Two hunters die

All to familiar with these waters with a NW wind gusting a gale against the tide as was the case today. Been there and done that in January in a very large and stable boat and the results are not surprising given the craft they were in. Every few years the mouth of the Westport River claims a boat and in the last case I can recall the majority of a family in the mid 90s. Sad outcome and like the other duck hunting mishap last week a few towns over questions race through my mind.

Although I wear a life jacket in the boat a float coat is on my list of gear for next season.

This makes the second incident in one week on Buzzards Bay.
 
Well, last week with the missing duck hunter in Fairhaven, MA I thought about some learning the hard way and getting lucky. While some learn from experienced boaters and baymen. Turns out on of the deceased was a charter boat fishermen that was an organizer for an annual shark tournament on Marthas Vineyard. The wife of the survivor was quoted on the news that they hunted in these conditions, 10 F with gale force gusts against the tide, often.

Guess what they say about getting comfortable is ringing true tonight and sadly with the loss of two souls.
 
Well, last week with the missing duck hunter in Fairhaven, MA I thought about some learning the hard way and getting lucky. While some learn from experienced boaters and baymen. Turns out on of the deceased was a charter boat fishermen that was an organizer for an annual shark tournament on Marthas Vineyard. The wife of the survivor was quoted on the news that they hunted in these conditions, 10 F with gale force gusts against the tide, often.

Guess what they say about getting comfortable is ringing true tonight and sadly with the loss of two souls.
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Yes, not to beat up on them, but from what I'm reading a 16' tin boat. Not much of a margin or error in those conditions, especially with 3 guys. Very sad story, these guys had a lot of experiance.

T
 
Guys - I had a 14 ' tin boat that I used years ago and, one year, I got ambitious and created a grass surround with poles and chicken wire that extended above the gunnel by a few feet. The first time we used it, there was a snow squall which coated the blind well before we got out to the hunting area. The boat became unstable even in fairly calm water from all of the extra weight..........we headed in and I took the blind off that week.

As I watched the local news tonight, I saw the boat being hauled out of the water and there was a grass blind built up above the gunnel !

It was about 10 degrees today with a big wind and I think it's likely that the spray froze on the grass and the boat would be top heavy and unstable without a big sea which, unfortunately was also the case at the river mouth.

I mention all of this because many DBDN members go to great lengths to create effective boat blinds ........and some on tin boats..........please be very cautious if you have material above the gunnel that can catch snow or spray in freezing temperatures.............it screws up stability and raises the center of gravity VERY QUICKLY.
sarge
 
Great point and in the videos on tv you can see the Environmental Police boat covered in ice. My decoys on Friday and Saturday certainly iced quickly in the salt and looking at that grass I can see the added weight affecting the stability of the boat most importantly in addition to maneuverability and power from drag. That has been a concern of mine with my sneak boat but it is very low profile and I am well aware of limitations and risks. I can hunt more ducks if I exercise good judgement on the days you want to go but shouldn't by staying home.
 
Had to leave my brushed-up removeable sides on a distant island one December day. When in doubt...jettison. In this case today, things probably happened fast.
 
Guys - I had a 14 ' tin boat that I used years ago and, one year, I got ambitious and created a grass surround with poles and chicken wire that extended above the gunnel by a few feet. The first time we used it, there was a snow squall which coated the blind well before we got out to the hunting area. The boat became unstable even in fairly calm water from all of the extra weight..........we headed in and I took the blind off that week.

As I watched the local news tonight, I saw the boat being hauled out of the water and there was a grass blind built up above the gunnel !

It was about 10 degrees today with a big wind and I think it's likely that the spray froze on the grass and the boat would be top heavy and unstable without a big sea which, unfortunately was also the case at the river mouth.

