Authorities in St. Louis and Carlton counties on Saturday responded to two incidents involving three lost deer hunters and were able to find them.
The St. Louis County Rescue Squad was called out at 5:45 p.m. to search for a 16-year-old boy believed to be lost in the Townline Road-Otto Road area of Fairbanks Township, about 30 miles northeast of Duluth.
The boy was found in the middle of a swamp, but kept in the area with a fire started for warmth until he was transported out at about 6 a.m. today. He was transported by Hoyt Lakes Ambulance Servicee to White Community Hospital in Aurora to be checked out for possible hypothermia.
The Carlton County Sheriff's Office conducted a ground and air search for two lost deer hunters in Thompson Township on Saturday when they did not come out of the woods by 6:45 p.m. as planned.
The Esko Fire Department, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and a Minnesota State Patrol helicopter joined the search. One of the men was found about one-half mile north of Highway 61 near the St. Louis river at 9:45 p.m. The sheriff's office said the man was severely underdressed for the conditions and was suffering from hypothermia. The helicopter located the second hunter in the woods shortly thereafter. He was semi-conscious, hypothermic and dehydrated. Cloquet paramedics treated the men and they were removed from the scene about 11:30 p.m. One of the men was transported to Cloquet Memorial Hospial for evaluation and treatment. The second man left the scene in a private vehicle.
