PSA-Slough Ice

[Jack's My dog]

Just a friendly reminder. The slough ice is not strong enough to support a dog's weight yet, so keep that in mind. I am sure most you that are still chasing roosters are well aware, and so am I, none the less I found myself in a situation where I thought my dog was done for yesterday. Jack, my 10 year old lab was working the edge of the cattails, and must have got some scent in the nose cause he pushed in to the thick stuff, with my Dad's dog doing the same. We decided to call the dogs back cause they had pushed fairly far out into the slough. My Dad's dog made it back, and we were tracking Jack's process by the rustle of the cats, and then no movement. Called several times, heard a couple whimpers, then nothing.

Jack isn't very vocal so I figured something was wrong. To make matters worse we were running sans bell, as the birds that are left are pretty spooky. I was able to hear the tone on his collar and had a pretty good idea where he was and made the decision to go get him. When I found him he was standing on his hind legs and holding on to the layer of ice, which had essentially trapped him in water that was about 2.5 to 3 feet deep. A younger version of Jack would have found his way out of the situation, but at 10 there is not as much juice in his legs. I knew it was unlikely I was going to stay dry, but I tried to get him by the collar and of course ended up wet. The water wasn't so deep, but sinking to your knees in the muck is unnerving and being wet up to your midriff when it is 20 degrees out is a bit of a bummer. It took a couple tosses but I get him to solid ice and made my way out as well. Jack was no worse for wear and was back to checking the wind for scent before we made it back to the truck. I was able to get dried out, and back in the field that afternoon with a borrowed pair of boots.

One thing that strikes me- while I am aware of the risks with the ice this time of year, I had no plan B. If we had not been just a 20-30 minute walk from the truck, getting wet may not have been a reasonable risk, and I would have had no way to get the dog out of the water. Just now I dropped 50 feet of paracord into my vest, as a "better than nothing" option. I would be curious to hear if any of you guys have any ideas for this sort of situation?

Stay safe and good hunting.

[smurfman]

A full set of spare clothes in the vehicle is a given. I learned that years ago after kicking a skunk in thick grass.

Being warm blooded helps, I can wear fair light clothing which dries out pretty quickly, even in cold weather. That keeps me fairly dry from sweat as well as drying quick if it gets wet from other reasons.

When hunting swamps, hip boots are often worn. Far too often I have had to call off a chase when a bird ran across the mat of cat tails where the water was over my boot tops. Wearing hip boots allowed me to get far enough from the shore to surprise roosters who thought themselves safe.

Dressed like this I can generally risk relatively deep water. As I've gotten older I have worn the hip boots less often by waiting a bit long for the ice to freeze. I also tend to hunt more northerly and move south as temps drop. In extreme situations, heading far south to Nebraska or Kansas is the answer as it is usually much warmer there.

[Jack's My dog]

I like to stay off the ice, but the dog pressed the issue. I never considered hip waders before, but I do Like the Arctic Muck boots. They do a good job of keeping you dry about just below the knees. They also get pretty darn warm after awhile.

[Ironbear]

This article recently got me rethinking about cold weather gear.

https://www.sitkagear.com/insight/a-navy-seal-rewarming-drill