Soaked, frigid but alive: Hunters thankful for safe return after night lost in wilderness

Chris and Dawson Wheaton didn't get their moose, but the father-and-son hunters from central Newfoundland say they're grateful they made it out of the woods alive after a night in the cold, wet wilderness.

The pair left their camp in the Sheffield Lake area, west of South Brook, on Oct. 25. After a six-kilometre journey by ATV and another kilometre-long hike into the woods, Wheaton said he became disoriented as to where they were.

"It's all grown up since I'd been there last," Wheaton told CBC Radio's Newfoundland Morning. "We walked to the end of it and I turned around, and I looked at Dawson and I said, 'B'y, this don't look right.'

"We ended up circling five or six times and…it got really, really dark."

The duo decided to set up camp for the night and wait it out under a tree. Chris said he was most concerned for Dawson, his 13-year-old son, given rain, cool temperatures and treacherous winds.

"I wanted to keep him warm, and I was trying to warm him by cuddling him at the same time. It's just survival mode then," he said.

Limited in supplies, Wheaton began trying to find things to make a fire. He was able to find enough birch wood to start it, and successfully took apart a lighter he had that wouldn't spark to access the flint.

"I actually ended up using my teeth to actually take the safety off so I could dry out the flint," he said. "I figured if I could get a fire lit, it would be our best option. And yeah, it was two hours after that trying to light that fire."

Wheaton used the other belongings — including five of his six bullets — as a call to alert people to their location. His luck improved when he heard an ATV just after 4:15 a.m. NT that Saturday morning. 

"We were down over this ridge, and I seen the light up on top of the ridge. And as I approached, I was greeted with a constable there and the Green Bay search party. And that was the best feeling ever," Wheaton said.

"[Dawson] was pretty happy."

The Wheatons were able to make it back to their camp and are back home after what Chris said was an unlucky evening. He's thankful the incident had a happy ending, and said the experience serves as a good reminder for any hunter to always be prepared on the land.

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