Michigan police use drones to rescue lost hunter in state game area

(CBS DETROIT) - Portage police rescued a lost hunter from the Gourdneck State Game Area in Portage over the weekend.

Portage Public Safety Police and Fire personnel used drones and cellphone GPS data to track the lost and disoriented 67-year-old hunter from Portage around 8:30 p.m. Sunday. Police say drone pilots assisted by directing them to the man's location.

Police made contact with the man around 9:40 p.m. and were able to safely rescue him from the woods within an hour.

Gourdneck State Game Area totals 2,293 acres and is located in Portage Township and Schoolcraft Township in Kalamazoo Country. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources says the game area is an ideal habitat for white-tailed deer, wild turkey, eastern cottontail, fox squirrels and wood ducks.

Kalamazoo County Consolidated Dispatch Authority and South Kalamazoo County Fire Authority assisted in the rescue.