SCHNEIDER, Ind. — A deer hunter from Indiana put the skills recently learned from a survival course to good use during the several hours he spent lost, while rescuers struggled to locate him.

When finally found at about midnight, he had a roaring fire that he started with his hunting license, and even had shelter.

Seth Basler, 23, completed a hunter education course offered by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) before heading out to try and bag his first deer on Oct. 3. According to DNR officials, the man just started hunting this season and was chasing a deer to try to get a good shot with his longbow at the LaSalle Fish and Wildlife area, with the Kankakee River in the northwestern part of the state running through it.

But, Basler kept his focus on the deer so much that when he stopped chasing it he had no idea how to get back. No matter which direction he took, he kept running into water from being in the middle of a swampy area. "He just couldn’t find his way out," said DNR conservation Officer Shawn Brown.

Officers from DNR and the local police department on foot and with all-terrain vehicles searched the large wooded wetland area for more than five hours before hearing someone yelling for help.

Basler was just 200 yards away, but there was a marsh in between them, forcing rescuers to take additional time capturing images from a satellite to mark the safest route through the water to him.

Brock, a member of the rescue crew that waded across the swamp to him, said Basler was in his bare feet, trying to dry out his wet socks and boots over the fire. He had also made a canopy from a survival blanket that reflects the heat from a fire onto the body.

"That fire was really important, especially with the temperature starting to dip," explained Brock.

It’s a good thing Basler brought along his hunter education course booklet because he used the survival portion of it to brush up on how to stay safe. He also used some of the pages – along with his paper hunting license – to start what looked like a roaring campfire.

"It was a good ending to the story," said Brown.

DNR officials advise hunters, even if they have a cell phone, to tell someone where they’re going before they leave and when they plan on getting back just in case the battery dies.

In this case, had there not been enough juice in the battery to dial 911 and give a general idea of his whereabouts before the battery died, Basler could have been more at risk to the elements, from the search likely going well into the next day, DNR officials said.

Basler has an unlisted number and could not be contacted for comment.