Campo

Just wanted to see if any of you carried a personal locator beacon when elk hunting in Colorado. They seem like a good idea, but I dont know if I am just being paranoid about being out in the wilderness for the first time.
So, does anyone carry them? If so, how do they work?
Also, how often can you pick up a cell phone signal in the wilderness of Colorado? I am hunting between Montrose and Durango mostly.
Silvertip...I will be calling you this weekend at some point...been really busy lately.
Here is a link to what I am talking about.
http://www.rei.com/electronics/TOC/Personal+Locator+Beacons?cm_re=toc*toc*personal_lo cator_beacons&vcat=REI_SSHP_GPS_TOC

txhunter58

I am pretty sure you can rent them as well.

madmax83192

i saw one of those on the best and worst of tred barda on oln he has one but i wouldnt be to concerned unless you are walking in a good distance and dont no your area well

Campo

Yup...both of those are concerns to me.
See, I am a east coast boy, and while I grew up in the Catskill "mountains", I know those arent real mountains. I already have a GPS unit, as well as mapping software and lots of maps. I am just worried about, well, breaking a leg or something out in the wilds and dying.

txhunter58

Here is one rental company. Much less than buying if you want to try before you buy.

http://www.plbrentals.com/

Howler

Get a GPS, teach yourself how to use it well, and you won't have a reason to be rescued. Carry some extra batterys.

Campo

Already got a nice GPS unit in the mail. I was worried more about breaking a leg while a ways from the trailhead.

Alsatian

Campo: Something else you might consider is leasing a satellite phone (Globalstar or Iridium) for the duration. I did this last October when I solo elk hunted in the mountains, starting our initially in a wilderness area. The cost was about $100 ($50 to lease for a week and $50 to ship back -- I hadn't calculated on the return cost, but that's the way the ball bounces, I was still happy I had the phone with me). For 3 days when I was up in the wilderness I called home every night, just because it was kind of lonely up there more than anything, and the service worked pretty much as advertised. I used Globalstar, but others highly recommend Iridium also.

wyomingtrapper

The cell phone will keep you in touch with people if you might want that. As long as your gps is working, you could call out coordinates if you got sick or injured. The beacon will send a signal that will get picked up and tell them where you are at. If your going to have a great elk hunt, you need to hunt confidently without fears pestering the back of your mind. If a safety net such as a phone or beacon will do that for you, it may be worth it for that alone.

Also, if you are hunting alone, you need to figure how you are going to get an elk out once its down. I've packed several out by myself, never more than a couple of miles, and it was no picnic. I'm no slouch and live at a high elevation by most people's standards. I hear of people packing them five or ten miles, and no doubt a very few do, but most are stretching the distance a bit...

AZBear

Campo,

Life is too short and hunting opportunities are too few and far between to be worrying about this type of option...for the peace of mind of your family and yourself invest in the rental of a Sat phone or PLB and get onto better things like planning your hunt. The cost is really small compared to the amount of time and effort your spending on thinking about. Time is money and your wasting valuableplanning time.