A California Hunter Went Missing Nearly Three Weeks Ago. He Was Just Found Alive.

After nearly three weeks of surviving in California’s backcountry, Ron Dailey is finally home.

The 65-year-old hunter was supposed to be gone for a day of hunting when he set out on October 13 in the Sierra National Forest on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains. But after he took a wrong turn, Daily got lost. And eventually, his 2002 Dodge Dakota pickup truck broke down, stranding him in the wilderness.

He spent 20 days alone in the California wilderness—it wasn’t until November 1 that passersby found him. Dailey was found on the off-road vehicle route, Swamp Lake Trail, a high-elevation mountain route located about 100 miles northeast of Fresno, reported the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office on Facebook.

While search and rescue teams canvassed the backcountry for him, he was running out of gas for his car heater.

Dailey didn’t have a reserve of food, either. He managed to stretch less than a day’s worth of food across nearly three weeks.

In a video interview with the California television outlet Fox26, the 65-year-old Dailey, who hails from the town of Selma, California, described his harrowing tale of survival. Because he was planning to be home in time for dinner, Dailey brought just 900 calories of food. To sustain himself, he rationed every day with “a little piece of beef jerky” and “seven to eight nuts.” He drank from a nearby spring, which is what he largely credits for his survival.

“I think the water is what sustained my life,” he said.

Dailey also described the incident that prompted his predicament. He took a wrong turn, lost his phone, and his truck broke down.

“I went over this thing, and it was scraping bottom. I looked up the tree in front of it [and] it said Diamond Road, jeep road. That means you’d better have a rock crawler. I don’t have a rock crawler,” he told Fox26.

As the weeks ticked by, Dailey said that self-talk and prayers helped him survive.

“You either try to walk out or you’re going to sit here and die,” said Dailey.

Each day, Dailey would leave his vehicle looking for help. On the day of his rescue, Dailey said that he had walked for about eight hours in search of help. When he returned to his truck, which he was using as a shelter amid the wintry conditions, he started a fire. It was at this point that he saw the headlights of a suburban pull up near him.

“I can’t hardly walk anymore, Lord, you gotta help me Father God,” Dailey said. “I raised my head up, there was a car with headlights on and I went ‘Oh God, thank you Lord.'”

Two men got out and began shouting his name, eventually driving down to Dailey’s location and embracing him in hugs.

In response to his successful recovery, Dailey has vowed to quit hunting, saying that he made a deal never to kill another animal.