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DEADHORSE, Alaska (WSMV) - A son is on his way to Deadhorse, Alaska, after his father went missing on Saturday.

Authorities are looking for 61-year-old Steve Keel of Dover, Tennessee, who went missing on a hunting trip.

According to the Facebook group “Missing In Fairbanks, Alaska,” Steve arrived in Alaska on August 20th. He was last seen on August 27th when he walked away from the campsite to retrieve supplies and never returned.

Steve and his friends were camping in a remote area of Alaska where they had planned to hunt for caribou.

KTUU said Steve’s son is on his way from Dover to search for his missing father in Alaska. According to the Facebook group, Steve’s campsite was off Dalton Highway, south of Deadhorse, at mile marker 336.5.

If anyone hears anything would appreciate if you could pass it along so I can update the TN hunting site that I visit.
Thank you

This "exact" same thing happened last year.

Not all those who wander are lost

Look For Birds!!

Unfortunately it happens too often.

Then again it happens everywhere. My neighbors lease hunter was found at the base of the tree his stand was on. Of course we don't have critters with attitudes and teethe here to much but still.....

Let's hope Steve's son uses some common sense when he arrives to search for his father.

Authorities sure don't want two lost out of state hunters.

Good on the son for going to look for his father. Sensible or not it’s the right thing for a son to do. Realistically I’m thinking that it was probably a heartache. Hopefully the son doesn’t stray to far off course and make things worse.

Not much info on how well suited the missing hunter was when he walked away from camp. Tough country hope him the best.

Osky

When I was getting refueled in Deadhorse earlier this week, the guy driving the fuel truck said there were three helicopters and one CAP plane looking for the hunter…The hunter was reported to have left camp without a gun and adequate clothing, to pick up some caribou meat that they couldn’t carry all the way back to camp…the fog moved in shortly after the hunter left camp. Not a good scenario for survival…

Ouch. Sorry to hear this. Hope he beats the odds but that sounds grim.

I hate fog. GPS is golden if it works( I've had 2 failures- mostly my own fault. It also helps if one remembers to set the damned waypoint of camp! . ) A compass (often 3) is mandatory.

Look down stream from Happy Valley as the SAG River has taken many from a simple slip/fall & drowning.

Wishing them all the best finding the lost person.

Above 71 N a compass is a crap shoot, you gotta use it every day when you can see landmarks, stars or bearing points to see how accurate or not it is. I'd bet in the early days of aviation on the Slope, compasses killed more pilots than icing. I have seen the very best quality marine compasses on modern tugs just refuse to settle down up there. There is a place near Demarcation Bay east of Prudhoe where a good marine compass rotated like a 33 rpm record. Thankful for the gyro compass, you betcha.

I try not to go that far north, but you are correct. Thanks for the reminder.

Has anyone heard anything more about this?

There was five hunters missing a few days ago in Alaska. They found one dead, three are assumed drowned, plus the missing hunter up north.
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Can't leave out the one that got munched on by a bear last Friday.


A Dillingham hunter was mauled by a bear on Friday. Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Tim DeSpain said in an email that 40-year-old John Casteel was hunting up the Nushagak River, 20 miles by air from Dillingham when he was mauled.

Casteel’s aunt, Marjorie Nelson, said he came upon the brown bear while moose hunting. The bear attacked and Casteel called out to his hunting partner, who shot and killed the bear. His partner sent a satellite message requesting help, saying that Casteel had injuries on his arm and leg. He was conscious but couldn’t move.

“They had a nurse with them and other hunting parties that helped stabilize him and control his wounds," she said. "He stayed out in the wilderness for four hours, laying on the tundra. But you know, those people, the hunting party that he was with, they started a fire and they tried to keep him warm and keep him conscious and awake until the helicopter came and got him. It was a rough Friday night for us.”

It was dark by the time the helicopter arrived. Nelson said the group shot flares into the air to show their location. The helicopter took Casteel to Dillingham.

"The whole time, John was conscious. He was awake during this whole ordeal," she said. "And after they got him stabilized, cleaned up they got a medevac out of Dillingham and sent him to Anchorage.”

Casteel has deep wounds on his leg and arm and was in the Alaska Native Medical Center’s critical care unit over the weekend. Nelson says he went into surgery Saturday morning. It lasted for about eight hours

“He's still in a lot of pain, but they're trying to manage that pain right now," she said. "He's pretty overwhelmed with what happened to him. And, you know, totally understandable. I can’t imagine. I can’t — it's overwhelming to me.”

Nelson doesn’t expect recovery to be easy and said Casteel may have to undergo additional surgeries. She added that the family is grateful to his hunting partner and thanks everyone for their prayers.

https://www.kdlg.org/hunting/2022-0...vives-bear-mauling-up-the-nushagak-river

Yikes.

The club no one wants to join.

Was the Tennessee hunter found?