“Young Guys Think They’re Invincible.” Duck Hunters Rescued by Airboat After Becoming Trapped in a Frozen River

An extremely cold rescue occurred Saturday in southern Indiana, where five duck hunters navigating a frozen river got their boat locked in the ice.  

The party had launched their jon boat in the White River before noon. The hunters, all males aged 17 to 19, launched in moving water, but conditions changed dramatically downstream of where they put in. With air temperatures around 12 degrees and snow incoming, they quickly ran into ice. They were unable to turn around before their boat froze in an ice jam that extended nearly bank to bank.

“The conditions themselves weren’t great to be out in. We were operating in very cold temperatures, but also battling snowfall as it was happening,” Joe Haywood, an Indiana Department of Natural Resources conservation officer, tells Outdoor Life. “Why they were trying to navigate through there, I don’t know. We’re still trying to figure that out.”

The DNR, along with other local agencies, responded to the emergency call as fast as they could. Crews rounded up the only air boat in the district, plus a hover craft for backup. Rescuers put in downstream of the stranded hunters, but even that effort seemed doomed when the air boat froze to its trailer at the boat ramp. It took chains and two trucks accelerating in opposite directions to yank hard enough and break the ice fusing the vessel to its trailer.

“When it broke loose from the trailer, it landed on the ground, so we drove it to the water,” Haywood says. “The great benefit of an air boat is everything is above water. It can operate in very shallow water, go on top of ice, and move on land. We couldn’t have a traditional prop boat. We needed something that could go on top of the ice to get to them.”

It’s unknown if the hunters harvested any ducks, or how long the group was stuck in ice before they called for help. It took three hours to move them and their gear from the jon boat to the air boat, and then back to land. Luckily, they were dressed for bad weather, so no one suffered hypothermia and no one went to the hospital. Their boat, however, was still stuck in the ice as of Thursday, and it will probably remain there for weeks. It’s visible from a nearby bridge, it’s hull nearly full of snow. A return trip to retrieve it was not an option, Haywood says.

Read Next: Why Duck Hunters Die

“At that point, you’re looking at life versus property. You take those risks to save lives. You don’t take those risks to save property.”

Southern Indiana is expecting freezing temps for another week. The winter storm that settled on the area over the weekend dumped 10 inches of snow, limiting travel and closing schools.

“Young guys think they’re invincible,” Haywood says. “I hope it was a reality check for how dangerous the water can be, especially in cold conditions, and I hope those hunters realize how very blessed and fortunate they are for the outcome we had. That situation could have turned out a lot worse than it did.”

The rescue resulted in one citation: Failure to possess the proper number of PFDs. There were five hunters in the ice-jammed boat but only three life jackets.