# I was lost, or a bit disorientated, anyway, thought i'd share.



## outdoorsman48049 (Jan 27, 2011)

So, i'm fishing fairhaven, behind raft, catching a few, its getting darkish, i wrap up, start walking to the DNR ramp,i can't see the bait shop anymore, but i see the restaurant lit up across from it.....soo i'm walking, i'm alone, knowone out there, but me......slush is bad, water on ice, heck i was getting close to the ramp, and i hit the spot where the Racers on weekend had plowed...soo i remember seeing them plowing last week, but the open track was PAST or south of the ramp, so i assumed, i'd gone to far, and was at south end of ramp, shoot, started walking North, but I was heading back to raft....not knowing they had plowed a race track on that side....so i get to the point, and i'm thinking, this is not right, its pitch dark, soo i pull out my phone, voice in "brians blue water bait" and hit directions....the little map come up, and the "flashlite" thingy points me in the right direction...i was going the right way....originally.
I'm a little how can i say, ashamed i got lost a little, but this is a good key to finding our way.If lost or disorientated.
so i thought i'd tuck my pride and share with you guys......keep safe.


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## jimbo (Dec 29, 2007)

if anyone says thats never happened to them, chances are, theyre lying.
back in the old days, My dad used to point his box in the direction he needed to go..
things look different in the dark


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## ReallyBigFish (May 8, 2014)

A buddy got lost on lake st. clair and used his google map app to get back. Said it showed the little car driving on the lake. Good to know that actually works.


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## PerchOnly (Oct 24, 2007)

First thanks for sharing and the information, second my father used to say point the door of your shanty towards shore so you at least had a chance of finding land. Of course this was back in the day when shanties stayed on the ice for months at a time.


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## Fishindeer (Dec 29, 2017)

Thanks for sharing. Think I read last year to point your spud or auger towards shore every time you move. But I’ve had a cheap hand held e-trex for many years. GPS has not failed me yet. Mostly used for ice fishing and very easy to use. Amazing to pull up to your exact spot or last nights drilled holes after all tracks are covered up.


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## Fishfighter (Dec 20, 2009)

You can also mark parking locations with google maps I use that feature when I'm hunting or fishing a area Im not familiar with. The compass on there can also come in handy if you dont have a handheld.


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## Tron322 (Oct 29, 2011)

Reading that makes me realize I trust my phone way too much.

What if your phone dies? Or slips out of a pocket and down the hole you're fishing out of?

Worst I have ever been lost is in the fog once. I would have given a lot for a compass becuase there weren't smart phones back then. I just wandered around until I heard cars driving on a road and followed that back. This was on a medium sized inland lake I only missed the access by about 3/4 of a mile

Easy to just throw one in your gear. I'm grabbing a compass for my wife's float suit and one for mine when I get home just in case a series of bad events happens when we can't see landmarks


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## Johnr (Dec 13, 2000)

Best off carrying a compass no electronics to worry just know how to frickin use it. Just sayin


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## PerchOnly (Oct 24, 2007)

yes, a compass is what I carry when I go out for any extended time. And the trick about the spud pointing towards shore is good too.


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## Decker (Jul 10, 2019)

OnX maps, use it for everything from hunting, fishing to orv. Can download map for when not in service range and still have a guide.


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## Johnr (Dec 13, 2000)

PerchOnly said:


> yes, a compass is what I carry when I go out for any extended time. And the trick about the spud pointing towards shore is good too.


Until you pick it up and start walking if it's foggy.


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## Fishbroker1 (Apr 8, 2018)

Johnr said:


> Until you pick it up and start walking if it's foggy.


Haha that’s for sure. Once the fog comes in or white out conditions hit you can sure get turned around quick. Ask me how I know. I sure was glad I had a small hand held compass. It at least got me pointed in the right direction to hit land. This was before cell phones etc.


