The thing this reminds me of, was in the 60's I worked a large ranch out of Colony Wy. and quite frequently flew in these small planes with the owners and ranch hands, looking for cattle, lost horses [if there is such a thing!] and people. After doing this for a few years, I commented one day about how many people had taken lessons and learned to fly. The ol' cowboy I was talking to laughed and said, "hell no one around here takes lessons or even has a license, they just pick it up on the ranch!" I just about fainted, and after that only flew when they told me to! I became careful to watch how to fly the things, and years later one guy I flew with on a regular basis, stalled out into a big coulee and they didn't find what was left of him until the spring thaw!
I bet these guys were the same deal!
