A 54-year-old hunter has been missing since Monday afternoon in the rugged mountains north of Steamboat Springs, but two other hunters missing since Tuesday were found Wednesday morning.
Routt County search-and-rescue teams have been scouring the Routt National Forest around Sugarloaf Mountain for Bill Porter of Prospect with little success.
“We found his tracks in the mud Tuesday,” said spokesman Darrel Levingstone. “But the snow came in and covered them up.”
Levingstone said Porter is an experienced hunter in good physical shape and dressed well. He had been with three companions, all of whom have been hunting in the area for 20 years, Levingstone said.
“He shot an elk on Sunday, cleaned and quartered it. On Monday, they were going to pack it out on horses. Bill told his companions he was going to hike about 45 minutes down to the elk and would meet them there. They arrived, and he was gone,” he said.
Colorado State Patrol dispatcher Jeana Weber said a hunter missing in Moffat County late Tuesday found a cabin to sleep in, then was spotted by his companions walking down a road Wednesday morning.
Garfield County Sheriff Lou Valerio said a hunter missing outside of Glenwood Springs was located Wednesday morning through his personal digital assistant.
Tyler Baskfield, spokesman for the Colorado Division of Wildlife, said roughly 100,000 hunting licenses have been issued this year for elk, deer and pronghorn antelope.
Mark Cousins, DOW hunter education coordinator, said an average of five or six hunters get lost each year.
