Two duck hunters hit a submerged tree on Bois d arc Lake last week. They clung to a tree with a Yeti cooler decoys and some of their gear. They burnt the decoys and pulled wood from the tree to burn in the cooler. They were there 13 hrs til they spotted the fire from a plane then we're rescued. The Good Lord was with them that day

Lucky they were prepared with some type waterproof matches/lighter.

Aren't boats required to have floatation so they do not sink?

Depends on length. I think it’s anything less than 20’ total requires flotation per USCG. Anything larger does not. Could be wrong on length but small boats do, larger do not.

I think the floatation laws just changed. I know folks are all PO'd cuz GatorTail is putting flotation in their '25 models. The problem is that it gets wet, soaks up water, and adds a couple hundred pounds to the boat. No bueno for running skinny water.

As of July 2024 it’s mandatory for all builders now if less than 20feet, absolutely sucks that is the law now.
All boats made prior to that by some builders should have a little more value now since they don’t have the floatation.

Floatation is terrible to have in a duck boat.

Haven’t seen many jon boats with floatation. I guess swimming to shore wasn’t an option. Thank god they found them.

Wonder if the 2 guys would agree with you now after 13 hours in the water or the wives if they had died?

Probably a crappy boat hitting a tree and sinking. I hit trees all the time.

Yeah I got mine built just before the deadline.

Two cases that'll sink ya. Losing steering (usually cuz your skeg hits and bounces the motor up) and plowing the nose into a tree way up out of the water, or not on pad and running up a stump. Makes the nose go straight up, slides backwards, and arse end down under. I don't think it's as big a deal with a flat bottom or longer boat like ours. I'm guessing the first thing is what got 'em on that lake.

My step dad did the second one bass fishing Livingston forever ago in a 14' jon boat.

Wouldn't closed cell foam stop the water absorbing problem?

My guess they hit the trunk of a tree head on, no stumps on that lake, just flooded trees. Below is more info.

Biggest reason also to get a pointed bow, hit a tree head on it will bounce to one side instead of running up the tree like my old flat front rig.

Exactly. All of the trees on that lake are way out of the water, not rotten stumps which it will be years from now. On that lake, if you are able run up on a tree it would be small limbs sticking up (the top of the tree).

There are no thick stumps on that lake.

Always have your phone in your waders. Could have avoided a lot of grief…………unless there is no cell service there

closed cell flotation.....only way to go.....

If there is no cell coverage, I don’t go on the water.

Smart- even though I know my wetland/ private lake I hunt, never set decoys without a life jacket-

I know exactly where that was

I had cell coverage out on that lake recently - not great coverage, but I had a relatively trustworthy signal

Texted game warden, said they were smokers- saved their life - all they had was a bic lighter. Wasn’t their time to go

Probably beer drinkers too, doubt that yeti was for a fire.

I read they were trying to "push a tree" with their boat... and it pushed back and flooded over the transom. So maybe there was beer or some type of non-tabaco smoke involved LOL.

Have to prepare for anything when you are out in the field.

Something to think about. I know with texas rigs no one puts their decoys in decoy bags anymore. But you'd be surprised how much weight 24-30 decoys can float. By having your decoys in a bag you can use the bag as a mini raft incase your boat goes under. One bag isn't going to float 2 hubters, but it will float one guy.

No, it is water resistant. Nothing worse the water logged closed cell phone, it’s almost impossible to get dried out, and if you have any wood it hold moisture close to it.

You can google boat rehabs. And see lots of water logged closed cell spray foam. Now the closed cell structural foam core boards are pretty water tight, plus they are sandwiched

Hmmm, I don't have any flotation in my boat, but I do clip 4-5 dozen TX rigged dekes to my front deck. I wonder if that would keep my nose pointed up?

Over 25 years of hunting lakes I have gone swimming in deep water 2 times, and once closer to shore. Both times in deep water I was wearing neoprene boot foot chest waders and had no life jacket on. I can tell you from personal experience that neoprene helps you float. It also traps the water that gets inside your waders and allows it to warm up to your body temp. Both times I went swimming I was more than 150 yards from the shore. I swam to shore in my waders and did not get hypothermia. My hair was frozen by the time I got to shore, but my body stayed warm inside the neoprene waders. Those guys that got stranded must not have known how to swim, because they could not have been very far from shore judging from the photo. There are no trees like that in the middle of the lake. Swimming in waders in freezing temps is not an enjoyable experience, but it sure beats standing in a tree for 15 hours waiting for hypothermia to set in. Just suck it up and swim to shore. Make a fire and warm up after you are out of the water. I don't think they made a very good decision to wait it out in the water like they did.

" because they could not have been very far from shore judging from the photo. There are no trees like that in the middle of the lake"

Either you've not been on that lake or have and didn't know where you were lol. There is a $hit ton of trees like that 600yards and more from any bank. And I would HATE to have to swim thru that stuff that far. You would snag your waders on something and then be in a real world of hurt.

I pushed poled my boat into some thick stuff in the middle of that lake just to listen for some ducks. When was satisfied there were not enough birds to mess with, I fired up my boat and dam if I didn't rip my trim button off the handle trying to get out of that stuff