In this episode of The Outdoor Life podcast, Chris Pebley and his buddy Weston Leatherow tell the story of how a little motor trouble during a routine duck hunt turned into a life-or-death emergency.
It was December in northern Utah and the two buddies were at a public marsh that they hunt all the time. The shallow wetland was half-way frozen over. But busting ice is all part of the game, and they knew Pebley’s 20-foot Widow Maker boat could handle it. Leatherow, 30, had scouted the area the week before and found a pool of open water that held a good number of ducks. They’d hopefully shoot some canvasbacks.
But while motoring out in the dark that morning, Pebley, 42, noticed that the throttle on his surface drive motor had started to stick. It seemed like the cable was getting frozen in place.
Eventually the throttle got stuck while Pebley was bringing the boat up on plane. They were pushed faster and faster through the marsh. In the heat of the moment Pebley didn’t think about simply hitting the kill switch. Instead he tried to free the cable, but when that failed he started to trim the motor up. With the prop out of the water they’d come to a stop, he figured.
But just as Pebley started to trim up, the boat hit something. Pebley thought it was a sheet of ice; Leatherow thought it could have been a sand bar. Whatever it was jolted Pebley out of the boat. As he fell, his leg struck the prop, which chewed into his shin and knee.
They didn’t know it then, but Pebley had severed two of the three arteries that feed the lower leg. He alos breoke his tibia in two places, his patella (knee cap) in three places, and his femur in two places.
Far from the boat ramp and stuck with a non-functional motor, the situation was dire.
As Pebley and Leatherrow retell the story of the accident and the subsequent rescue mission in this podcast, a few things stand out to me.
First, it’s surprising just how lucid Pebley was throughout the ordeal. He’d had a traumatic injury, he’s been dunked in ice-cold water, and he was fading in and out consciousness. But he still had clear memories of specific moments and could recall key details. He was the one who told Leatherow to call 911 right away. And in the background of the 911 call recording you can hear Pebley still trying to wrangle his dog, a Lab named Thor. He knew he didn’t want emergency services contacting his wife directly, for fear that she might freak out. So instead he instructed Leatherow to call his dad, who would then let Pebley’s wife know about the accident. This all happened while Pebley was bleeding out in the bow of a duck boat.
In listening to the 911 recording, I was also amazed by how efficiently and clearly Leatherow was able to communicate with the operator. He had gotten a good look at Pebley’s leg and he knew how badly he was injured. Pebley on the other hand didn’t understand the severity of his injury until he was loaded into the rescue helicopter. Nobody would blame Leatherow for being frazzled on the call, and yet he was able to tell the 911 operator their location, describe the details of the injury, and guide first responders in quickly and concisely. Interestingly, Leatherow says he felt like he was panicking, even while he was acting logically and communicating clearly. All of us should hope to have a hunting buddy like that.
And lastly, I was struck by how such a small issue during a run-of-the-mill hunt nearly caused the death of an experienced waterfowler. Pebley and Leatherow hunt a lot and have chased ducks all over the country. This public marsh is near their homes, and they hunt it often. It’s a reminder that the bad accidents usually don’t happen on those borderline dangerous hunts, when everyone knows the risk and is accordingly extra cautious.
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They often happen during everyday hunts, when we least expect it.
Having learned from his incident, Pebley recommends covering basic emergency preparedness with everyone in your hunting crew. Talk through where the first-aid kit is and what’s in it. On the morning of the accident Pebley actually had a full first-aid kit on board with a tourniquet included. But Leatherow didn’t know it at the time and ended up using a ratchet strap for a makeshift tourniquet. Also, take the time to learn how to properly apply a tourniquet and basic first aid.
Discuss with everyone in the group where you’ll be going and how you’ll be getting back out. Make sure that they know how to run your boat, in case you can’t. Leatherow says to make sure to wear your kill switch lanyard, and modify it so that it’s more convenient to attach and detach quickly.
Read Next: Why Duck Hunters Die
“The difference maker can be such a small thing,” Pebley says. “In the grand scheme of hunting, every year you’ll go out and buy a dozen new decoys without thinking about it. But you don’t go through your first aid kit and update it … Most of us don’t take the steps that may actually matter.”
You can listen to this episode of the Outdoor Life Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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