Public Service Announcement..Wear your PFD

[nitro5x6's]

1 drowned in Lake Seminole Duck hunting accident...

http://www.walb.com/story/24386562/d...-boat-accident

Another totally preventable death...

Wear em Men... cold weather and water can be deadly..

[JABIII]

2 more duck hunters died this morning in Rhode Island. Be careful out there...

[Rubberhead*]

I don't leave the bank without one on anymore.

[Ring King]

I am in no way discounting the wearing of a PFD, but the real danger at this time of year is hardly staying afloat! With near record low temps across most of the country hypothermia is your biggest threat! I would bet I am in the 2-5% of duck hunters on this site that actually dress appropriately for duck hunting in cold temps. If you are unsure what that means then let me list it off for you:

Poly sock liners
Smart Wool socks
Patagonia Capeline 3 or 4 (depending on temp) thermal base layer
Mountain Equipment Co-op or Mountain Hard Wear loose nap fleece top and bottoms
Lacrosse Alpha Swamp Fox Breathable Waders
Drake 4in1, or Browning 4in1, or Columbia Quad Parka on too
Wool and fleece face mask
Wool or neoprene style gauntlet length gloves

And have a ditch bag with food/MRE, FRESH water, fire starting supplies (not just a lighter as they are too prone to failure) space blanket, audible signaling device, visual signaling device, and a spare set of dry clothes if you can afford the room. Those hunting out of boats have no excuse not to have these items onboard. They should be checked and loaded before you put your gun and decoys in the boat. I even carry at least one portable FULLY charged waterproof handheld VHF (I own three and often carry two of them) even in my kayak.

I wear some combination of the above when duck hunting from November through the end of the season. Nothing more, nothing less, and for damn sure nothing cotton. I can't tell you how many times I see guys on this site posting up pics in wrinkled blue jeans that are fresh out of waders or some piece of junk cotton hooded sweatshirt. These are the things that will kill you in cold weather. A small initial investment in the "RIGHT" hunting clothes is a small price to pay for possibly saving your life. I've hunted in Alaska when temps were near zero degrees in sock liners, wool socks, thermals, fleece, breathable waders and a quad parka and been plenty warm even when crossing a rough bay where the freezing spray had me looking like a fresh Krispy Kreme!! Put on the right gear and a PFD and you might just stand a chance if your boat goes down! Chances are by the time help comes you're still going to be a frozen dead popsicle though. It's just a chance we take as duck hunters. Exposure is the real enemy. The life jacket just makes your body easier for the search crews to recover.

[boondoggle]

Add one Duraflame fire log to RK ditch bag. Easy to light and get warm enough to get into dry clothes and start looking for firewood.

[Rodney]

Good post, RK.

[Clemsontider]

Just wanted to bring this one back up to the top for everyone getting ready to
hunt. I’ve had my first child in the last year and am way more safety cautious this year as I’m getting my boat and gear prepped for the season.

Thanks for the helpful post RK!

[Islandguy85]

I am in no way discounting the wearing of a PFD, but the real danger at this time of year is hardly staying afloat! With near record low temps across most of the country hypothermia is your biggest threat! I would bet I am in the 2-5% of duck hunters on this site that actually dress appropriately for duck hunting in cold temps. If you are unsure what that means then let me list it off for you:

Poly sock liners
Smart Wool socks
Patagonia Capeline 3 or 4 (depending on temp) thermal base layer
Mountain Equipment Co-op or Mountain Hard Wear loose nap fleece top and bottoms
Lacrosse Alpha Swamp Fox Breathable Waders
Drake 4in1, or Browning 4in1, or Columbia Quad Parka on too
Wool and fleece face mask
Wool or neoprene style gauntlet length gloves

And have a ditch bag with food/MRE, FRESH water, fire starting supplies (not just a lighter as they are too prone to failure) space blanket, audible signaling device, visual signaling device, and a spare set of dry clothes if you can afford the room. Those hunting out of boats have no excuse not to have these items onboard. They should be checked and loaded before you put your gun and decoys in the boat. I even carry at least one portable FULLY charged waterproof handheld VHF (I own three and often carry two of them) even in my kayak.

I wear some combination of the above when duck hunting from November through the end of the season. Nothing more, nothing less, and for damn sure nothing cotton. I can't tell you how many times I see guys on this site posting up pics in wrinkled blue jeans that are fresh out of waders or some piece of junk cotton hooded sweatshirt. These are the things that will kill you in cold weather. A small initial investment in the "RIGHT" hunting clothes is a small price to pay for possibly saving your life. I've hunted in Alaska when temps were near zero degrees in sock liners, wool socks, thermals, fleece, breathable waders and a quad parka and been plenty warm even when crossing a rough bay where the freezing spray had me looking like a fresh Krispy Kreme!! Put on the right gear and a PFD and you might just stand a chance if your boat goes down! Chances are by the time help comes you're still going to be a frozen dead popsicle though. It's just a chance we take as duck hunters. Exposure is the real enemy. The life jacket just makes your body easier for the search crews to recover.

Agreed. I would like to point out that this ditch bag should float and be waterproof and stay on the deck of the boat while underway. My bag is attached to am orange lifejacket and has dry clothes, fire starting supplies. Admittedly, my bag does not have MRE’s or water (water on boat), my phone that is also in waterproof case and handheld VHF are in that bag. Where I hunt I feel confident that I shouldn’t be there long without someone coming around and/or have problems contacting others for help.

Foremost, proceed carefully and cautiously all the time! There are plenty of other boats that are not. No duck is worth dying for.


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[Birddawg]

I fish offshore way more than I duck hunt. When I do duck hunt, its normally on private land and a boat trip isn't involved. On my offshore boat, we all carry PLB's, have a life raft, garmin in reach (satellite texting contraption), handheld VHF radios, and a spot or two. This is on a 29' boat. Granted the hunters don't go offshore, but I feel duck hunting is probably more dangerous than going offshore considering the size of the boat and the weather. Why aren't the safety precautions taken while hunting?

[willyworm]

Negligence. Or stupidity.

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