Inherent Risk, Field Care and Rescue

[PaulT]

Although it may be obvious to many I think it is also important to note attention to avoiding sunburn.

Particularily for those of you coming from the Northern hemisphere, and especially so for those venturing to Australia.
Our Sun burns especially hot and it does not take long before you will be suffering serious effects that may take the balance of your stay to recover from.
Drinking lots Gatorade/powerade based drinks is a sensible option in any of the warm to Tropical regions, e.g Central Africa and so forth in order to maintain energy levels.

Illness comes in many varied forms, be prepared and take the advice of your PH/outfitter who has your best interest at heart.

 

[bluey]

good point paul , sun protection is something we do with out fail and with out thinking,the same goes with hydration , at home we take our water in with us .
canada was a big eye opener for me , with how much water they had seemingly coming out of the side of every hill .

 

[KWALATA SAFARIS]

Paul this is so true, I am no AUS expert,... (apart from studying your cricket team players cause we just can not seem to beat you guys!!!) but I find it easy to believe, this applies to late season hunts in SA, as well as Moz, along with the dehydration factor, these two are often neglected.

Both can have dire effects on what is supposed to be a great experience, sunblock and continual fluid intake, is of the highest importance, one only realizes that dehydration has set in often when it is too late..

My best always

 

[PaulT]

Jaco, I will spare you (this time), on not expand on your reference to the cricket, and hijack this thread !

BUT, I do hope that all reading this thread take in your very true words regarding dehydration !
By the time you realize it, it is TOO LATE and you will be out for at least a day or more depending how severe the case.

I can well remember one particular hunter, who was not in very good shape, very white skin and who refused my advice to avoid the soda drinks in the mornings and drink water, juices or one of our many options of sports drinks.
I was told that "those sports drinks will give you a heart attack" !

We got onto a very good bull one morning but by the time we caught up with him he'd joined a herd and was laying in the middle of the herd with a big cow blocking the shot. We were no more than 40yds away, so slowly and quietly we sat down and I silently instructed the client to sit in the tall grass that covered us and we would wait them out, but we were exposed to the sun.
I offered the hunter my hat for shade (he didn't "believe" in hats), but he shook it off as unessessary.

We had to sit that herd out for quite a while waiting for a shot, unfortunately old mate never lasted the wait-out...... passing out and falling over in the sit position to hit the ground with a thud scaring the entire herd away.

We had to physically recover this hunter out from a very remote area, lay him in the shade, wet him down with cold water and cover him with a cooled down wet sheet for several hours before he came to.
It took him another two days before he was 100% again.

Don't let that happen to YOU.

 

[PaulT]

good point paul , sun protection is something we do with out fail and with out thinking,the same goes with hydration , at home we take our water in with us .
canada was a big eye opener for me , with how much water they had seemingly coming out of the side of every hill .

Bluey, you too raise a very interesting point.

Here, in the arid zones of Aus hunters are well versed on the need to be prepared and carry water.

Then we travel to places such as the Canadian wilds, the New Zealand Alps etc, etc where the water is literally running off the side of the hills just waiting for you to quench your thirst.
By doing so you very well run the risk of contracting Guardia and other waterborne contaminents, parisites etc.

A couple of years ago I had a client who was an extremely well educated and experienced hydrologist in the mining industry also contracting to various water Authorities on drinking water issues.
He told me that there are very few places left on the Globe where you can safely and automatically assume the water is clean and pure and safe to drink without any prior treatment.

Think about the quantities of 1080 being aireally dropped by the N.Z Govenrment each year.
How much of that ends up in the water systems ?

I still drink from water sources found as they are but do not recommend it to the travelling hunter.

As a back-up I carry a product called Life Straw.
They are small, weigh nothing and are guaranteed to remove 99.9999% of any bacteria and 99.9% of waterborne protozoan cysts from water, and last a 1000ltrs or more.

For more information visit LifeStraw water filters make dirty water safe drinking water.

I am in no way financially or otherwise connected to this company (though I wish I was !).

Thanks for bringing that up Bluey.

 

[rooihond]

Those straws look pretty cool. I've never given them a try but I might have to one day. They look convenient and take up a lot less space than what I have now.

 

[Royal27]

Along the lines of protecting your health and after finding a tick in the vicinity of the under carriage last year, my hunting clothes and boots will get a nice stout treatment of Permethrin just before my next trip.

I'd never heard of Permethrin before this. I did a little research though and now plan on using Permethrin on all of my clothing this August. I'm going to buy the concentrate and use the "military soak" method. 1. It seems to last longer from what I read. 2. It is less expensive.

Thanks for mentioning Phil!

 

[rooihond]

My recent trip also highlighted something that should be noted for all travel. Become familiar with weapon systems that may be popular at your destination. Examples for SA might be the FN FAL, Mamba, and the ubiquitous Glock. Know what they are and how to manipulate them in an emergency.