A Selma, California hunter is praising God after spending nearly three weeks lost in the wilderness. Ron Dailey, 65, left his home on October 13 for what he thought would be a day of hunting near Shaver Lake, in the Sierra National Forest. Dailey drove his 2002 Dodge Dakota to the top of the Swamp Lake trail where he stopped for a snack. Afterwards, he took what he described as a “jeep road,” where he ended up on an “off-roading trail,” which his truck was not built to drive. “I’ve been up to the top of Swamp Road probably a dozen times. I wasn’t lost, but… I couldn’t get out,” Dailey told a local station. “But I never really considered myself lost. I just knew that I was in trouble because nobody knew where I was.”

Unable to turn around, Dailey continued down the path to a plateau, where he camped a few days before trying to follow the trail signs, but heavy snow and the path continued to tear up his truck. He was surviving on what little food he had left and drinking melted snow. Dailey then began to try to find his way to safety on foot. “I was sitting in the truck and I told the Lord, I go, ‘Deer season’s ending on Sunday. There’s going to be a ton of people up here.’ And I said, ‘We either got to walk out tomorrow, or I got to sit here and die in this trip, Lord.’ I go, ‘You got to tell me what to do, Father, because I don’t know what to do,’” recalled Dailey. By November 1, he had gone 5 days without food. His situation had grown so desperate that he had texted his family a final farewell, which didn’t go through for the lack of signal. “I messaged all my kids, apologized to them that grandpa probably won’t be there for the rest of your lives, but I’ll be watching you from heaven,” he recalled. As he struggled to hike in the high altitude for 12 hours, he called out to God. “I go, ‘I either got to start a fire out of that pile of wood.’ Or I go, ‘You got to bring a car up this road and save me, Lord – and he goes, ‘Look up.’” Dailey looked up to see headlights headed his way. He rushed over to a group of three hunters, who gave him food and water. “Instant answer, Lord, I never had an instant answer on a prayer. It saved my life,” said Dailey.

Dailey’s family had been desperately searching for him during those twenty days he went missing. His wife, Glenda, reposted pictures of Dailey every day on a Facebook and several rescue teams from different counties scoured the woods for him. After he was found, Dailey was taken to the hospital for fluids and a checkup. Glenda thanked everyone on Facebook for all their support. “I want to thank everyone for all the support and love that we received while we patiently waited for Ron. God has answered the prayers of so many of us,” she said. “[Ron] is going to be shocked when I show him all of the people who searched for him. He is resting and will share what happened very soon.” After his miraculous rescue, Dailey made a major life decision. “I’m done hunting. I love hunting. I’ve been hunting since I’ve been a little little kid, three years old,” he said. “But I told my wife, ‘I’m done, babe. I’m really done hunting.’ I go, ‘I promised God, I won’t shoot no more of his creatures, you know?’ And she goes, ‘Are you sure?’ I go, ‘No, I’m done. I’m done. I’m not leaving you no more.”