I mention all of this because many DBDN members go to great lengths to create effective boat blinds ........and some on tin boats..........please be very cautious if you have material above the gunnel that can catch snow or spray in freezing temperatures.............it screws up stability and raises the center of gravity VERY QUICKLY.
sarge
Dick, I couldn't agree more with you. I had a alum with a pop up blind we ran fixed one season. By next season the blind and the boat we're sold separate. And on to job specific boat, Tdb. It also adds to being a sail and making it harder to handle. Not mention we all have overloaded and been under powered (not that this was or wasn't the case) at some point. I've done all the wrong things and made it but a few times it was touch and go. I now have boats designed for what we love to do. Guys sometimes forget their limits and tragedy ensues. They're just ducks and no duck is worth your life!
Gene R.
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Guys - I had a 14 ' tin boat that I used years ago and, one year, I got ambitious and created a grass surround with poles and chicken wire that extended above the gunnel by a few feet. The first time we used it, there was a snow squall which coated the blind well before we got out to the hunting area. The boat became unstable even in fairly calm water from all of the extra weight..........we headed in and I took the blind off that week.

As I watched the local news tonight, I saw the boat being hauled out of the water and there was a grass blind built up above the gunnel !

It was about 10 degrees today with a big wind and I think it's likely that the spray froze on the grass and the boat would be top heavy and unstable without a big sea which, unfortunately was also the case at the river mouth.

I mention all of this because many DBDN members go to great lengths to create effective boat blinds ........and some on tin boats..........please be very cautious if you have material above the gunnel that can catch snow or spray in freezing temperatures.............it screws up stability and raises the center of gravity VERY QUICKLY.
sarge
Dick, I couldn't agree more with you. I had a alum with a pop up blind we ran fixed one season. By next season the blind and the boat we're sold separate. And on to job specific boat, Tdb. It also adds to being a sail and making it harder to handle. Not mention we all have overloaded and been under powered (not that this was or wasn't the case) at some point. I've done all the wrong things and made it but a few times it was touch and go. I now have boats designed for what we love to do. Guys sometimes forget their limits and tragedy ensues. They're just ducks and no duck is worth your life!
Gene R.
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Got to side with Dick on this one. I agree that we have all pushed the envelope but during ideal conditions or atleast not when the wind is howling a steady 25 mph with gusts to 45 mph. Furthermore, the wind compounds the dangerousness of the water when on tidal waters. Put a steady wind against the tide with gusts and you have all the key components for a disaster. Now lets talk about the specifics of the accident and that these men were familiar with and more odds were stacked in the favor of an unpleasant outcome; first you have the wind building down a stretch of water several miles long with gale force gusts and then you have the tide rushing into the estuary through a narrow pinch point with shallow channels. To much water trying to get in with a steady blow makes for tight white caps of sizable height for any small craft. One of the deceased was a charter boat fisherman so if running charters he should have had his captains license and realized the danger they were headed into. Another was a resident of the Town that is of a profession that you would think would be cautious and analytical.

I might load my 12' AA Wigeon with 50 decoys on the front deck and head out on the same water course but not in the a wind over 10 mph, only in the shallows where I can hug the lee shore and during reasonable temperatures. Otherwise, I limit my load to a dozen and a half and head out with the sun high in less than 15 mph. As you said no duck is worth your life. The only time I ever contemplated watching sports on tv was during a bluebill hunt when a greenhorn came from a great distance in an 8-10 Zodiac with a small kicker barely making headway speed with temps in single digits on a large coastal bay- I thought to myself, if that is what I ever need to resort to than I just assume stay home and watch football.
 
On our trip to the Coast last week, on the last day of our trip, we had an opportunity to venture out in that storm. I have a slightly bigger boat now, and was itching to use her at least one more time. The plan was to wait until it was at least light enough to see where we were going, then launch and cut across a little open water into a sheltered creek. Around 5 am, my buddy sends me a text that after letting his dog out, he was "chickening out" on our trip. I agreed. Later in the day, he went out and saw a big boat coming back in, all covered with ice. The frozen guys said they did ok hunting wise, but had a rather precarious trip across the four foot waves on the open water we had planned on crossing.


