Wilderness hunt mishaps & worries

[cz375hh]

My son Matt and I just got back from our much anticipated dream one week wilderness elk hunt. The plan was to take our 4 wheeler with trailer in tow with our gear and have a deluxe camp on the edge of the wilderness with real food and avoid the MRE and freeze dried foods which we no longer can handle. The short of what happened is this Monday arrive were we park the truck and find 12 inches of snow with more coming--load the gear in the trailer attach the ATV with chains--at 1.5 miles in of the 6 needed find we can go no further--place large rock under pivot tire and physically removing and turn the trailer around almost loosing the trailer and gear off the side of the mountain---hook-up the ATV. and find we can not handle some of the hills going back toward the truck--son Matt exerts self strenuously at 10,500 ft. elevation and inhales the ATV exhaust and becomes sick--we set up camp by the truck and we take it easy and go out to hunt on Wednesday morning--Matt feels fine but we walk only a short distance and dizziness and nausea hits him--Thursday morning we pick up camp and go to dads cabin which is about 1000 ft less in elevation and he can sit in a blind close by and others can keep an eye on him. Matt and I sleep in a real bed and life is looking better but that night Matt had a spider bite him in bed and he develops a rash---FF to today at work the rash has spread a little more and when riding in the truck when we hit a bump his ribs hurt...Can't get him to go to the Doc [he is 24]---any reasons for concern??--Steve

 

[Bushman5]

yup, go see your family doctor, or a clinic! drag him if need be, get that ribs and rash checked out!!!!

 

[SamuraiDave]

Ribs could be a torn muscle, cracked ribs, or something more serious (internal bleeding). Rash could be the same way.

Better to take him in and see if he is alright rather than going through misery for awhile before it gets through his thick skull.

I cant count the times that guys have tried to "tough it out" with some kind of injury to only make it worse and need surgery. I can count 5 of these incidents where these "tough guys" walk with a limp and they are in their late 20's early 30's.
I see back pain and surgery in their future due to long term effects.

 

[PayetteRucker]

if the rash is spreading it needs to be checked out. I don't know where you live, I'm assuming canada? I don't think brown recluses live that far north, but it could be a reaction to ANYTHING. High altitude will kick your ass if you let it, especially when you throw in snow. I think the ribs are just from caughing and breathing cold air at high altitude, I get that sometimes too, it's from stretching out your lungs and rib cage to make use of your full lung capacity when breathing.

 

[cz375hh]

Thanks for the input guys--Matt did a spider bite match on the internet and the best match was a wolf spider bite which if left to run its course takes 7-10 days to get over--they do have venom but nothing close to the black widow and certainly nothing like the brown recluse which is really nasty. The rash is currently receding and he is feeling better and no I did not drag his 270 lb. muscle bound body to the doc against his will. Payette our incident happened in Colorado. This week Gold Gym is hosting a sanctioned bench press competition in here in Loveland. Matt has been training for this and a veteran was helping him train--he thought Matt would place in the top 2 in his division. When we got back he went to the gym to see how this had effected him and his lift was 100 lbs less and the exertion made his taste the carbon monoxide in his mouth. He bowed out of the competition--always next year hopefully a little smarter.......Steve

 

[Skimo]

Spider bites are bad juju, some times even mosquito bites get infected, good to hear the rah is receding.

How long was he exposed to the exhaust? something doesn't seem right...

 

[kr1]

I am not overly concerned about the spider bite.

Is the breathing problem improved? It sounds like High altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) to me. It can be fatal and having it once means that he is predisposed to get it again. I would run the full list of symptoms by a doc that specialized in either outdoor or mountaineering activities.

His symptoms need to be checked out by a doc.

KR

 

[cz375hh]

I am not overly concerned about the spider bite.

Is the breathing problem improved? It sounds like High altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) to me. It can be fatal and having it once means that he is predisposed to get it again. I would run the full list of symptoms by a doc that specialized in either outdoor or mountaineering activities.

His symptoms need to be checked out by a doc.

KR

I believe he did exhibit high altitude symptoms--I have read that on occasion an individual who has experienced no problems with many visits to the high country can for no known reasons have an episode. We have flat-lander friends who come out to hunt in the high country who exhibit partially debilitating head aches etc. and we have found that for mild cases a cup of caffeine coffee or a Mountain Dew will snap them out of it in 10-15 minutes--also we caution them to curtail activity for 24 hours to better acclimate. In Matt s case the fumes from the 4-wheeler and the repeated exertion at 10,600 ft. with no time for acclimation brought it on. I worry that this may raise the susceptibility factor in the future as well. He is slowly beginning to lift again and his careful approach has not brought on nausea or dizziness...I think I have noticed that this has him sleeping pretty hard and he is giving the snooze button more of a work out in the morning since our return home.....thank you again for you input and concerns ---Steve

 

[Masteroffajitas]

Oof, sorry man. That's just the way life goes. After watching 'I was bitten' on the history channel, you wouldn't have to tell me to go to a doctor, I'd get him to go. Not to be a worry worte or anything, spider bites can be strange.