Reminder to be smart, safe, and prepared in the field

Thought I'd share my story from today where I failed at all three.

Right now I'm in east Texas camping near a few wma's. We're out here mainly to camp but also because I wanted to try woodcock hunting with my dog. It's the first time I've hunted east Texas.
I almost always carry a back pack with first aid kit, flashlight, manual compass, emerg blanket, food, water, etc. when I'm out in the field. Well I was hanging at camp because it has been a steady rain all day but at about three today I decided to go rent a canoe and take it across the lake here to try and hunt woodcock in the wma because there's no walk in access from here. So I grabbed my phone, gun and the dog and that's it and take off.
This lake I'm on doesn't really have a clear bank like you would see in a dfw lake. I ended up paddling into this swampy cove area (one of many) and just sort of tying it to a tree in about 6 inches of water.
The map only showed the lake and land and Google earth only showed tree tops so as far as I knew it was just regular forest. Well this was some really wild ground. It was so thick in spots that I couldn't see the dog after about ten feet.
So I didn't really have a plan and was just following the dog as best I could trying to take the easiest route. Exploring really. Was rainy and a little miserable. Keep in mind it was wet ground everywhere I walked but I was skirting the deep swamps as I went.
Well as it started getting dark I decided to head back so I started going in the direction I thought I had come from. After twenty minutes or so I thought I better check the apple map on my phone and I had been headed straight north that last twenty minutes and I should have been headed southwest (I had luckily dropped a pin where the canoe was)I had no idea and for the first time in my life I realized what it felt like to have no sense of direction.
So I opened the compass on my phone which turned out to be my saving grace, turned southwest and took off in a straight line. Twice I had to readjust because I had drifted course and didn't realize it until I checked the compass again.
So Im walking and finally come to a straight up swamp. Looked like the movies with the cypress knuckles sticking up everywhere. So I tried going right a ways and see nothing but swamp. Try going left a ways and see nothing but swamp. So I decided to go straight through because the first ten foot was only about shin deep and thought the worst that would happen is that my feet would get wet. So I'm walking and this is where it gets bad. Funny looking back but it felt bad at the time.
I'm walking and drop off straight to my waste. It was cooold. By this time I can see hard ground about 50 yards ahead so I just keep going. There was some sort of thick grass growing in the deep part of the swamp that made it so very hard to walk but it also saved me from falling on my face a few times because I would trip and fall forward and just lay there on that grass catching my breath.
If you're wondering about the dog, he was right behind me. It was sad. At one point I was leaning against a tree in the swamp catching my breath and and realized he was having the hardest time following me. All I could see was his head and back. I think the thick grass helped him some too as far as resting but it made forward movement really really hard.
So about the middle of the swamp I get my phone out again (forgot to mention I put it in my hat when it first got deep, luckily it was in my jacket pocket at that time and not my pants pocket). So I'm checking the compass again and that's when I notice my phone was on 4%. Great, my only compass is about to go dead, it's getting really hard to see, and I'm waste deep in a swamp. Oh, the other dumb move on my part was not using my good Garmin alpha dog collar so I had no map tracking where I had walked. If I had that I would have just retraced my steps.
So back to the swamp. I realized I had to hurry because I might be spending the night if my phone went dead. The rest is sort of anti climatic. I got through the swamp, which was the hardest 50 yards I've ever walked, and easily found the canoe from there.

So, quite the adventure. East Texas is no joke and things could have been a whole lot worse. Hardest hunting in its own way that I've ever experienced. We're back at camp and will be back at it duck hunting in the morning.

Blue getting warm after his swamp trek.

Glad you and blue are okay, thanks for sharing. Those swamps would of scared the heck of me!

Glad it ended up alright.

It's one of those things you don't think anything about until it starts going wrong. Can happen to anyone so good to have a reminder sometimes.

That was an eventful evening.

A $5 magnetic pocket compass never needs batteries. And some are completely sealed and waterproof.

Yep no doubt. And I own one too.
That's why I mentioned the pack I usually carry.
I was just dumb and didn't grab it thinking it would be a quick trip.
The one time I could have used it too. I could have comfortably spent a night out there with the stuff in my pack if necessary.

East TX can be a booger without a compass. I have a similar story from this year. Going to find a bow-killed deer with my BIL. He heard it fall-easy peezy, right? Wrong. Had to track the deer. Long story short, almost spent the night in the woods. Cloudy, no moon, no stars. No phone. No compass. Luckily I heard a truck use his engine brake out on the FM road 3 miles away and got my bearings.

That will not happen again. Glad it all worked out OK for you too.

Lost, smost, did the front blow the birds out?

Could just as easily have blown them in. Tell you tomorrow. Since you won't be busy or nuthin'....

That ain't right.

Well I haven't seen one woodcock so we either suck or they aren't here.
There were Ducks on the spot I found today that I'm trying in the morning. We'll see if they're still there.

You ought to be able to swat woodies off the sloughs down there in the AM.

That's alright, I found a honey hole for them while looking for ground scrapes back before they should have even been here in any numbers.

Heck of an adventure, glad it turned out alright

Glad yall made it.

Glad you and blue are ok!

I own one GPS but several compasses so that I have one in every bag that I might take to the woods. I also keep a pocket compass in the truck should I ever need one at some other time.

They're just too dang cheap and valuable not to have so many.

It would've been a wee bit chilly down there in the woods tonight even without going for a wade.

I don't mess with swamps too much... I've been stuck in the mud a few times real deep and almost had to leave the chest waders to get out. Glad it turned out okay- good lesson for everyone!

That's for sure. You can easily get turned around while trying to get around them and they can look alike if you're trying to use them as visual landmarks.

Spot was a bust.

Glad that you and Blue didn't have to spend the night out there.

Glad your both okay and safe. That would've scared the crap out of me.

+1 glad ta hear good outcome. best wishes

A good lesson for all of us. Glad you and your dog are ok.

AND it's a good thing you don't know what the pup was think'n LOL Looks a bit pizzed in the blanket J/K

There 'gator where you were? That's what I would have been thinking about during the swamp trek. Probably too cold. Get one of those pin-on brass compasses like Teddy wore way back when, at the very minimum. Glad you both are ok.

Supposed to be gators but I was just thinking about staying calm and not drowning in the swamp. Lol

It is easy to get lost in East Texas woods in the Natl Forests. Everything seems to blend together. I learned my lesson one day and now carry a pocket compass and occasionally use cut pieces of colored plastic "rope" to wrap around low-lying tree branches.