VT Hunter found

[Brad]

From the Lewiston Sun Journal today.

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Vermont hunter found alive
Sun Journal Staff

MADRID — A hunter who was missing since Monday night was found alive after spending two nights in the wilderness of northern Franklin and Oxford counties.

Maine Warden Service officials confirmed at about 4 p.m. that Steven Wright, 53, of Woodford, Vt., had been located and was en route to Lewiston's Central Maine Medical Center by a LifeFlight of Maine helicopter.

Wright was found walking along a trail by a pair of snowmobile riders near the Franklin County township of Madrid.

"He is alive and coherent," said Deborah Turcotte, the acting director of public information and education at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Lt. Adam Gormely, a warden at a search command post in Byron, said Woodford was in critical condition.

"Wright was able to say his name. He was conscious and alert," Gormely said.

More than 30 wardens and a dozen other rescuers had been searching for Wright for two nights and nearly three full days. He was first reported missing by his hunting companions early Tuesday morning.

Earlier today the Wardens Service reported that Wright had packed a survival kit including matches and a radio but that he left it behind in his truck.

Wright, an experienced hunter who has hunted nationwide, took off following a deer track during Monday's snowstorm armed with a muzzleloader and two to three rounds.

The other two hunters got into deer stands — platforms attached to trees — and waited for deer to come along, Gormely said.

Searchers were just about to break off their efforts today when the report came in that Wright had been found.

Gormely said given the recent weather conditions and the terrain that Wright beat the odds in surviving two nights with little gear.
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[Charlie]

i would like to here from him to see what happened and why he was lost .

next time he will bring his other pack with his survival stuff

they need some bloodhounds up there

[Brad]

For the past several days i have been getting e-mails from the folks in NH giving status of the search - and calling for searchers. In the beginning the hunter was listed as 70 years old. But, that seems to have been wrong.

[Brad]

I just found out I was confusing 2 different situations as being one. The VT Hunter incident had a happy ending. The one being reported on in NH on a daily basis is not looking good.

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News from the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department December 6, 2007
Phone: (603) 271-3211
Email: info@wildlife.nh.gov
For information and online licenses, visit http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us

* * * * * * *

CONTACT:
Col. Jeffrey Gray: (603) 271-3128
NHFG Dispatch: (603) 271-3361
Jane Vachon: (603) 271-3211 or 271-5619
December 6, 2007


COORDINATED SEARCH FOR MISSING HUNTER CONCLUDES

CONCORD, N.H. - A major, five-day search effort for missing hunter Russell Bussiere will come to a close at the end of the day (December 6), according to New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Chief of Law Enforcement, Colonel Jeff Gray.

"We're at the point where we have reached the limits of our search and rescue resources," said Gray. "Unfortunately, the length of time and extreme weather conditions over the past four days lead us to believe that it is unlikely Mr. Bussiere has survived."

While the coordinated search is over, a limited, intermittent search effort by Fish and Game Conservation Officers and dog search teams may continue over the weekend, and any clues that develop will be thoroughly investigated and properly followed up upon, Gray said.

During the week, hundreds of searchers have been involved in the effort to find Bussiere, including New Hampshire Fish and Game Conservation Officers, state, local and county police and fire personnel, the Army National Guard Civil Air Patrol, New England K-9 Search and Rescue, Upper Valley Search and Rescue and numerous other trained search and rescue personnel and volunteers.

The search, which began on Sunday, December 2, focused on a 10 square mile high-probability zone and adjacent areas within Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown and Hooksett. The effort included coordinated ground search teams, air-scenting search dog teams and aerial searching by an Army National Guard Blackhawk helicopter.

Pending new developments, no further press statements are anticipated regarding this mission.

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Copyright 2007 New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, 11 Hazen Drive, Concord, NH 03301.

[EricJ]

Seems hard to believe someone could get lost in such a small area. Sad to say, He must have had an accident.



.

[Bill O]

Seems hard to believe someone could get lost in such a small area. Sad to say, He must have had an accident.

If you kept going down and followed a drainage I wonder what the farthest distance from a road you could be in VT/NH.

[EricJ]

If you kept going down and followed a drainage I wonder what the farthest distance from a road you could be in VT/NH.

That would take alot of topograghical study, I bet it's farther than we think.
Where Bussiere is reported missing, it couldn't be more than three miles. Falling out of a tree stand and within 500 ft. of busy Rt. 28 would have serious consequences though.