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## Spartan88 (Nov 14, 2008)

I survived 'night of the lost Lieutenant's', night nav at my OBC. Half of the class was lost, those of us who completed successfully had to go back out and find the others. The joke about LTs and compass' ain't no joke. My NCO brethren usually enthusiastically agree with me. 😄


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## Gillgitter (Nov 5, 2003)

Happened to me years ago on Fletchers Pond. I'm not sure if you are familiar with it or not. I was straight out from Jacks Landing. Fog rolled in and I couldn't see 20 feet. I started walking what I though was the right direction and ended up way down by the State launch. Sure is an unsettling feeling when you think, man I should have been there by now...


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## Deadeyedeek (Jan 7, 2019)

Ya fog and snow will get you everytime! Im ol school, got the new stuff, but that dang compass has saved my but man times!!


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## 9mm Hi-Power (Jan 16, 2010)

Tron322 said:


> Reading that makes me realize I trust my phone way too much.
> 
> What if your phone dies? Or slips out of a pocket and down the hole you're fishing out of?
> 
> ...





PerchOnly said:


> yes, a compass is what I carry when I go out for any extended time.


Good for you guys - the Norsemen/Vikings made it across and back home again over the "Poison Sea" (Atlantic Ocean) with nothing more than a lodestone hanging from a leather thong. After one bad experience late one rainy afternoon in the U.P. years ago I learned the hard way to always carry a compass on a lanyard around my neck. I have a Garmin "dog/truck" GPS and it is certainly helpful, re-assuring and functional - but I would NEVER " leave home" without my compass - even when going down the road to a local sate game area for a bit of exercise and running my bird dog. GPS/Compass - one is not a substitute for the other but think of both as being complimentary.










9mm Hi-Power


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## YAKFish#1 (Aug 14, 2018)

Me and my buddy were on the Detroit river boating when the fog set in (way before phone and affordable gps)...he looked down and said his compass was messed up cuz it kept spinning clockwise...I looked around and told him to turn the wheel very slightly right and suddenly the compass stopped spinning and locked in on a setting...he continued to gradually turn more right until we locked onto west...held that setting and found the Gibraltar shoreline and worked our way back to his dock...compasses work and 10 degrees off straight can mess you up...trust your compass and pick a heading when you can still see your location...then, all you have to do is set your compass on that heading, hold a straight line and start walking...compasses seem confusing but are very simple when you understand how they work...I never leave home without one


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## groovin61 (Jan 25, 2013)

This fall, I was out on Erie out with the pack miles out of Bolles. I forgot to bring my glasses and didn't realize it until it was too late in the trip. When it was time to quit, I was playing with the fish finder to use the GPS tracks to find my way back in. In my "blindness", I inadvertently deleted them. I couldn't see the screen well enough to use it, but knew the general direction to head in. Even with the knowledge of where I needed to go, I still missed the marker buoys and couldn't find the entrance to the harbor until I went up and down the shoreline a while. I was in no real danger at any time, but I surely got a bit anxious when I couldn't find it right away and was worried about shallow water problems. If I was running low on fuel or there were any visibility issues, things could have gotten a lot worse.


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## 22 Chuck (Feb 2, 2006)

Johnr said:


> Best off carrying a compass no electronics to worry just know how to frickin use it. Just sayin


Gramps told me many yrs ago "when you think the compass is wrong, you better follow it. And the more wrong you think it is the more you need to follow it."


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## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

We were paddling kayaks on Lake Superior when the fog rolled in as we were paddling across a big bay. I grabbed a heading to the next point before it closed in. Our two kayaks were paddle length apart and just kept going until we hit land then waited for it to clear.


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## outdoorsman48049 (Jan 27, 2011)

Soooo i step out of my shanty, yesterday about 4, i can't see the shore for the fog, just the tiny tips of some trees, i can hear the traffic, but i'm going out from raft, i don't want to pull to dnr ramp....hmm, pull out my phone, "raft".......and directions............and start walking.......straight to raft, i'm glad i got rid of my flip phone........as i'm getting in truck i look, fog is all gone, omg.........i must be getting some karma back, maybe i owe someone a dollar from like 42 years ago lol......


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