Later when we got together, we spoke about it all. We were kidding each other about being "Pansies" in our old age. Then we all agreed we made the right choice. Mutually we figured that not were we necessarily "smart" for not going, but rather that we were not "stupid enough" to go.


When I was younger, it seemed every year some duck hunter around my parts would lose his life while out hunting. I actually have a friend who lost his partner one year. They were in a sheltered bay hunting a shore blind. They had a canoe for getting in and out of the water. One of them crippled a duck and two of the three guys went to retrieve it. While out in the water, not too far from shore, the front guy raised his double gun to finish off the cripple. As he squeezed off a shot out of the side, he lost his balance and they rolled the canoe and ended in the drink. The deceased tried to swim the fifty yards or so to shore. He didn't last very long in the cold. Kind of sticks in the back of my head


Like it was said- "there are old duck hunters and there are bold duck hunters, but there are no old, bold duck hunters".


So sad. Feel bad for their families.


Jon
 
John, I was thinking the same thing when I read this. (I was the buddy that chickened out, though I think I said something about being the voice of reason, not being a chicken lol)

I posted pics of my kids a little bit ago and for their sake I don't regret our decision to stay in. The thought of them missing me guides a lot of my decisions now a days.

I did some pretty stupid stuff for duck as a youth - the list is too long.

Several years ago I almost lost my life on Lake Erie. I still dream about it today. It's a long story that I have posted on other forums and I do it to make others think.

It should be required for all duck hunters to read the story about Armistice day when all of the waterfowlers lost their lives in a storm years ago.

I hate this for the families. It is sad beyond description. I hope they have lots of ducks and hot gun barrels in heaven.
 
I teach several fishing & duck hunting seminars throughout the year & I "always" start out with one question!!!

"What is your life worth???"

I then hold up an inflatable life vest & ask.

"Is it worth $100.00 dollars???"

I see more & more fishermen wearing life jackets.

But it's also a real hard sell in these parts with the airboat community.

It's just not cool to wear a life jacket!!!
 
Woke up to hunt before work Tuesday morning, heard the wind and went right back to sleep. Not worth it.

I'm a big supporter of being able to drop the blind or canvas down to reduce your windage. In freezing spray and gale conditions it doesn't take much for something to turn bad.

Very sad to hear about this.
 
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Funny how children put a different outlook on your actions. Also we need to think about the responders and how we put their lives on the line when we head out in dangerous conditions. Might be their job but it is selfish to disregard their safety and families for our own amusement in conditions like we have experienced this week. One thing for the commercial fisherman that rely on the sea for their families but hunting is suppost to be fun and putting others at risk does not fall into the what I define as fun.
 
Years ago one of my coworkers was a former Coasty. She pretty much freaked out when I told her what type of PFD I was wearing for fishing and duck hunting. Her issue is that most people that end up in the water become body recovery operations and not rescues. If they cannot see you at a distance then they will end up motoring right past you. She would love it if the rules made it that all PFD's were fluorescent orange with flashing lights. Nothing else allowed. She had pulled too many "fish bait" bodies out of the ocean in her career and did not care about industry sales or consumer response to products. On one rescue they motored past the guy for two days with out seeing his head floating above the water. He was nearly ran over by a fishing charter and was saved. The coasties figured out they were within a few hundred yards of him several times and never saw him bobbing around in the swells and chop.

Since then I have added a small LED flasher to my and my kids PFDs. they are not water activated, and you have to twist the lense to turn them on. They are tied to the vest and stored in a pocket so that you can take them out and clip them to the shoulder area. I tested them with gloves on and its pretty simple to activate and install.

Mine are similar to these but flat.
http://www.iboats.com/Pelican-2130ir-Mini-Flasherled/dm/cart_id.971850049--session_id.554534536--view_id.476784
 
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