Water Hazards for a hunting partner.

[Hevi 13. Anson]

Came down to hunt our duck lease and found very little water so we decided to hunt a flooded creek this am. To our surprise we were completely covered with woodies shortly after LST. We killed 4 within 10 minutes and let several onlookers leave. Starred hearing some mallards around 7:45 tried working them but didn't have enough water to coax them in. Shortly after 8 Christy noticed 2 ringnecks swimming down the creek and killed the drake as it flushed. I sent my 7 year old lab for what looked like a easy 25 yard retrieve, she hit the run wide open and upon exiting the other side she became tangled in green briars. I stopped her and was in the process of calling her off when she slipped into a beaver run and become entangled in a web of green briars. As she struggled it got worse. I immediately dropped my waders and headed toward the creek luckily she broke loose as I hit the edge. She is sore but safe and I ended up with wet socks. Hope this helps dog owners realize how fast a hunt can go south.
Please feel free to share any stories related to a duck hunting situation because this took me totally by surprise. Never could imagine this situation.

 

[wncdeerhunter]

Came down to hunt our duck lease and found very little water so we decided to hunt a flooded creek this am. To our surprise we were completely covered with woodies shortly after LST. We killed 4 within 10 minutes and let several onlookers leave. Starred hearing some mallards around 7:45 tried working them but didn't have enough water to coax them in. Shortly after 8 Christy noticed 2 ringnecks swimming down the creek and killed the drake as it flushed. I sent my 7 year old lab for what looked like a easy 25 yard retrieve, she hit the run wide open and upon exiting the other side she became tangled in green briars. I stopped her and was in the process of calling her off when she slipped into a beaver run and become entangled in a web of green briars. As she struggled it got worse. I immediately dropped my waders and headed toward the creek luckily she broke loose as I hit the edge. She is sore but safe and I ended up with wet socks. Hope this helps dog owners realize how fast a hunt can go south.
Please feel free to share any stories related to a duck hunting situation because this took me totally by surprise. Never could imagine this situation.

Scary sometimes. Glad it worked out. Good on you for fast thinking

 

[ducknut]

I've had a limb get stuck under the dog's collar in flooded timber. No more collars in deep water timber. A real good scare with long lines. She tangles in a single decoy line and dragged that into the longline and got stuck. No more single drops with long lines for me

 

[Jimbob78]

I’ve had a similar situation, but I whistled the dog early and treated it as a diversion bird to a blind and directed her around the obstacle. I handle a lot of retrieves in the swamp as blinds if there is thick water vegetation or piles of logs that would have to go through or over.

 

[Gus]

Hunting a deep canal dug to build a logging path way back in a swamp. Bout a 2 mile walk in.
Cold day. Dog is totin a dead bird back across canal and he ain't goin around no blown down top- "goin right thru this boss" . Well a strong branch slips thru the leg hole on the vest and out thru the neck hole. He's hung- can't come forward and can't back out. He's getting exhausted tryn to break loose so I don't see no choice but to go in after him. O course my dumb ass don't think to take off my boots or heavy clothes- just get to him fore he drowns. He's maybe 15ft out there so I take a runnin jump as far as I could wit 40lbs o clothes on- which ain't far- and sink like a rock in 7ft water. But I'm jacked up on adrenaline and get to him no problem just can't get the branch out. Knew I didn't have a ton of time so I just grabbed the front of the vest and jerked as hard as I could.
Fortunately the vest ripped where the branch went thru and freed the mutt. We get back to the bank he climbs on out but I got a problem. They dug that canal bank steep- won't no way to walk up it an I can't push/pull all this wet weight up.
While the dog is settin there wit his head cocked like " what you doin down in there boss?" I get the idea it's time for some Lassie hero stuff- gonna get the dog to return the favor an pull me out. After one try at that he decided "you got yoself in there you get yoself out". Ended up scaling 20 yds down the bank to where there was a strong enough clump o brush to pull my self halfway out and crawl up. Long, slow 2 mile hike out.

 

[shotgunner]

I had 3 walkers running a yote. And I am going to brag a little, they were flat driving him. We were in the Green Swamp and they ran him across a road. After they crossed the road I did not hear my male dog anymore. To make a long story short I tracked to him and he was hanging by his back legs and treading water with his front legs. When he went to jump the big road ditch he went through a grape vine and it caught under his stomach and had settled right in front of his back legs holding him up by the back end. He was exhausted and it was all he could do to keep his head above water. Not sure how much longer he would have lasted. I just wonder how many hounds we lost before tracking equipment to not so "rare" freak accidents.