You guys know anybody that drowned or almost drowned while wading?

[birdhunter007]

I posted this on another thread...
When I was younger, a buddy of mine and myself decided to hunt a public walk in area of the tidal flats. We were the only rig in the parking lot when we arrived. It was a cold January afternoon in the low single digits and the salt water was starting to freeze.
We waded through the flats with our decoys to a large tree stump about 100 yds from the shoreline. As we were setting up, I threw a decoy a ways out and it landed upside down. I was wading in water that was up to my waist. I took a step forward and there wasnt any bottom. I had stepped into an underwater canal. I went completely under with my waders on. Luckily, my buddy was right behind me and was able to grab me by the hood of my coat and pull me back. My waders were full of water and I was totally soaked. I was able to get back to the stump and sit down while my buddy raised my legs in the air to drain the water out. It took a minute to realize that I had to get back to the truck ... soon. I started back to the truck as I felt the effects of the cold slowly kicking in. I stumbled and fell a couple times on the way back to shore. I finally got back to the truck, fumbled for the keys and started it up. I stripped down to my birthday suit, rung my boxers out the window and tried to warm up the best I could with the truck heater. Just as the truck was starting to get warm, another truck arrived and pulled up next to mine. They took one look at me completely naked in my truck, looked at each other and drove off in a hurry.

 

[mallardhunter]

Bitter cold, ice thick enough to walk on, but new ice, covered in five inches of snow. Five of us limited out, stayed until sunset, wind howling into our faces. Three of us headed out to our vehicles, into the wind, along a path across the ice that was relatively shallow ending in a dry field walk. Two of our group headed out to their car, across a ditch. The wind was howling so much and we were struggling along with a limit of ducks, guns, etc. busting through shallow ice, we didn't hear them screaming for help after they fell through the ice at the ditch, in water over their heads. Their recount was that when they dropped through the ice, both used their guns to stop them from going under. Neither could find a way back onto the ice and could not break it while treading water. They finally devised a plan to dip their arms (jackets) into the water, lunge as far as they could, plant their wet arms (jackets) onto the ice, wait for it to freeze, then pull, drag and kick their way back onto the ice. They made it back to their vehicle without further drama, and we had no idea what had happened until the next day.

 

[JoJer]

When I was fairly new to duck hunting, I wore 5mm neoprenes and regularly waded right to the tops in moving river water, with all the gear-decoys, gun on my back and a sealed bucket for mt blind bag in my hands. As long as I had footing, I was OK right? Never occurred to me to find shallower place to cross.
Later, in a wide spot in a canal irrigation ditch in a WMA, I put out some dekes, filling the edges and found the edge which was a slimy, silty drop off. I back pedaled like crazy for what seemed like a very long time and finally headed shallow instead of deeper. I measured the low spot with my catch pole-over 8 feet.
Surviving these, my biggest wader worry involves sit-in float tubes. Especially the old round tubes. I out-grew my first one;it just ddn't seem to float me as high as it used to. A bit snug, too.
You know that 20# test line they string on all those low buck Kmart combos? I always worried about being in deep, cold water, getting tangled or hooked on some of that stuff and the only way to reach it is to drop out of the bottom. Then there's the guy who told me on a forum in no uncertain terms that it's impossible to tip over in one of those tubes. I beg to differ. And as folks have noted above, neoprene's float.... you head down. Maybe when you are suddenly upside down in freezing cold water you will be able to get those big fins though hole. Maybe not.
Now you know why I'll never get into a skirted sit-in kayak.

 

[bullpinnie]

I stepped in a beaver run in flooded timber, and into water well over my head a few years ago. As others have said, neoprene float's, ......but your feet and legs float first, which leaves your hear and shoulders to be submerged.

I ended up face up, and I paddled my arms like a MOFO to keep my hear above water. Which is not easy to do when you have a gun and blind bag over your shoulders.

For the record, I never came close to drowning. I just wanted to point out that when you're wearing neoprene waders , you float feet first.

