Two overdue hunters were rescued early Tuesday morning from the Dude Mountain area after one had injured his ankle the previous evening.
According to the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad, the hunters activated a SPOT locator beacon at about 6:45 p.m. Monday, alerting authorities that help was needed. After contacting family members to get details of the hunters’ plans, rescuers were able to call the cell phone of one hunter. He said his hunting partner had fallen down into steep terrain, hurt his ankle and couldn’t climb back up.
The hunters weren’t prepared to spend the night on the mountain, and weather was expected to get worse, according to KVRS. A rescue team climbed the trail starting at about 9 p.m., and made contact with the hunters by around 10:30.
Some members of the rescue team stayed with the injured hunter while a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter from Air Station Sitka was dispatched. The helicopter brought the man down from the mountain at about 1 a.m.
The uninjured hiker walked out with some members of the KVRS crew, and arrived safely at the trailhead by about 12:30 a.m.
While these hunters’ locator beacon was personally owned, KVRS has SPOT beacons for hikers and hunters to borrow. The beacons can be checked out at the Ketchikan Public Library, Ketchikan Visitors Bureau and Alaska State Troopers post.