las -
I agree cotton kills. Your forays into the AK backcountry doubtless put you at far greater risk than typical hunts in the lower 48, especially hunts like my group does where we are limited to how far we can go by how far our legs will take us and still get us back to the truck by or shortly after dark - provided all goes as planned. Plus we are generally in an area where firewood or sage for a fire is plentiful and cell coverage is surprisingly good in much of the area.
The worst we've experienced in terms of threats to life was a few years back when an ex-boss joined us. He was hunting alone and fell into a creek. Fortunately his truck was just a couple hundred yards up the hill. No idea what kind of clothing he was wearing but I know he got pretty cold trying to get back up the hill.
A couple years ago my long time hunting buddy sprained his ankle coming out through the sage after dark. The sprain was so bad the doc said he would have been better off with a clean break. That ended his hunt and his wife drove out from Denver to take him home. Not life threatening but a painful walk a mile back to the truck.
My personal worst was on a dove hunt in September heat in SE Colorado. Left my boots at home and took a hit to my achilles tendon area from a rattler. Even though it only got one fang in me my foot swelled up like a football and was extremely painful for several days. Fortunately the truck was a close by and a hospital was 15-20 minutes away. Don't think I'll forget my boots again and will definitely pay more attention to what is on the ground. Boot might not make a difference, though, as the brother of one of the pastors I was hunting with took a hit just below his knee several decades earlier and nearly lost his leg.
Your point is well taken, though, and more poly would be welcome. Might see what I can find in the next week or two. It looks like I'll have a hunting partner (SIL) for the first few days of the hunt this year but if I don't get my elk then I'll be alone for the remainder. Wife wants me to get an emergency transponder, too, in case my hip gives out and I can't make it back to the truck.
Hopefully the biggest risk I'll face this year is having a heart attack while packing out. Seems I get most of my elk after everyone else has gone home.
