[smith88]

Originally Posted by pruhead

Please share your strategies for safe hunting, I love hunting alone and backpack hunting alone, the following is my strategy for safety:
Inform someone exactly where you are going and when you will return, if you don't show up on time have them look for you. keep some form of signaling device with you, (blaze orange vest is good, flashlight with strobe function) Always keep on your person in your pockets and small pack supplies and water to survive a day or two if unable to walk out. I always take an aspirin daily and keep a few on my person if there is any cardiac problems, I also have some powerful prescription pain killers from when I passed a kidney stone I keep with me in case I get mangled up somehow. I Wear good boots and watch out for rattlesnakes some of them are extremely deadly. Very Important, mark your trails with something reflective in case you have to walk out at night and keep a spare flashlight on your person as well. In my day pack I keep thermals (enough to survive a night out), windproof gloves a wool ski cap, matches, rain poncho, water, trail mix, 2-3 flashlight, some form of reflective markers, something blaze orange usually a vest. I NEVER separate myself from my pack or the items in my pockets. I learned the hard way one time, taking my pack off at night and having no reflective markers to mark it with, got lost and separated from my supplies, fortunately after a few hours I found my pack, could have ended up bad. Backpack hunting alone is an unparalleled experience but it must be done wisely.

For what it is worth, I don't think taking powerful pain meds while alone and injured would be on the recipe for a happy outcome. Disorientation, drowsiness and overexertion are things that come to mind. Not to mention the effects those drugs would have on breathing, heart rate and blood pressure.