Good day to be at work

I suppose I am getting older as our group made the decision to forgo hunting the next few days, highs near zero, lows -10 to-20 below, windchills out of this world. Glad I'm not as bulletproof anymore.
When I got the phone call this afternoon, I was very content to be at work. They flew a helicopter almost 200 miles to rescue them. Single digits temps during this ordeal and wind gusts to 25
Glad everyone was OK. Bet it won't happen to any one of them again
Ducks are safe, for now.


From the local TV station

LINCOLN - Eight hunters and a dog were rescued by helicopter from two boats stranded in the rapidly freezing Missouri River just east of Santee on Thursday. There were no injuries.

A Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) helicopter from its Aviation Support Division in Lincoln pulled the hunters from the boats two at a time by mid-afternoon. There were four hunters in each boat.

The boats had been blocked by ice in the river, and attempts by Nebraska Game and Parks Commission officers to reach them were prevented by the ice.

The rescued men were: Leigh Winterboer, Spencer, Iowa; Bill Lang, Huntington Beach, Calif.; Eric Scranton, Norfolk; Mitch Scranton, Norfolk; Brad Rasmussen, Spencer, Iowa; Colby Kerber, Broken Bow; Matthew Cronk, Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Ben Micek, Omaha.

South Dakota Game Fish and Parks had received a call for help at 11:30 a.m. Three Nebraska Game and Parks officers, NSP Troop B officers in Norfolk, the Santee Police Department and Bloomfield Fire and Rescue responded.

The hunters said no ice was on the river when they put their boats in at 5:30 or 6 a.m. Thursday. The 18-foot flat-bottom boats were left in the river following the rescue.

Tom Zimmer, Game and Parks law enforcement supervisor for northeast Nebraska, said sportsmen must take precautions outdoors in changing conditions.

"In cold weather conditions, be aware of your surroundings," he said. "The river can ice up very quickly
 
Yep, it's snot freezing weather out there. Nasty cold. At least they got them out of there safe and sound. Costly adventure if they can't get those boats out.
I did see a couple flocks of Canadas flying south today while I was shoveling snow. Hunting them was not a thought that crossed my mind.

Tim
 
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Yup, thats some ice alright. Glad to hear they were all ok.
Is there any way to retrieve the boats?
That would really suck if they can't.
 
Did those type of winter rescues for 30 years , a lot of snowmobilers also.

We are under the same warnings here , I have cancelled all thoughts of hunting this weekend,. There are to many safer days in the season to risk it

Everyone stay safe!!

Fred
 
Wow, Glad everyone came out unhurt. To bad about the boats. I had plans of deer hunting our 2nd season here on the Mississippi River this weekend but with temps in single digits and below zero wind chills I believe I'll be sitting by the fire enjoying my weekend at home.
 
Thanks for sharing this, makes me think that staying home this morning was a good idea.....wind chills below zero right now and not much better during the rest of the morning.
 
Wow, hard to believe a river can freeze up that hard, that fast!
 
Rich, I carry enough stuff to spend a week out there if I had to!! Can't be over prepared, When Sat phones get cheaper I'll have one of those also!
 
Well finally I learn of something that can go wrong on a duck hunt that didn't happen to me. I've had to plow two inches of ice across an entire lake with my old Duracraft aka the icebreaker to escape and watched the chunks I plowed out freeze behind me, and I've had sheet ice take my entire decoy rig and had to motor downstream (on the vast Columbia River) and batter them loose with the prow. But this is a new one. A special nod to all the rescuers who moved so quickly, and glad all hands are safe. Being a duck hunter, of course I wonder if they were allowed to bring their shotguns aboard or if they had to abandon them because of some antigun prejudice. And I worry for their boats and rigs--will the ice be thick enough for snow machines to go out and skid them home safe?

The one time the Coast Guard recued me from six foot seas with two dead motors, the shotguns rode back to Bellingham sleeping on a cutter crewman's bunk; we weren't sure the old displacement hull would tow well in the nasty conditions.
I was sure grateful to pay my taxes that year! And I bet these guys are too.
 
Wow, hard to believe a river can freeze up that hard, that fast!

If you google Spingfield SD you will see the area that this happened in. It is a silted in shallow patch of the Missouri River where the flow is split into many smaller channels. Still it is hard to believe how fast it froze up. I bet it is pretty crappy ice all winter too.

btw It is -8 right now, thankfully the wind has went down and it is sunny. I'm starting to not like winter as much as I use to.
 
I came really really close to the same fate on year on my local river.
Where I was setup, the current flow was good and was keeping the river open, but the shoreline was freezing in. After only a couple hours of hunting, I picked my decoys up and headed back down river to the ramp. The ramp is about a quarter mile upstream from a dam.
As I get within about 500 yards of the ramp I start encountering ice. I plow thru the ice until I’m 200 yards from the ramp and my forward progress ceases. I just don’t have enough horsepower to push the boat thru any more ice and slush that had jammed the river at this point. Now what???? I was more than a bit concerned at this point.
Only by constantly swiveling the motor full right then full left was I able to push thru the ice pack and reach the ramp. Even then progress was painfully slow but steady. If I had gotten stuck beyond hope, I’m not sure what I would have done. The river channel is way too deep to wade and I don’t even remember owning a cell phone at the time.



I’m just glad the guys over on the Missouri were able to summon help. Wonder if they got any ducks? :>) :>)
 
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Wow, good to know everyone made it out safe!

Drove through there over the Thanksgiving holiday lots of birds in the area both times!

Only bad thing about this weather is I work out side! :)
 
I have cancelled all thoughts of hunting this weekend,. There are too many safer days in the season to risk it



Fred

Amen to that, Fred. Especially true for us retired farts. Just came in from more shoveling here and hanging the Christmas wreath. Could hear the emergency vehicle sirens howling on the Interstate (not too far from me) all the time I was out working.
 
Glad they were safe. Well,after reading about the 840,000 mallards on the Missouri River on the DU site, I probably would have been out there, also.
Al
 
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