Don't know nuthin' 'bout huntin' no gators, hogs, and various other critters foreign to these parts.

 Have spent several years looking for lost people and teaching others how not to experience that thrill.  If you'd rather be in the latter group than the former, shoot me a PM and I'll send you a link to my free two page guide to learning wilderness navigation.
 
Then go buy an orienteering compass -- ask at the outdoor store if you don't know what it is.  Do NOT buy a lensatic compass, which is great for Marines calling in mortar fire but less efficient for hunters and other pedestrians.  

Read the tiny, tiny print in the compass instructions one section at a time, until you understand that section and can smoothly do what it tells you to do.  

Buy a topographic map of an area where you can practice frequently.

Use the compass, the compass instructions, the map, and my instructions to practice.  Lather, rinse, repeat until you can do all of it without thinking much about it.  You'll know more about backcountry navigation than 85% of the hunters out there.  And you'd be surprised how many of your acquaintances among trad bowhunters are in that number.    

Got lost one night in the rain and ended up 7 miles from where I started before I found a young couple partying @ 2:00 am in the woods and got them to take me back to where I started. Onlyu reason I found them was he EXTRA loud music they were listening to. I bought a GPS 2 days later and don't go hunting without it now.

Never, never been lost! Once in my life I didn't know where I was or where I'd been for a couple of weeks....but never LOST!

Don't count only on a GPS. One year in Colorado the satellites went down for awhile and the GPS was worthless.

Spent the night in a NC eastern swamp once.  After blood trailing a nice doe I looked up and it was dark, I mean black and my flashlight was run down.  

The back straps were great and the fire kept the mosquitos at bay.  A little salt would have been nice but overall a nice evening.

I'm like Rob. I can get lost in my own backyard.

After hunting with me just twice, one of my buddies bought me a ball compass due to my ineptness directionally speaking. Unfortunately the compass didn't work right and made things worse. I started to freak out when I got lost, but then settled down and figured that the lake was one way and the road directly opposite. My chances were at least 50/50 of finding a decent way out of the woods. Well...I found the lake and then walked a couple miles back to my truck. No fun and kinda scary.

I really need to get a compass and take a survival class at some point.

those ball compasses are useless, I have one that I wear like a watch. I put it on when I get out of the truck, its the last thing I do before walking to my stand. Once you get a good compass remember "it's smarter then you boy, listen to it and don't agrue with" as my grandaddy told me.

Yes I did. Was on the top of a mountain in Co. and walked off the wrong side. Not a good thing.

Never been lost in my life,always new what state I was in. Most times what county. Confused, you bet'cha!!!! No idea where my truck was or how I could of missed it. Now days I way point the star point and I'm good to go. However, there is no better tool than a map and compass and take the time learn to use both. For the most part it's not that big of a deal to be confused. But if you are 5-15 miles from the nearest anything,or farther it can get serious real quick.....ron w

Oh Yes...Northern Ontario bear hunting where every bit of cedar and swamp looks like every other. Shot a compass bearing and started moving the rest went like this..."Father you made this ground so you know it better than me a little help sure would be nice bout now"    

Once upon a time in Eastern Oregon I was doing some still hunting for elk about 4 miles from camp.  This was an area I had hunted a fair amount and felt pretty comfortable in.  It was just about sunset and and I suddenly realized the sun was setting in the East.  I was completely turned around.  I was so turned around, that I had to get my compass out to verify that the sun wasn't in the wrong place.(yes I am a doofus)  For many years I had prided myself on my dead reconning abilities.  For about a minute I was completely flustered.  Then I laughed at myself, turned around and headed the right direction to camp. Compass.....I won't leave camp without it.

i got lost once in a bunch of sandunes.couldnt figure out what way was what.i was riding my dirtbike and stopped many times to scratch my head in bewilderment as to just where the hell the campground was.finally stumbled on it by accident.      

I have a pretty good sense of direction, so don't really have trouble getting lost...but in the fog is a different game altogether. Three of us rented an aluminum boat in Santa Cruz many years ago and went out a mile or so to fish for rock cod. Weather was clear when we left the pier. The fog settled in on us very quickly. We had no idea which way to go. So we would go aways, shut the motor off and listen for waves breaking on the beach, go a bit further and do it again. After a bit of this a cabin cruiser came by and the guy says " you guys look lost". He had all the navigation gear and we followed him in. We were headed the wrong way before he came along.
After we got back to the dock we watched some of the other boats come in to see the fish they had caught. One guy came in and had a good number fish in the boat. He had shot them all in the kelp beds just off the beach with a Bear recurve and a fish arrow.  Jim

Yes, chasing elk in the Cascade mountains of Oregon when I was about 14 years old.

