Melvin had long been involved with Amateur Radio, being first licensed at age 14, in then his home state of Ohio. He lived in the suburbs of a large city there and without much chance to enjoy the real outdoors as we know it here in the southern part of the country, had devoted most of his free time to ham radio.

Moving south at the age of 33 with his mother, Melvin had not yet married and lived at home with his mother, a widow since Melvin was 17. The move from Ohio was rather difficult on him since, as with any move, you leave old friends and start anew with a new group of friends. At his new home, he found the local folk shared quite different interest than those from where he had come. Here, most of the men, both young and old, were more closely drawn to a variety of outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing, camping and of course, Ham Radio.

Melvin had no problem making new aquaintences through ham radio. However, this seemed to be the extent of his relationship with the other men in the area. He was freely and enthusiastically accepted into the realm of ham radio and its varied activities but something seemed lacking. He didn't seem to fit in with the other social activities. He seemed at a loss when the discussion turned to another topic of interest.

The most discussed topic, by the largest group was deer hunting, a subject about which Melvin had no knowledge. He knew, that if he were ever to be fully accepted into the new community of friends, he would have to learn more and to participate in activities other than ham radio. He set a plan to listen and learn during any discussion on the other activities, both on the local repeater and at any other gathering where the subject came up.

Finally, after 2 full fall seasons of listening and learning all he could about deer hunting, he decided this would be his first hurdle. Not wanting the other fellows to poke fun, he decided the first hunting excursion would be solo, all by himself, and if all went well, maybe next year he would be asked to join in the group at one of the larger camps he often heard them speak of.First he would have to get all the appropriate equipment, remember, he had learned what the other fellows were using by listening.

Since financial worries were not a problem, his father was a very successful real estate broker and had left he and his mother a sizable fortune plus half a million in life insurance when he was taken in an automobile accident, Melvin could buy the best of equipment.

His first purchase was a new, fully loaded, luxury edition 4 wheel drive pickup with the large oversized, white letter, mudder tires, special suspension modifications to give the rig maximum ground clearance for those trips to the deer woods. Also added was a rack with 5, 6 inch halogen lights for night running, twin spotlights, one on each side, an electric winch on the front for those times when you may get stuck. A special chrome plated set of ramps were also purchased to allow the loading and unloading of a new and fully outfitted 4 wheeler complete with cargo racks both front and rear and, not one, but 2 rifle scabbards for a matched pair of 30 30's, he had remembered one of the fellows stating he always carried a backup on his hunting trips.

Not to be short of communication with the local amateur world, Melvin also added a new dual-band radio to both the pickup and to the new 4 wheeler. You never know when you may need help getting your quarry out of the woods. He had, at this time, opted not to purchase camping gear but rather hunt this first year on a day to day basis, returning home each night.

Now that he had all the new gear, he had about a month to explore the area for a good hunting sight. Remember again, he had listened and learned for 2 full fall hunting seasons and was now feeling confident he could do this on his own. Without seeking help from others he set out to find just the right spot to be on opening day of the season.

As he had heard repeatedly, he must find an area of high traffic, with the more markings and signs the better. Also, equally important, the area had to have sufficient cover to allow him to remain concealed while on his stand. For the next several days, Melvin traveled the area within a reasonable distance of his home, remember, he planned to return home each evening. Finally after careful searching and considerable thought, he settled on an area he thought would best fill the bill, as he had understood it from the descriptions given by the other fellows in their conversations. Melvin was almost beside himself, he could hardly wait to give this very popular sport his very first try. He had dreams of a trophy buck on his first outing thereby making him a hero of sorts, among the others in the community.

Finally, the big day was near, tomorrow would be his hour of triumph, his day in the sun, to finally be fully accepted into the group as an all round sport and good guy. That night, Melvin lay awake for several hours, thinking what his new found hobby would mean to him after this most important first outing. He could hardly wait for the alarm to go off though he had yet to fall asleep. He last looked at the clock at 2:15 AM,his alarm was set for 4. Remember again, he had learned by listening, he had to be on his stand and settled in before the first crack of dawn and his stand was a 20 minute drive from home. He had planned on being able to leave by 5:30, allowing him an hour to drive the 20 minute route, unload his 4 wheeler, drive it to the center of the woods he planned to hunt,then walk the rest of the way to his stand.

