Injured Ore. Hunter Survives on Beef Jerky for 4 Days

BEND, Ore. (The Blaze/AP) — An elk hunter is recovering after spending four days and three nights stranded in a central Oregon forest with just a small bag of beef jerky to sustain him.

KTVZ-TV reports 48-year-old Alan Hewitt, a former Marine from Prineville, Ore., went elk hunting on horseback on Thanksgiving but was injured in a fall.

He endured freezing temperatures in the Ochoco National Forest and survived on the beef jerky until two men found him Sunday.

Darrel Hover, of Bend, and his father thought they saw a red backpack in the snow. It was Hewitt. They took him to a hospital in Bend, about 120 miles southeast of Portland.

"He was shivering, disoriented, almost catatonic and in need of help," Hover said Wednesday.

The Crook County sheriff's office rescued Hewitt's two horses.

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Information from: KTVZ-TV, http://www.ktvz.com/