AK AK - Steve Keel, 61, missing from hunting trip, from TN - Aug 27, 2022

[RickshawFan]

everything you will want to know:

Tips for Handling Wild Game Meat in the Field

Caring for meat is of utmost importance when hunting. Many hunters struggle with meat care on day hunts let alone in the backcountry. When hunting in the backcountry meat could be exposed to the elements for days on end. Make sure to follow certain rules to mitigate meat loss. When caring for...

www.themeateater.com

(in treeless areas, you can use rocks)

I'm not sure tundra has rocks, but I'm guessing you can drape your meat on the scraggly vegetation.

 

[RickshawFan]

If they are used to carrying weight, 100 or even 200 pounds isn't that much if they could get it on their shoulder. I'm older and not used to carrying anything heavy; yet, if I can get a 55 pound bag of dogfood on my shoulder, I can easily walk around with it. The hardest part is lifting it not carrying it.

As I see it, the problem is not just about loading up your meat and taking it to the car....They have to walk miles in this awful terrain with all that weight. You've also got all the other stuff, too e.g. equipment.

Also, where this meat pile is going to be when you're carrying it. You will not be hauling it around on your shoulder! Once loaded up, it will either tower over your head or protrude significantly away from your torso. Likely both. The first turns you into a human pendulum, and the second jerks your back every time you step. And that's with a high end, well-fitted, pack, with a load weight within the pack specs. On difficult terrain, slogging for miles?

I do know that summer workers in the White Mountains (NH) lug heavy packs every day up to the huts with food and supplies. 80 lbs? But the Whites aren't tundra. And they do it, IIRC, several times a week, not as a once-in-a lifetime kind of thing.

The weight isn't the only problem. The volume is also a very significant factor. I can't imagine lugging a cooler over tundra. And if they were going to eat Mountain House for a week, that stuff is bulky! One Mountain House per meal (which is not nearly enough calories, and definitely not healthy ones) per person is 42 packages for the hunting buddies.

 

[Black Diamond]

And how do 2 men manage that, plus taking the gear, equipment, tents, mattresses, clothing, cooking utensils, other accessories etc. over that kind of terrain over distances of up to 5 miles each way?!?

An ice fishing sled can be used to pull several hundred pounds of bulky gear or meat for miles, without snow. I know from experience. A big toboggan is good too I think, but no experience with that.

I wonder if they had a sled. I saw a bunch of people using them on the videos I watched and they even work when there isn't any snow. Maybe they left it behind at base camp thinking they could manage without it.

I haven’t seen anything about a sled but it’s definitely possible they had one.

thank you- I do see the gray numbers now. Not sure if a sled could be pulled over berry bushes. I do know that in other areas, people use sleds or ATVs or both. The distances are not that far; the terrain is just not conducive to easy trekking.

An ice fishing sled will pull easily over small bushes. Rocky terrain or really thick bushes are the only places it might be too difficult to use out on the tundra.

 

[OddOneOut]

As I see it, the problem is not just about loading up your meat and taking it to the car....They have to walk miles in this awful terrain with all that weight. You've also got all the other stuff, too e.g. equipment.

Also, where this meat pile is going to be when you're carrying it. You will not be hauling it around on your shoulder! Once loaded up, it will either tower over your head or protrude significantly away from your torso. Likely both. The first turns you into a human pendulum, and the second jerks your back every time you step. And that's with a high end, well-fitted, pack, with a load weight within the pack specs. On difficult terrain, slogging for miles?

I do know that summer workers in the White Mountains (NH) lug heavy packs every day up to the huts with food and supplies. 80 lbs? But the Whites aren't tundra. And they do it, IIRC, several times a week, not as a once-in-a lifetime kind of thing.

The weight isn't the only problem. The volume is also a very significant factor. I can't imagine lugging a cooler over tundra. And if they were going to eat Mountain House for a week, that stuff is bulky! One Mountain House per meal (which is not nearly enough calories, and definitely not healthy ones) per person is 42 packages for the hunting buddies.

I was commenting more on SK being able to carry the meat from his pack back to the meeting place not carrying everything in and out of the area. I would assume they had a method to transport everything out to the van perhaps in some kind of sled. Maybe, they had some kind of winch on the van to help pull a sled granted it would need a very long chain or rope. They got it in there somehow.

 

[otto]

UPDATE: Investigators tell me when Keel left the campsite he was in his typical hiking outfit and carrying a Glock .45, a compass and his cellphone.
Of course, there is no signal out there.
I understand back at the camp they did have a satellite phone.
——
THE LATEST ON THE MAN FROM DOVER, TENNESSEE MISSING IN ALASKA.
Steve "Smiley" Keel is a 61-year-old Marine veteran and avid outdoorsman.
He went to Alaska with a friend to hunt Caribou.
They were camping in a rough, remote area in northern Alaska.
The men shot two caribou and stored them a quarter mile away to keep bears away from the campsite.
Last Saturday morning, the friend told authorities that Keel left the campsite to go cut some meat from the caribou and he never returned.
Investigators tell me the friend waited until the next day — nearly 24 hours later to report Keel missing.
I’m told he was hesitant to report it immediately thinking Keel might get mad if he did suddenly show up with a search underway.
SO WHAT HAPPENED?
It's a mystery.
Keel’s sons Jake and Ben — pictured here — are now there in Alaska organizing a ground search...."

