Another thought: if Steve was wet all the time, then he was also cold all the time. That in turn means his body was burning calories like crazy, to keep the core temp up. So if he started his day with just a coffee and not a hearty, calories packed metal, then I can bet he was critically low on blood sugar and not thinking very clearly when he was leaving the camp.
I'm wondering if the fellas even had any food left, except the meat. Any food they took on this trip, would have been carry-in: HEAVY, if they didn't know how to do this light and compact. I would venture to guess they cut corners here. Maybe they didn't even have a way to boil water when they were in their hunt camp. At their base camp, evidently they were able to make coffee, so at least they had a pot, and maybe a stove.
But a week without nourishment in the tundra would really have depleted both guys: I'd bet neither of them was thinking straight at this point. Added to this, hot water is an easy way to get warmed up. You can even fill your Nalgene with hot water and hug it under your jacket. If the fellas opted NOT to take a stove for the hunt camp, they would also have become chronically cold.
FWIW: It's not expensive to make compact, light, backpacking food. You just have to plan. And you have to carry a stove, fuel, and pot. Many hunters use JetBoils: they take very little fuel.
A light JetBoil weighs 13.1 ounce for the 2-cup (i.e. medium size, not fancy) version. It's the cheapest. A small canister of fuel, stored in the cup, weighs 7 oz. Most models don't even require matches.
The fellas could have shared the stove and taken two canisters. (I woulda taken 3 canisters and drunk tea and soup all evening lol). This way, they would have had hot, cooked, nourishing food their entire trip.
Some regular items you get at the grocery store can set up just with boiling water, no cooking. Example: instant grits, dried tomatoes, grated cheese (or chunks), instant black beans, spices. Voilà, Mexican dinner. Example #2: one serving foil package of cooked chicken, instant stuffing, dried cranberries, instant mashed potato, instant gravy, dried vedge, if desired: that's a whole "Thanksgiving dinner". Couscous, Uncle Ben's rice, Angel Hair pasta, oatmeal, instant mashed potato, instant grits, and Ramen, can all be "cooked" this way.
For a healthy serving, these dinners would take approx 2 cups of boiling water. With a JetBoil, one of those small (100 grams) cans of fuel can boil 40 cups of water: that's enough for 20 dinners.
You put your ingredients in a Ziploc Freezer Bag, and just pour boiling water on it. Zip it closed, and let it set up, under your clothes (double duty keeping you warm). 10 minutes later, and you have dinner. You could take 5 helpings of some of these ingredients for one dinner without stressing about weight or bulk. The fellas could have eaten so well on this trip: it just takes awareness about what you need to thrive during highly athletic activities and willingness to make it happen. I have a feeling they didn't: not eating properly would be very dangerous, and it was easily affordable.
BTW "Freezer Bag Cooking" is not my idea, but I did it for 6 months.... I had 35 different dinner menus, all needing only boiling water. I never had to clean dishes or pots, and I had LOTS of food.
