The search for a man missing in the southern Big Horn Mountains since Saturday evening was suspended due to inclement weather concerns.

Sgt. Mark Sellers with the Natrona County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday his department's search for Travis McMahan may resume in the coming days when weather permits.

"We have to take precautions for our guys," Sellers said. "We're talking about an area of rugged timber and deep sagebrush. This is a rugged area."

On Saturday evening, the 39-year-old Casper man left his campsite at the Buffalo Creek Campground, which is roughly 35 miles north of Waltman off of Big Horn Mountain Road. Initial reports said McMahan was going to use the restroom and never returned. However, authorities said Tuesday that McMahan left the campsite at about 5 p.m. to go hunting and hasn't been seen since.

A ground crew searched the area Sunday afternoon and all day Monday. The search Monday also included 10 hours of work by two helicopters using thermal and infrared radar. From Sunday afternoon through Monday night, when the search ended, no clues or leads surfaced.

McMahan and two other hunters entered the area Friday evening to hunt elk, officials said. They had a camper.

The two other hunters searched for McMahan most of Saturday night and later reported him missing to the sheriff's office at about 10:55 a.m. on Sunday.

McMahan is not believed to have any food or water with him.

The other two hunters are Casper residents and friends of McMahan and have left the campsite. Authorities aren't releasing their names.

Since the search began, authorities have interviewed several of the missing man's friends. Sellers said people who know him claim it wasn't unusual for him to wander off by himself. One of the men hunting with McMahan at the time he went missing told authorities that he walked off alone several times Saturday afternoon.

Authorities are not speculating at this point on where McMahan could be or what could have happened to him. Until some clues or evidence are found, all possibilities are being considered, Sellers said.

Violet Christopherson owns about 3,000 acres surrounding the Buffalo Creek Campground. She was at her cabin on the property over the weekend, but left Saturday afternoon because of approaching snow.

Christopherson described the area, with its thick patches of trees, as "very rugged and tough."

"Especially with the snow falling the way it was," she said.

The leading edge of a cold front met the south end of the Big Horns at about 11 a.m. Tuesday, according to Roger Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Riverton. The temperature in the area was expected to drop to 15 degrees overnight, with the wind chill dropping below zero after midnight.

The area could receive from 6 to 10 inches of snow between Tuesday afternoon and this evening, Smith said.

Reach crime reporter William Browning at (307) 266-0534 or at william.browning@trib.com.