A 68-year-old man has avoided a frosty night in Southland bush by signalling for help with a headlamp.
The man went missing in the Hokonui Forest near Gore about 4pm yesterday and Search and Rescue Coordinator Sergeant Ian Martin, from Invercargill, said the man avoided a "cold night in the forest" because he was prepared.
LandSAR volunteers from Invercargill and Gore, and Amateur Radio Emergency Communication volunteers helped search for the man, and about 10pm crew in a Southern Lakes Helicopter equipped with night vision spotted the missing man signalling with his headlamp.
He was winched from thick native bush on the side of a steep gully.
The man was uninjured and did not need medical treatment.
