Spooked and Humbled

[Hem]

I did that once with neoprene waders at -20. Warm at first thanks to the neoprene, but in 20-30 minutes the cold began accelerating rapidly. I ran back to truck to keep from getting hypothermia.
Wool is overlooked in a world of synthetic.
Scary situation, and no fun.
Glad you had a change of clothes.

 

[Sytes]

I'd imagine you're developed life lessons came to your aid. You're doing well for one heck of a polar plunge.

Glad all is well.

 

[elkduds]

Wet plus cold can get serious in a hurry. Your misadventure is a reminder that being solo adds risk to any hunt. Glad you sorted it out, and thanks for sharing a sobering episode.

 

[rtraverdavis]

It’s amazing how thin the line can sometimes get between everything being okay and everything being in seriously deep shit. I had a moment on my hunt earlier this month that tripped on that line—climbing some steep, loose rock with a heavy pack, slipped but caught myself—which, like your story, was a good reminder for me that sometimes I need to slow down and really assess things before proceeding. Really glad you’re alright, for a bunch of reasons.

 

[PNWGator]

Glad you made it out okay!

 

[MTLabrador]

Glad you’re okay. Ice always scares me, especially something that’s a surprise like that. One of the scarier things I’ve done while hunting was saving my dog from a surprise ice shelf in a river.

 

[hank4elk]

Damn ,that is scary!
The 2 things that scare me the most...drowning and cold. Made me swim more and learn how to warm and hike out.

 

[noharleyyet]

I have experienced the disorienting grip of wet cold terror. Glad you're ok Nameless. It's been years but remains a vivid memory.Humbling is an appropriate term.

 

[rogerthat]

I did something kind of similar 20 plus years ago on a stream crossing. Tripped and fell in face first (fully submerged) in -20 f weather. When I came out I thought “holy chit I am going to die”. And proceeded to run the 20 minutes to the truck. Interestingly when I got to the the truck all exterior wetness was froze and I was quite warm from exertion. Not even close to dying. I have often thought the extreme cold froze everything so fast that I never really got that cold wet chill. Maybe really cold is better than just cold? Probably a stupid thought. Glad you made it okay!

 

[Hunting Wife]

Whoa. That sounds terrifying. Impressive to keep your wits and deal with the problem. Glad you’re alright!

 

[buckbull]

Wow! Sure glad it turned out ok. Good reminder for all of us to be careful.

 

[Nick87]

Needless to say, we didn’t mess around walking on ice in the river after that.

Ice combined with moving water scares the shit out of me.

 

[Dougfirtree]

Glad you’re ok. That’s scary stuff! I love the image of you showing up at the doctors all red and muddy, with beer on your breath and a little crazy in your eyes.

 

[Sytes]

I ran across one occasion, not near the setting you ran into though, hiking around a meadow and came across a nice cinamon black bear during archery elk season with a buddy. I stepped into the meadow tall grass a few paces and once a few paces in, the ground swallowed up my legs. It was incredibly thick! Would have been one heck of a challenge had I been solo considering the challenge with my partner's help.

Again, very glad your wits kept about you. You may have felt that instant rush of panic - especially when you felt your body slide and ice break away though your experience volunteer work and backcountry time in field is likely a reason you're here to share your story. Bet you gave your wife and children a very good-night hug!

 

[rjthehunter]

Wow. Glad you're okay. Makes my going through the ice experience last winter not seem so bad!

I fell through ice into a beaver run and was in waist deep water with snowshoes on struggling to get out... I was a mile and a half from the truck in 3ft of snow. I ended up building a fire and drying out a little bit.

Thin ice is no joke. I think back to all the hairy situations I used to put myself in while duck hunting and just shake my head now.

 

[Walkathon]

Scary stuff. Glad you made it out ok. I fell through a floating bog in MN when I moved here. Had no idea what a floating bog was, and figured I was just walking on the edge of the swamp area. I had my bow in hand and a tree stand strapped to my back. Went up to my arm pits when I fell through the bog. Wasn't easy to get back to dry land. Thank god it was only 50 degrees and the truck was a half mile away.

 

[Addicting]

Did some thing very similar when I was a teen. It scared me enough that I’ve never been able to be comfortable on ice since. Glad you’re ok.

 

[rjthehunter]

Also, wouldn't discredit wool. It has definitely saved lives, may have saved yours! It's impressive what it does even when it's wet.

 

[R.K.]

I fell through ice into a beaver run

Beaver runs are terrible, especially while duck hunting in waders. Last time I went in, luckily the shallows were mostly open, but it was still frosty. I dropped a duck and was chasing it on foot, moving quick and bent over to grab the duck that was barely kicking. 1.5 miles to the truck, and I took a final step onto that steep sided run. That started the instant moment of panic when the mud gives way and your front foot starts sliding down. Gun straight up overhead, do the splits, and start praying- no use, kept sliding down and waders started to fill. Use forward momentum to try and crawl up the other side and hope it works, and the one that fails try to kick off the far side to come back the way you came.

I was lucky enough to be wearing wool and neoprene and was able to get back to the blind to dump out ring out and dry out at least enough to where the wool was insulating, and I could get my heart rate up enough to stay warm.

Not sure it was worth it for that limit.

 

[Southern Elk]

Buckshot or slugs in that shotgun, @Nameless Range?