Lost Hunter Found

In State Forest

 By Andrew Gorosko

As it was getting dark, late on the rainy afternoon of Thursday, November 6, town police and firefighters learned that a man, who was hunting with his dog in the 790-acre Upper Paugussett State Forest, had become lost in the woods and needed help finding his way out.

Earlier that day, the unidentified hunter, who is in his late 20s, had left his truck in the state forest parking area off Sanford Road and had ventured into the dense woods with shotgun in hand, as his dog tagged along. Both were wearing high-visibility hunting garb.

As the wet afternoon wore on and it grew darker, the hunter become disoriented, realizing that he and his dog were lost in the hardwood forest as night approached.

The pair had wandered off marked trails in the forest while pursuing game. The state forest, located on the shores of the Housatonic River, contains the 6.3-mile-long Lillinonah Trail.

Fortunately, the lost man, who is from Stratford, was carrying a cellular telephone, explained Corey Robinson, the first assistant fire chief of the Newtown Hook and Ladder Volunteer Fire Company. Mr Robinson served as incident commander, supervising the 15 firefighters who had turned out to search for the lost hunter.

The disoriented man had a view of the river, giving him a basic reference point in describing his position, Mr Robinson explained.

At one point, the man reportedly spotted a light in the woods, leading him to believe that he was within walking distance of a house. He later realized, however, that the light that he had seen was in Southbury, across the deep, wide Housatonic.

While lost, the hunter spoke via cellular telephone with emergency dispatcher Justin Moser. From his post at the police station, Mr Moser relayed pertinent information to the searching police and firefighters. Sandy Hook firefighters remained on standby status during the incident.

In seeking the hunter, firefighters launched a two-pronged search. One fire truck traveled down the fire road that extends into the forest from Sanford Road. Simultaneously, to the north, Mr Robinson drove his pickup truck into the forest on the fire road that extends into the woods from Hanover Road, near the Pond Brook Boat Launch.

Rather than have the hunter wander yet deeper into the woods as it became darker, firefighters told him to stay in one place and listen as they sounded their fire sirens while driving into the forest.

“Stop moving, and we’ll come to you,” firefighters told the man via cellular telephone, Mr Robinson said.

As it turned out, police patrol Officer William Hull, who also was in the woods searching for the hunter, found the lost man, Mr Robinson said.

The lost hunter, with his dog in tow, then made his way back to his parked truck on the rainy night. Neither were injured in the incident, which lasted about an hour.