AK AK - Steve Keel, 61, missing from hunting trip, from TN - Aug 27, 2022

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RBBM
According to what source has he "had no crime perpetrated on him"?

This is the heart of my concern. We don't know enough to pronounce cause of death. We don't even know if he is dead. Many of us just assume so from his not being found.

We just do not know. Perhaps we never will. I prefer to leave it an open question because despite obvious errors on the part of both hunters, no official conclusion has been reached AFAIK.
North Slope Borough LE has never referred to SK as anything but a missing person. They have never treated him as a victim or the case as a crime. They have never hinted at foul play of any kind.

HERE is the mid September statement by NSBSAR where the situation is explicitly referred to as an "overdue/missing case".

Screen Shot 2022-10-27 at 6.57.13 PM.png
 
North Slope Borough LE has never referred to SK as anything but a missing person. They have never treated him as a victim or the case as a crime. They have never hinted at foul play of any kind.

HERE is the mid September statement by NSBSAR where the situation is explicitly referred to as an "overdue/missing case".

View attachment 375931
I don't think any Websleuther disagrees with the official authority statement but at the same time as stated missing but unknown what happened. It can't be said one way or another. That is a fact. But in Steve's case its not as simple as it appears. We can't say for sure Steve became lost. Those antlers that Chet found it appears exactly as what Chet said they were put there recently (in context to Steve's case.) So if Steve put them there he was coherent and wanted to be found. So that can eliminate a few speculations right there. if he got injured by falling down then if predators didn't take the caribou meat and Steve was in the area then he should have been found. The only thing we know for sure is that he dropped his bag with the meat inside it and walked back to camp and told Bryan that he would go back the next day. I've wondered about that, however. It is possible he had more than one carrying case with him for the meat. So he took one back and would come back for the other one he dropped or left the next day as it was getting too heavy for him. IMO that also eliminates the speculation he was exhausted and such. So IMO it is odd because as you said it should be simply a missing person but with these other factors coming into play it really does beg the question what really happened?
 
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Remember NSB LE said in an FB statement that the two hunters were required to check in with authorities before hunting?

I randomly found a relevant regulation in the Alaska Hunting Regulations:

Page 105, pertaining to the Dalton Hwy corridor:

1 Dalton Highway Corridor Management Area (DHCMA) - Units 20 and 24-26 extending five miles from each side of the Dalton Highway, including the drivable surface of the Dalton Highway, from the Yukon River to the Arctic Ocean, and including the Prudhoe Bay Closed Area. The area within the Prudhoe Bay Closed Area is closed to the taking of big game; the remainder of the DHCMA is closed to hunting; however, big game, small game, and fur animals may be taken in the area by bow and arrow only, and small game may be taken by falconry.Any hunter traveling on the Dalton Highway must stop at any check station operated by the department within the DHCMA.
They were 5 miles away, though. Correct me if I'm wrong. If they made this mistake its possible they misjudged the distance and it wasn't deliberate.
 
Yes, there are water bodies they may have walked into, crossed or gone along a sodden edge.

I doubt big tough Caribou hunters in the wilderness are going to be tiptoeing along only scarce high and dry tracks.

The soil itself is waterlogged; link below.


Here is a picture of the waterway SK is standing close to at the camp from the family Facebook page Sept 23rd update:

Facebook


>Still, the tundra is usually a wet place because the low temperatures cause evaporation of water to be slow. Much of the arctic has rain and fog in the summers, and water gathers in bogs and ponds.>

Tundra: Mission: Biomes


>During the summer, the snow and the soil layers above the permafrost (the active layer) melt.

This creates and feeds a vast network of lakes, streams, rivers and wetlands.

The waterlogged soil
and 24-hour sunshine boost rapid plant growth, and in lower latitudes of tundra even lush, densely packed plant mats can grow.>

https://www.hww.ca/assets/pdfs/factsheets/tundra-en.pdf

There are waterproof boots that can be worn while crossing a waterway or stepping into a bog.
Look at North Face and other outdoor active wear companies there are plenty of choices.



IMO
Yes exactly that's what I was implying all along. The OP I posted a reponse to was myself either countering or was agreeing to. If it was countering then I was stating that the Mucks are waterproof
 
From some of the recent posts, it appears some here believe the hunt was illegal because SK & BC do not reside in AK?
I'd like to see more than a random regulation quotation to prove that because almost two months into this saga, no LE/government/MSM source has ever stated it was an "illegal" hunt due to them being from the Lower 48 or not hunting the required five miles away from the Dalton Hwy. I wonder if they are being fined for not checking in with the BLM before their hunt? Would the fine apply to BC personally &/or to SK's estate? I guess we'll have to wait on MSM or LE to provide that info.

Re: Antlers
Is the expectation that BC would have been responsible for removing all of the meat from both of their kills to be able to remove the antlers they possessed? Once Steve was missing, it appears the search took priority over regulations since his meat was dumped at some point. Perhaps his antlers remained in the field also. I guess we are still waiting to hear about fines for not removing SK's pack/dumping the meat in a body of water?

Confusion re: DHCMA Units vs. Mileposts
Are we comparing apples & oranges when describing the hunt area in different terms? It is very important to have accuracy in dissecting the choices and actions of these two hunters. I don't believe the discrepancy between the original Mile 336 announced location of their hunt vs. the search area around 10 miles north (Mile 347?) has ever been cleared up. Rather than trying to convert their hunt area & the search area to units, sticking to Mileposts might make things clearer. But maybe I'm just not smart enough or willing to put in the effort to compare the two & figure it out.

Blaming Steve
I am highly uncomfortable with language describing SK as having "got himself lost." Anyone else feel the same way? We don't know how or why he disappeared. To me, any implication that it was completely avoidable for SK to go missing is completely wrong. IMO we don't have enough clear info to apportion blame. Even if we did, a man lost his life. The fine line between life & death on the tundra is just that. Who is wise enough to determine where mistakes stop & fate begins (or vice versa)? I'm not.

<modsnip>

JMO
"I guess we are still waiting to hear about fines for not removing SK's pack/dumping the meat in a body of water?"
Is this an assumption that the meat was dumped into a body (in the context of your post) of water or did you find it was stated somewhere? If you saw it stated somewhere then is it possible to link it (thank you in advance)? IMO experienced hunters wouldn't dump meat into any body of water anywhere no matter what location they are in whether it be in the lowere 48 or in the tundra. That would be concerning to me if that were the case.
 
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