Once in Missouri I was at the front of a john boat with 4 people crossing the MS river to turkey hunt a public island. It was extremely foggy (could barely see the guy at the motor!). The river was very high and full of debris -- we shouldn't have been on it in the dark.  I had the compass in the front with a bearing we had taken a few days before in case this happened.  EVeryone in the boat argued with my directions as I followed the compass bearing.  They were looking at the water and thought we were "lost" -- going upstream or downstream instead of across stream.  I was insistent that we must follow the compass.  Thank goodness the driver agreed with me. We landed on the island within just a few feet of our intended spot.  If we had not believed the compass, who knows what would have happened. It was a spooky few 15 minutes or so ignoring what the eyes were telling us for the compass.

Yup- perhaps more confused than anything.  

1) CO elk.  Man those canyons are deep- particularly for a flat-lander.  Finally found "a" trail on top just before dark.  Stayed the night.  Built a reflection wall out of logs for the fire.  Used an emergency blanket as a back reflector.  Warm and toasty.  A bit hungry and thirsty.  Learned to not finish off the water until you are at the truck.  Also good I had some snacks left. Though way "off" from my entrance route; I found my way out in the morning.

2) Age 14. MI cedar swamp.  I did not believe my compass.  When I finally agreed with myself to believe it for 30 minutes it led me right out of the cedar swamp in upper MI.

3) Age 25.  Hunting by myself and mixed up in CO.  My first time in that big country. Surprised how I began to panic and walk faster and faster. Silly really- but amazed myself. "Hug a tree" as my dad used to say.  Eventually went down, down, down to the river and followed it out.  Took me right where I needed to go.

One skill where I still need a good education: compass and navigation.  Any good tips out there for learning??  

Dan in KS (yea- pretty hard to get lost here!     )

As a TN (hill country) boy hunting the flat country of coastal Mississippi, I would get lost again and again (some guys never learn) the first couple of years.  I would not be that far off of the road, but climbing down from the tree stand when it was pitch black, and trying to navigate thick swamp country with a cloudy sky, would soon get me walking by the same location (hey, is that the tree I was in?).  Eventually I started paying more attention to little details that help clue me in on where I was going and where I had been.

The last time I got lost was when some buddies and I went down to hunt hogs at Fort Benning, GA.  We did not hunt that far off of the road, but again it was flat swamp.  I had my trusty Rhino 120 radio/GPS.  So there was no way I could get lost.  I also stayed out in the swamp to well after dark, I was so confident.  Well when it was time to head out, I set my waypoint for my truck.  Well the overhead obstruction in this thick swamp was playing havock with my GPS readings.  Also the built in compass and direction pointer would not work unless I was moving at a constant speed and direction (try doing that in a swamp).  After stumbling around for about 30 minutes with my batteries about to give out.  My last radio communication was to my buddies.  "Start blowing your car horns!".  I put my GPS away and used my ears to get out.

Several years ago, when I was younger and dumber, I went out with my rifle in search of some critters.  Parked on a logging road and headed into the woods.

A ways into it and several hours later, a sudden realizaion of "Now which way to get back to my truck?" hit me.  I remembered what my dad told me once-

"If you're lost, go downhill til you find a stream or road.  If it's a stream, follow it til it gets you to a road.  Follow the road to help."

Well, I did just that and ended up finding my logging road.  Walked downhill for quite a ways until I ran into my truck, which was a pretty good feeling by then.  I do things different now and actually pack things with me for the just in case moments.


Jeremy

According to my wife... I am on a daily basis  

I had a friend say, "to be lost you gotta care where you are at".  I really think that is how he thought about it.  He would leave camp and stay gone for days.  He said, "I have a pack and supplies, why do I have to caome back to camp to sleep?"  Quite a character, but he does have a point.

He told me that if I ever got turned around to just close my eyes and think about where I am at.  I have had to do that a few times, it does work.