Duck Hunters Rescued

Capt Jeff Kraynik

Capt Jeff Kraynik

Well-known member
ASHTABULA, Ohio -- Four duck hunters stuck in gale-whipped water at the Ashtabula Harbor breakwall needed a helicopter rescue Saturday morning.
The four men were stranded atop the east breakwall after their 16-foot boat capsized, the U.S. Coast Guard reported.
The men were stringing out duck decoys when one of the lines tangled in the propeller.
Winds hitting 40 mph and higher sent waves into the boat, which wedged against the breakwall, said Petty Officer Second Class Bill Campbell of the Coast Guard's Ashtabula station.
One of the men made a cellular phone call for help at 7:30 a.m. High winds and the jagged breakwall made for a high-risk boat rescue, Campbell said. So a call was made to Coast Guard Air Station in Detroit.
An MH-65C Dolphin rescue helicopter arrived at 8:21 a.m. All four men were off the breakwall 40 minutes later, Campbell said. A video of the rescue is available on the Coast Guard Web site.
"They were pretty scared and cold," Campbell said.
The Coast Guard did not release the hunters' names. Three were ages 35, 38 and 41, from Montville, and the fourth was 34, from Rome, the Coast Guard reported.
The Coast Guard performed another rescue Saturday on Lake Michigan. A helicopter hoisted two men from the water east of Waukegan, Ill., after heavy seas disabled their 32-foot sailboat.
"Due to the weather out there, this probably isn't the weekend you want to venture out onto the lakes," Petty Officer 1st Class Antonio Martinez, a search-and-rescue controller at the 9th Coast Guard District Communications Center in Cleveland, said in a news release


http://starbeacon.com/local/x744035724/Coast-Guard-copter-pulls-4-duck-hunters-from-breakwall
 
I don't go out with my center console when the winds are blowing 40 miles an hour....................in the summer time! Its amazing what choices people will make when things are going against them. We must always stop to realize that today might be the only day we can hunt this week, or that we traveled a long way to get there, or this is the only chance that I have to hunt with my brother-dad-grandpa, etc. but if the conditions are unsafe, we have to live to fight another day. Waterfowling should be considered an extreme sport since you are combining numerous dangerous activities in one sport. The story also goes to show you how somthing as simple as entangled decoy line can create a hazardous situation. I have also heard of wind kicking up and people not being able to release the anchor and the boat gets swamped. Hope everyone is safe this season.


dc
 
As painful as it was I stayed home this weekend. No need to die for the sake of a hunt. I have done my share of pushing the limit but this past weekend was beyond my boundary. There were times when I thought I should be out there but I kept reminding myself that there will be lots of hunts in the months ahead.
 
Yup, things can happen real fast and until they happen to you most of us tend to ignore the dangers.

I was layout hunting with a buddy a few years back in Pamlico Sound (NC) and the conditions we marginal for our boat. Not being of sound mind we set-up our lines and boat a half-mile offshore. I was first in the boat and had to radio back for something to bail water out with (first clue ignored). By the time we switched out is was slightly difficult to transfer from the layout boat into the tender (second clue ignored). My partner was in the boat for less than 5 minutes when he radioed back to me and said "Come get me now" in a very panicked voice. By the time I got to him he was in the water, holding his shotgun in one hand and onto the layout with the other. This was in December. We were able to tow the layout to shore and build a fire for him to warm up with. Valuable lesson learned, almost the hard way.

With that, everyone be safe out there and remember a duck is not worth a life! There will be more ducks but not more lives!
 
Hate to second guess a group of guys but based on that forecast up there for this last weekend, I have to say I dont understand what the heck these guys were thinking.
I've been caught out in it when the weatherman blew the forecast but would never think about going when it was calling for it to be that bad.
Let this be a lesson to us all.
 
I'm thinking there was more wind in the midwest than we got, but I was out at a fairly sheltered location Saturday afternoon and it was still blowing pretty hard. We hunted an "almost" walk in spot--to get to it you have to wade along the shoreline and then cross one little creek that is too deep to wade. It was maybe 70 yards from the carry-in launch to where we set up. I went out in the canoe to chase a downed teal that got out in the wind and tide before the dog marked it. We had a good lee, so no waves to speak of, but I had trouble controlling the canoe once I got out in the wind. If I didn't have the balance point right on the center thwart, the wind would catch the bow and just spin me. I did not pursue the chase very far before deciding the eagle we were seeing needed to eat, too.
 
Some nasty winds up here this weekend indeed. Thought I was going to get blown out of a bean field myself and chasing decoys all morning wasn't too fun.

Interesting video. Seems as though they lifted everyone from the breakwall. Any breakwalls that we hunt on the Lake here lead back to shore and although not all of them having walking paths and are sometimes simply large piles of boulders if we needed to we could climb back into safety. I guess its suprising to see a helicopter sent to rescure them from the breakwall. This breakwall even looked to have a path on it and the waves were definetaly not going over it.
 
Paddling a canoe solo in the wind is a real pain in the a#$. You made the right choice.
 
[font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]"Winds hitting 40 mph and higher"

Not good conditions. Probably would have been better off in a marsh somewhere. Good thing they're OK.
[/font]
 
This reminded me of Paul Meisenheimer's thread, " Be careful around the Great Lakes this weekend" about the impending storm that was going to hit the Great Lakes area.
Al
Click to expand...


Yeah, some people totally underestimate the furry of the Great Lakes. There is still to my knowledge a jet skier and kayaker missing in lake Michigan from Saturday.

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/article/182743/5/Rough-waves-make-search-for-jet-skier-difficult-

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/article/182658/5/Search-for-missing-kayaker-called-off
 
that break wall is out front of the harbor and can only be reached by boat. reports out their are that we had a conoe on one lake and a 12 foot flatbottom on another lake go down the same day.
 
Chuck, we still have a missing canoe guy from Door County on our side of the pond as well. 3 others rescued...a canoe.....what where they thinking.
 
People dont get it...30 yrs of boating on lake erie and hundreds of rescues witnessed from capsizing to 500 people adrift on a ice flow to canada. My classmate lost his dad going on a rescue. THe CG needs to start hitting these guys with fines. Come on 4 grown men in a 16 boat, grow up and be responsable, we were on shore trying to keep our 28 and 32 marinettes from being stuck in the mud after 4' of water was in buffalo. Its all about the kill and chest beating.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top