 

[JoJer]

The guy who developed those neat pontoons for canoes (and kayaks, too, I think) lost his hunting partner to drowning after tipping a canoe in winter. He quit his job and built prototypes and tested them. No problem getting a loan and off he went.

 

[Grif]

These are the threads where I miss AB and the busload of people he knows who have drowned.

 

[Timber Hole]

These are the threads where I miss AB and the busload of people he knows who have drowned.

Was he one of them? That would explain some of his posts!

 

[toby]

My Dad was a barber and had Mondays off. In the early winter when I was in High School, 1974, he headed to the salt water property to drain the boat that was tied to the buoy. Rowed out in a 10 ft. wooden boat with hip waders on and started filling and pouring out buckets from the 16 ft. boat to drain it. When he thought he had enough out he attempted a transfer from small boat to large boat for convenience of pouring the buckets. Boat A went left boat B went right and dad is in 15 ft of water with the small boat capsized. He grabs an oar and side strokes to shore as he was trained in the Merchant Marine in WW2 and crawls on shore. Empties the boots walks up to the cabin lights the wood stove , probably smokes a pack of cigs, drinks a couple drinks, goes back down the stairs with minimal clothes on. Blows up a rubber raft, retrieves and drains the rowboat, then goes out and finishes the draining of the big boat. When done he puts his now dry clothes on and drives home with the heater on the 1966 Ford Country Sedan on max heat. My Mom is pissed so to end it my Dad looked at me and says, “ So let that be a lesson to you, don’t every do that.” And because it was a lesson for me Mom calmed down and we ate dinner. Never mentioned again.

 

[Bean1]

On a solo trip that was fairly icy, the hole I wanted to hunt was taken so I took the long walk back to another spot that was generally always one of the last to freeze. Had a good hunt packed everything up and was crossing the shallow part of a fairly fast flowing Creek when I lost my footing and fell forward. The current was moving me so i was having trouble getting my feet under me as my waders filled. When I thought I finally had it I went over on my side with the current and knew I was getting close to the deep stuff. I rolled over on my back and had 2 and 1/2 dozen decoys trying to float me. As I was going my foot caught something raising my foot and dunking my ahead for long enough I was kicking like crazy and starting to get pretty fearful. I rolled enough to get my foot free, in a couple feet the decoys caught the ground and I managed to get upright. I made it to shore and emptyed my waders then dumped my remaining coffee down them. Made the walk to the truck and cranked the heater.

 

[Grif]

I'm afraid this is the best I can do for a personal near drowning....

A few years ago we were crappie fishing in March. It's a private 90 acre lake with a "boat house". We were fishing out of one of those Gheenoe deals, or whatever those fake canoe drowning traps are called. When we were done, we pulled into the boat house, got out of the floating coffin, unloaded our gear, and raised it up to the second floor, where the bar was, on some cable contraption. No, I have no idea how I ended up with permission to fish there.

Soon enough, we found ourselves enjoying some beverages and rehashing the day. It was chilly....maybe 50 degrees, but we had put a spanking on the out-of-control crappie horde.

At some point during refreshments, I realized I had left my sunglasses in the now elevated 12 feet above the water, swinging on cables, piece of garbage make believe boat.

I walk over and see my sunglasses on the front thing that masquerades as a seat.

It has always made perfect sense to me at my advancing age, when reaching for something, to steady myself with any nearby ledge. Even in my inebriated condition, this was still sensible to me. In this particular case, that would be the gunnel of the swinging death trap. Which is exactly what it did as it swung out from under me, as I reached and grabbed it to steady myself.... and left me in a 12 ft. freefall.

The 48 degree water was quite shocking, and I had an immediate thought that cold water felt a lot harder than warm water.... but that turned out to be the lift, that was not in use, since Summer had not arrived, and all that was needed to lift the boat from hell was the death swing.

14 stitches and instant sobriety.

The end.