At 4 sharp, the alarm woke him with a start. At first, not knowing what was going on, Melvin shut off the alarm, then remembering, this was it, he proceeded to get ready for his big day.

All went surprisingly well that morning, the drive to the area and the trip to the center of the woods on the 4 wheeler were uneventful as was the hike on to his stand, a spanking new 30-30 on each shoulder and a new dual-band handi-talkie on his belt. Melvin had timed his arrival well, arriving 10 minutes before the first light of dawn.

After getting situated and comfortable, he sat quietly, listening and watching for any movement that might prove to be the crowning glory to his first ever hunting trip. As the morning light increased, so did the sounds around him, but no sign of his quarry. There were a couple of times he had raised his rifle for a sound shot, but using better judgment, lowered the rifle, determined to wait for a sighting before shooting.

The sun rose high in the sky and morning soon became early afternoon. Still, Melvin sat, patiently waiting his quarry to no avail. Soon, it began to get dark and dreary. The clouds began forming and the wind began to blow and there was an occasional light sprinkle of rain. Undaunted, Melvin stayed his ground, he new if he gave up this early, he might never prove he could be one of the boys.

By late afternoon, it had become quite foggy with the visibility dropping by the minute, still, Melvin stayed his ground. About 5 PM, Melvin decided it was time to head for his 4 wheeler. Getting dark, it would be totally dark in 30 minutes, without the fog. Melvin first started off to his right. After a moment, he paused, looking all around, he turned and headed back the way he had just come from. The sounds around him were pounding in his ears, drumming out so loudly he could scarcely think, something he desperately need to do. Now, totally confused as to which way he should head to reach his 4 wheeler, Melvin was near panic, he had never been in this type situation.

One of his first thoughts was to use his handheld 2 meter to summons help, but then, if he did this, all would know of his first hunting trip and the degrading situation he was now in. He sat back down on his stand to study the situation. After a while, he decided to remain where he was until good light, something else he had learned by listening, that is many times the best option if one is lost and caught in darkness.

He spent many hours during the night studying his options for the next day and wandering how his mother was taking him not returning home. He had been gone overnight on a few previous occasions but they were planned, not unplanned as this time. Finally, he became so weary, he curled up on the ground on an old piece of plastic sheeting he had picked up on the way in that morning, and dropped off to sleep.

Next morning, the sun woke him, shinning brightly through the trees. He sat up and began to think again, should I stay and hunt or should I try and find my way out. Giving in to the idea of calling for help, Melvin slowly squeezed the PTT button on his handi-talkie and ask if anyone was monitoring. No response, again and again he tried unsuccessfully to raise a response. Then he remembered a system they had used in Ohio, the LiTZ or Long Tone Zero. This system uses a DTMF decoder to detect a long tone zero, (a single tone of 3 to 5 seconds in duration), which is used by some people who wish to be able to respond to emergency or urgent traffic while the receiver remains quiet during normal repeater use. In use the decoder opens the otherwise closed squelch on the receiver allowing further traffic to be monitored until the system is reset. Trying this option proved to be successful on the first try, when Clyde answered his call for assistance.

Melvin explained to Clyde the situation he was in and the route he had taken and approximately where he had left his pickup. Clyde asked Melvin to remain where he was and to monitor the frequency while he rounded up some of his fellow hams and began the search for him.

Soon a crew of four fellow hams were enroute to the general area of Melvins pickup. Clyde headed out north on I-430 and reached the intersection of I-430 and I-40 just ahead of the rest of the group. Almost immediately, Clyde spotted Melvins pickup, parked on the north shoulder of the on ramp to the westbound lane of I-40. He called Melvin on the repeater and Melvin gave a quick and thankful reply. He informed Clyde that he had left his pickup on the 4 wheeler, crossing the westbound lane of I-40 into the woods. Clyde immediately looked across the lane of traffic and spotted Melvins new 4 wheeler.

The group crossed the traffic lane to the 4 wheeler and again contacted Melvin on the repeater, asking which direction he had gone when he left his 4 wheeler. Melvin quickly responded saying he had headed west. The group then headed west and after traveling about 50 yards spotted Melvin still sitting at the base of the tree he had used as a stand. Melvin was ecstatic to see the group approaching and really appreciated the hot cup of coffee they had so thoughtfully brought.