Hunter Waves Underwear To Hail Rescuers

Every now and then you run across a news story that is so bizarre you can’t make the stuff up.   Consider the story of Ben Lipscomb who was waterfowling and became lost in an Arkansas bayou but was resourceful enough to use his white underwear to alert rescuers to his location.   Worse yet, even if this situation did happen to you…a stranded hunter has to know that goofy antics such as this will make the news wire and you will be ridiculed.

“Pilots in an Arkansas State Police helicopter found Lipscomb shortly before 6 p.m. They spotted him waving his briefs – tied to the end of a gun barrel.   After all, it’s hard to see somebody in camouflage at dusk in the woods. But a pair of white underwear is very visible, Lipscomb said.”

Hey, it happens to the best of us.   You spend enough time in the outdoors you will get lost.   As Lipscomb realized, one of the worst things that can happen is to find some hunting success and suddenly your mind wanders from matters relating to your bearings.

But, as most hunters realize, becoming lost does not mean you start acting irrationally.   In fact, one of the first things a sportsman should do when accepting the fact he or she is lost is to sit down and devise a plan.   For some strange reason that concept evaded Lipscomb.   His plan for dealing with survival was this:

“Lipscomb started thinking he might have to spend a cold night outside. He had a few handfuls of bayou water and ate a raw duck breast.”

Alright, I remember thinking back to the time I was in a similar situation hunting antelope out in Montana.   When faced with the prospect of being lost and having to spend the overnight in cold, snowy weather…at no time did I even consider cutting out a raw tenderloin and eating it…or chewing on some sagebrush for nourishment.   Fact is, a stranded sportsman is not at immediate risk for starving to death or dying from dehydration.

"I’ve got to thank the Arkansas State Police, the Arkansas County Sheriff’s Office, Arkansas Game and Fish, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office and the Arkansas County Department of Emergency Services," Lipscomb said.

"If it hadn’t been for them, I would have probably frozen to death out there. It was a real humbling experience," Lipscomb said.”

Humbling?   Yea, I would imagine so.   I guess here’s yet another reason mom was prophetic in reminding us to wear clean underwear before we leave home.

© 2005 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved.   No Reproduction without Prior Permission.