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0prUR7Z5j2U51nWthjMpziX7G66aF9z9r7x4Tb7t9o93JGjf58x2etrLpErJA5Hi8l&id=100044302692250

Quoting ...

"UPDATE: Investigators tell me when Keel left the campsite he was in his typical hiking outfit and carrying a Glock .45, a compass and his cellphone."


He headed out to skin a caribou with a Glock, a compass and a cellphone?

 

[OddOneOut]

Quoting ...

"UPDATE: Investigators tell me when Keel left the campsite he was in his typical hiking outfit and carrying a Glock .45, a compass and his cellphone."


He headed out to skin a caribou with a Glock, a compass and a cellphone?

I think it was already skinned and the meat was in a pack.

 

[5W's]

As I see it, the problem is not just about loading up your meat and taking it to the car....They have to walk miles in this awful terrain with all that weight. You've also got all the other stuff, too e.g. equipment.

Also, where this meat pile is going to be when you're carrying it. You will not be hauling it around on your shoulder! Once loaded up, it will either tower over your head or protrude significantly away from your torso. Likely both. The first turns you into a human pendulum, and the second jerks your back every time you step. And that's with a high end, well-fitted, pack, with a load weight within the pack specs. On difficult terrain, slogging for miles?

I do know that summer workers in the White Mountains (NH) lug heavy packs every day up to the huts with food and supplies. 80 lbs? But the Whites aren't tundra. And they do it, IIRC, several times a week, not as a once-in-a lifetime kind of thing.

The weight isn't the only problem. The volume is also a very significant factor. I can't imagine lugging a cooler over tundra. And if they were going to eat Mountain House for a week, that stuff is bulky! One Mountain House per meal (which is not nearly enough calories, and definitely not healthy ones) per person is 42 packages for the hunting buddies.

Is it known for sure where the caribou kill happened? I assume it happened near where the rucsack/cache/stash was placed on a rod or stick to keep it from the ground. I imagine it would be tiring to lug it around and walk a distance to the rod. So most probably it was right there.

 

[Hexe]

Quoting ...

"UPDATE: Investigators tell me when Keel left the campsite he was in his typical hiking outfit and carrying a Glock .45, a compass and his cellphone."


He headed out to skin a caribou with a Glock, a compass and a cellphone?

A shot in the air is a fast way of communicating your pal in the camp you need help. And in tundra you want to have a compass with you all the time, because it's super easy to get lost in there, once you can't see the camp anymore. The landscape looks identical in every direction, without any characteristic features you could use as an orientation point, the sun barely moves on the sky. One moment and you are totally confused, not knowing which way to go. The cellphone, even without service, can have some useful apps. So I don't see anything weird in Steve's equipment.

 

[RickshawFan]

Quoting ...

"UPDATE: Investigators tell me when Keel left the campsite he was in his typical hiking outfit and carrying a Glock .45, a compass and his cellphone."


He headed out to skin a caribou with a Glock, a compass and a cellphone?

A non working cellphone (there was no service). Unknown whether he was out of battery, and whether the compass was ON the cellphone.

And if the declination hadn’t been changed since Tennessee….

 

[RickshawFan]

Is it known for sure where the caribou kill happened? I assume it happened near where the rucsack/cache/stash was placed on a rod or stick to keep it from the ground. I imagine it would be tiring to lug it around and walk a distance to the rod. So most probably it was right there.

Hunting is required to be at least 5 miles from Dalton hwy.

 

[annpats]

If they had a sled to transport their gear etc then why weren't they using it to transport their meat too?

The reason Steve left his meat in a backpack to come back to the following day, was because he was struggling and couldn't carry it any more.

So, that would indicate no sled was taken on that day, and no sled he was taken the following day eitther.

To me, that would indicate they didn't have one, or if they did, it was unsuitable for the terrain.

 

[annpats]

And in tundra you want to have a compass with you all the time, because it's super easy to get lost in there, once you can't see the camp anymore.

In this instance, Steve was going about 1/2 a mile. Surely he'd be able to see the camp from that distance?

A some have mentioned, the are they are in has potential for fog, but his camping partner Bryan didn't mention fog, and I'm sure Steve wouldn't have walked off into fog either.

 

[Hexe]

In this instance, Steve was going about 1/2 a mile. Surely he'd be able to see the camp from that distance?

