In what officials are saying is “nothing short of a miracle,” a group of hunters found a missing hunter who’d been lost in the California wilderness for almost 20 days.

According to ABC News, the hunters found Ron Dailey, a resident of Selma, California, along the Swamp Lake trail in the Sierra National Forest on Saturday, November 1, 2025. He’d been missing since October 13 when he failed to return from a hunting trip near Shaver Lake, setting off a massive search-and-rescue operation.

Rescuers spent countless hours searching through tough terrain for Dailey, according to a statement by the Fresno County Search and Rescue Mounted Sheriff’s.

In a recording, Daily said at the beginning of his hunting trip, he drove up Swamp Lake trail in his truck and stopped at the top to eat several pieces of jerky and a few nuts. As he continued to travel down a “jeep road” he was unable to turn his truck around, so he continued driving further down the road.

"I don't know why, but I did," Dailey said.

He then ended up on a "rocky plateau," where he remained for several days. He said although he followed trail signs, the terrain tore his truck up.

Upon reaching another flat part of the trail, Dailey said he "backed up there and jacked my truck up and made it level." He removed the passenger seat of his vehicle to create a place to rest, which was "very uncomfortable."

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After several days, Dailey abandoned his truck and started walking down the trail. The hunter said that he told himself, "This is it, Ron, you either try to get out, or you sit here and die."

He said the trail reached an altitude of over 10,000 feet and was the toughest walk of his life, requiring that he stop every hundred yards to catch his breath. During his trek, he fell twice and lost his cellphone. Daily said at one point he stopped to pray.

"You gotta send somebody up here to me. I can hardly walk anymore," Dailey said in the recording.

Upon seeing a car’s headlights, he raised his hands in the air.

Daily said he started hugging the hunters and praying. They gave him food and water after he told them that he hadn’t eaten in six days.

Ron Dailey's wife, Glenda Dailey, thanked the community for its love and support.

"To the men who went down that road and found him, I am eternally grateful for you; I cannot wait to see you," Glenda Dailey said in a statement.