Had what I thought was a great spread at a smaller pond and only had one Gadwall drake decoy. Others dropped right over the dam on the far side. Then even though the water around our spread was only 3 1/2 deep the decoys were unrecoverable. The bottom was so soggy i sunk down to my hips. Had some good laughs and it was nice being out again though! Came home and made a floating throwable decoy retriever im going to test out when it clears up! Hope others had good hunts!

Be careful in that gumbo.

Greek- ive been in some soggy stuff, but this definitely took the cake. 3 steps in and down to the hip! Tried a few different paths, same thing. Just chalked it up for today!

That sucks. I was hunting public last year and was on decent ground then all of the sudden I was sunk to my chest in mud. I was alone which was a little scary but there was dead timber everywhere so I grabbed onto a tree and worked myself out. Turned right around and call it quits that morning.

@texassilpi- Man! That would be scary! I know I have never even thought about what to do if i was in open water alone and sunk. I do carry my field knife with me, but it sure would be scary!

Been in that situation myself!

Has happened to us a couple of times. I don't know if we would have gotten free if we didn't have someone else with us.

On retrieving your decoys, try this. Take a clothes hanger and bend the part that hangs on the rod into a small circle, then take each end and form the hanger into a "T" shape. Once you do this take a rod and reel and tie "braided" line to the clothes hanger loop. You can now throw decoy's out as far as you want and as deep as you want. Works like a champ, Guaranteed. The braided line is a must especially if you have a lot vegetation and the decoy weights are hanging up on it. May take a few practice throws to understand how to grab the decoy line but you will get the hang of it.

I use a dwadr.

We roll chicken or hog wire out in that cap. Or ply wood. Keeps you from getting buried

I had some 3/4" pvc laying around. I glued some together in a flat "w" shape sort of. Its about 36" long if i guessed. And i have some foam pvc wrap if it doesnt float as planned. I think i can throw it a long ways out and could snag a couple at a time if needed. I used paracord for the retrieving line. If it works as planned ill post some pictures. If it doesnt, forget i ever said i made it lol.

Throwable floating decoy retriever worked like a charm! For reason it wouldnt let me add the other photo.

That's a good lookin rig! I usually just bring my fishing rod with a shallow diving crankbait to retrieve any stray decoys. Switch the crankbait for a topwater and that's how I retrieve my ducks lol!