align="alignright" width="300"] It took an entire team effort to find two missing hunters earlier this week, including (l-r) Jack Carpenter, Wes Mangus, Ken Nelson, Blaine Jolley, Ben Snyder, LaRae Dobbs, Howard Morris, Michael Hendershot, Tom Newman, Rex Anderson, Jesse Hammond, Keri Wilske-Angell and Henry Schmidt (National Center for missing and Exploited Children). Not pictured are Tom Irwin, Sheriff Blackburn, Jeff Angell, Arthur Aagard, Jim Thomas, Ginger Sullivan, Kyle McClure, Brian Chambers, Scott Allred and many others.
Patti Carpenter photo[/caption]Blackburn said there was considerable concern for the safety of the two young men who seemed to have “dropped off the face of the earth” at one point.“Our resources were tapped and obviously we were working hard using everything we had to find them,” said Blackburn. “The fact that no one seemed to have seen them or their vehicle was of major concern, especially as a considerable amount of time passed.”Blackburn said, though the weather remained relatively mild over the two-day period, there was quite a bit of moisture that may have subjected them to hypothermia had they tried to walk out of the area. He said the teens were wearing lightweight clothing that wouldn’t have provided a lot of protection from wet or cold conditions.Blackburn said he was grateful that the weather remained relatively mild and temperate during the entire search and that the hunters were able to find shelter in a small cabin at a cow camp owned by a local rancher.He said though the road seemed impassable, SAR teams decided to give it another try on Tuesday morning.“It’s reasonable that everyone believed nothing could get back there, because of weather, road blockages, etc.,” explained Blackburn. “The road looked really rough, but our team elected to follow it through a second time.  They had instructions to check every cabin and camp on the mountain and any possible location the young men could have holed up in.“Teams started the search early in the morning on Tuesday and were working their way east when they saw a cow camp owned by a local rancher, consisting of a very small cabin. On closer look they spotted a vehicle like the one driven by the boys. It was stuck not too far away from the cabin. It was obscured from view by some trees, making it virtually impossible to be seen from the air.”[caption id="attachment_11790" align="alignright" width="285"] A Blackhawk helicopter lands in a remote area of the Big Horn Mountains near Wagon Box Canyon during a search operation after rescuers found two teens from Greybull who were reported missing two days prior.
photo courtesy U.S. Forest Service[/caption]Blackburn said helicopters flew over the area through the night on Monday night but did not detect the vehicle or the missing hunters below, even with their specialized equipment. They did spot it though, about 15 minutes after ground team made contact with the hunters on Tuesday.Blackburn said the two youth broke into the cabin, which he said is legal since it was necessary for their survival. The two started a fire and there was enough food in the cabin to sustain them while they waited for help.“They did everything perfectly,” said Blackburn. “They stayed with their vehicle. They found shelter and waited for us to come to them. Hiking out, as lightly clothed as they were, would have been a dangerous proposition. With the moisture up there, they would have gotten wet and cold for sure. We always recommend that people wait for us to come and find them, even if it takes a few days. It’s always a better outcome that way. So, this was the best outcome we could have hoped for.”Blackburn cautioned, that many areas in the Big Horns have become impassable due to recent wet weather.“With all of the rains we’ve had lately, many of the roads that were passable before are now impassable,” he explained. “With the high amount of rain we’ve had in the last month, a lot of roads are washed out and a lot of roads are impassable.”Blackburn said he is grateful for the mostly volunteer search teams. He said many members, including Jack Carpenter, Ben Snyder, Tom Newman, Wes Mangus, Rex Andersen and Jesse Hammond, took time off from their regular jobs to participate in the search.“None of the members who found the hunters wanted credit for their actions,” said Blackburn. “As far as their concerned, it’s the work of the entire team that takes credit for finding them.”

By Patti Carpenter