{"id":21911,"date":"2025-11-11T17:28:42","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T22:28:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=21911"},"modified":"2025-11-11T17:28:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T22:28:42","slug":"hunter-praises-god-after-being-lost-in-the-woods-for-20-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/11\/hunter-praises-god-after-being-lost-in-the-woods-for-20-days.html","title":{"rendered":"Hunter Praises God After Being Lost in the Woods For 20 Days"},"content":{"rendered":"
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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 \u201cjeep road,\u201d where he ended up on an \u201coff-roading trail,\u201d which his truck was not built to drive. \u201cI\u2019ve been up to the top of Swamp Road probably a dozen times. I wasn\u2019t lost, but\u2026 I couldn\u2019t get out,\u201d Dailey told a local station<\/a>. \u201cBut I never really considered myself lost. I just knew that I was in trouble because nobody knew where I was.\u201d<\/p>\n

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. \u201cI was sitting in the truck and I told the Lord, I go, \u2018Deer season\u2019s ending on Sunday. There\u2019s going to be a ton of people up here.\u2019 And I said, \u2018We either got to walk out tomorrow, or I got to sit here and die in this trip, Lord.\u2019 I go, \u2018You got to tell me what to do, Father, because I don\u2019t know what to do,\u2019\u201d 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\u2019t go through for the lack of signal. \u201cI messaged all my kids, apologized to them that grandpa probably won\u2019t be there for the rest of your lives, but I\u2019ll be watching you from heaven,\u201d he recalled. As he struggled to hike in the high altitude for 12 hours, he called out to God. \u201cI go, \u2018I either got to start a fire out of that pile of wood.\u2019 Or I go, \u2018You got to bring a car up this road and save me, Lord \u2013 and he goes, \u2018Look up.’\u201d Dailey looked up to see headlights headed his way. He rushed over to a group of three hunters, who gave him food and water. \u201cInstant answer, Lord, I never had an instant answer on a prayer. It saved my life,\u201d said Dailey.<\/p>\n

Dailey\u2019s 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<\/a> on Facebook for all their support. \u201cI 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,\u201d she said. \u201c[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.\u201d After his miraculous rescue, Dailey made a major life decision. \u201cI\u2019m done hunting. I love hunting. I\u2019ve been hunting since I\u2019ve been a little little kid, three years old,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I told my wife, \u2018I\u2019m done, babe. I\u2019m really done hunting.\u2019 I go, \u2018I promised God, I won\u2019t shoot no more of his creatures, you know?\u2019 And she goes, \u2018Are you sure?\u2019 I go, \u2018No, I\u2019m done. I\u2019m done. I\u2019m not leaving you no more.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":21914,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-messages"],"yoast_head":"\nHunter Praises God After Being Lost in the Woods For 20 Days<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After 20 days lost in California\u2019s wilderness, hunter Ron Dailey says God miraculously saved his life\u2014an instant answer to prayer.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2025\/11\/hunter-praises-god-after-being-lost-in-the-woods-for-20-days.html\" \/>\n<meta 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