Forest Rangers Rescue Lost Hunter: DEC

RIVERHEAD, NY — A lost hunter was rescued by forest rangers in Riverhead recently.

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation forest rangers said the incident took place on Jan. 20 at 1:14 p.m., when DEC's central office dispatch received a call reporting a lost hunter in the Sarnoff State Forest.

Forest Rangers Joseph Pries and John Scott responded to the hunter's last known location; the hunter was then able to send a screenshot from his phone with his location to Environmental Conservation Police Officer Sean Rockefeller. Using the screenshot, Forest rangers Pries and Scott met ECO Rockefeller and ECO Jacob Clark and pinpointed the lost hunter's exact location, the DEC said. The officers found the 48-year-old hunter one-quarter mile off the trail and assisted him back to his vehicle, the DEC said.