A some have mentioned, the are they are in has potential for fog, but his camping partner Bryan didn't mention fog, and I'm sure Steve wouldn't have walked off into fog either.

Because it's not like whole tundra is pancake flat. There are ups and downs, hills and depressed areas. It was mentioned here that in the area where Steve & Bryan camped there were rolling hills. That's what made the camp not visible from the spot where Steve left his backpack.

 

[OddOneOut]

If they had a sled to transport their gear etc then why weren't they using it to transport their meat too?

The reason Steve left his meat in a backpack to come back to the following day, was because he was struggling and couldn't carry it any more.

So, that would indicate no sled was taken on that day, and no sled he was taken the following day eitther.

To me, that would indicate they didn't have one, or if they did, it was unsuitable for the terrain.

Hauling a sled around while hunting would be awkward and too noisy. It is unknown if they had one back at camp. I can't imagine how many trips it would take to haul all the meat, tents, sleeping bags, etc. from the camp to the van without one.

 

[MelInTN]

Some antlers were found and a theory behind them is on the public Facebook group. Log in or sign up to view

Thoughts?

Liz needs her husband to be found. The not knowing has got to be excruciating.

 

[RickshawFan]

If they had a sled to transport their gear etc then why weren't they using it to transport their meat too?

The reason Steve left his meat in a backpack to come back to the following day, was because he was struggling and couldn't carry it any more.

So, that would indicate no sled was taken on that day, and no sled he was taken the following day eitther.

To me, that would indicate they didn't have one, or if they did, it was unsuitable for the terrain.

I don't see how you'd be able to drag a sled across tundra anyway, except in winter with deep snow pack. The late summer terrain is hummocky, low vegetation, pools of water, soggy, muskegs....

 

[j_in_c]

In this instance, Steve was going about 1/2 a mile. Surely he'd be able to see the camp from that distance?

A some have mentioned, the are they are in has potential for fog, but his camping partner Bryan didn't mention fog, and I'm sure Steve wouldn't have walked off into fog either.

From Post 293:

Approximately six thenths of a mile from base camp, Steve grew tired of carrying the pack, decided to leave it at that location and return the next day to retreive it. The pack was marked with a hiking stick. They then proceeded to base camp and stopped one more time to place another hiking stick on a ridge to provide Steve a line of direction towards the pack.

If he needed a second trekking pole to indicate "direction of travel" to me that indicates the stashed pack was not visible from base camp. it also means (to me) that it was far enough out to easily get lost in this terrain with no trails and minimal guideposts and no GPS. Everything I read here says "complacency" and there are no indications (IMO) of any sort of foul play or self-harm.

In hindsight, the friend should have accompanied him, he should have had a GPS, etc. But this happens all the time, even to very experienced outdoors people, especially when it seems like a very simple task (relative to all the huge treks they had surely been making to actually hunt). I sincerely hope he is found to bring closure and also end any potentially hurtful speculation.

 

[RickshawFan]

Some antlers were found and a theory behind them is on the public Facebook group. Log in or sign up to view

Thoughts?

Liz needs her husband to be found. The not knowing has got to be excruciating.

I'm not sure I understand how a set of antlers could be said to land in a not-natural position, as is discussed at the FB link. I don't believe antlers fall off a caribou in a predictable pile, but someone could correct me on this.

Antlers are a collection of V-shapes. Any set of antlers will look like an arrow on the ground.... IMO

And then there's the likelihood of carrion being moved around...

 

[RickshawFan]

If he needed a second trekking pole to indicate "direction of travel" to me that indicates the stashed pack was not visible from base camp. it also means (to me) that it was far enough out to easily get lost in this terrain with no trails and minimal guideposts and no GPS. Everything I read here says "complacency" and there are no indications (IMO) of any sort of foul play or self-harm.

Snipped for focus

Such a great point. Also, it doesn't sound like SK had binoculars with him. Those poles would just blend into the landscape. If you lose sight of even one of them, you will be lost, and losing sight of both is very easy. You can't even use the sun for direction finding in that area.

I'm shocked that the fellas didn't come right back to the meat that very evening after maybe getting some dinner and a little rest. They could have moved all that weight in several trips if they had to and it wasn't far off.

I'm still of the belief that SK couldn't find his stash (many likelihoods why), panicked, got lost, and soon became hypothermic.

 

[Katherine Isgreat]

I'm not sure I understand how a set of antlers could be said to land in a not-natural position, as is discussed at the FB link. I don't believe antlers fall off a caribou in a predictable pile, but someone could correct me on this.

Antlers are a collection of V-shapes. Any set of antlers will look like an arrow on the ground.... IMO

And then there's the likelihood of carrion being moved around...

I thought it looked like one antler was pressed into the soil - tips up. I'm not sure an antler could naturally dig itself in, and, if it did, seems like that would normally by tip down. IDK though - just what I thought looking at the video.