Tripping or Falling

Falling and getting stuck by myself is why my wife doesn't want me to hunt alone. I hunted with an AFO brace from my knee to my foot for a few years. On one hunt I fell into a badger hole covered by snow. Thankfully I had a hunting partner with me that day.
 
Bob Peters said:
My weirdest feeling was the time I stepped on ice in the cattails and my boot went through and there was no bottom:oops:.
Click to expand...

I've done that several times too. You think its safe and you end up going through up to your knee, waist, or worse. Ruins the day pretty quick.

I learned my lesson on that one. I stay out of there until they are frozen solid now like concrete (which they are now). In recent years though, it never really happened because it was either 1) not cold enough, or 2) we got snow before a cold snap which prevented solid ice.
 
Yeah, this one was a result of a culvert coming under the road. It might be a field tile culvert not sure. I was out 150 ft. from the gravel road culvert. I got lucky, my one foot went straight through and somehow the other didn't. All I remember is keeping my muzzle pointing safe, rolling away from the open hole, then going back to look for puppy. She had her hinds fall through. I crawled over, grabbed her paws and pulled her out. I figured we were done hunting. It was about 30 out. She wasn't fazed at all and I felt fine, so we kept hunting. If I'm doing web scouting, now I look for creeks and culverts on google maps to be aware of week spots.
 
This one is a Doozie. 2 years walking in reed canary grass along a creek on a WPA in south central SD. Step into a hole if which my entire size 9 boot goes in and I fall backwards and hear a SNAP. Incredible pain. Laying in the grass I realize my foot/calf muscle no longer function. I diagnose myself with a ruptured Achilles. 1/4 mile walk to truck over a fence, load the dog and drive 50 miles to hospital. ER dr thinks i have a ruptures Achilles, but can't get a MRI for 2 days. Dr wraps it and gives me crutches. Head back to air bnb that evening. Leave for sioux falls and seen by a orthopedic leg/foot specialist. Confirms my diagnoses. This where it gets better, dr informs me he can work me into surgery the following day. HOWEVER my HMO insurance denies me surgery since I'm out of network and the injury is not life threatening. I appeal, they still deny the surgery. Imagine that in October 2022. Drive home the next day by myself with 3 dogs in a orthopedic boot. A week later I final get surgery to tie Achilles together. I was 5" apart. 3 months in a cast, no walking, missed the entire upland season. The mental duress of not hunting the rest of the year was far worse than the pain/rehabilitation.
 

Attachments

  • 20221117_103512.jpg
    20221117_103512.jpg
    7.6 MB · Views: 3
  • 20221102_080156.jpg
    20221102_080156.jpg
    1.8 MB · Views: 3
Well...this thread just talked me out of going out to SD alone again here in January. I'm 72 and haven't fallen yet so I'm way overdue. All joking aside I did see way more badger holes than in past years on my November trip to SD. They dig them under the cover so you can't see them until it's often too late. I wonder if the lack of trappers these days has anything to do with number of badgers holes
 
rangerman said:
This one is a Doozie. 2 years walking in reed canary grass along a creek on a WPA in south central SD. Step into a hole if which my entire size 9 boot goes in and I fall backwards and hear a SNAP. Incredible pain. Laying in the grass I realize my foot/calf muscle no longer function. I diagnose myself with a ruptured Achilles. 1/4 mile walk to truck over a fence, load the dog and drive 50 miles to hospital. ER dr thinks i have a ruptures Achilles, but can't get a MRI for 2 days. Dr wraps it and gives me crutches. Head back to air bnb that evening. Leave for sioux falls and seen by a orthopedic leg/foot specialist. Confirms my diagnoses. This where it gets better, dr informs me he can work me into surgery the following day. HOWEVER my HMO insurance denies me surgery since I'm out of network and the injury is not life threatening. I appeal, they still deny the surgery. Imagine that in October 2022. Drive home the next day by myself with 3 dogs in a orthopedic boot. A week later I final get surgery to tie Achilles together. I was 5" apart. 3 months in a cast, no walking, missed the entire upland season. The mental duress of not hunting the rest of the year was far worse than the pain/rehabilitation.
Click to expand...
Bummer!!
 
Goosemaster said:
I fell through up to my neck in a -10.
Click to expand...
I was going ice fishing and fell through to my neck. I tipped my toes way down and was standing on a boulder. I dropped the hand auger and my other arm was straight up holding a bucket, vexilar, etc. I tossed that as far as I could onto thicker ice. The rest is a blur. If I stepped off the boulder it was over my head. I swam and rolled onto thicker ice, grabbed my bucket, and "ran" to my ford ranger. Drove to my buddy's dorm, took a warm shower, he gave me a dry set of clothes. I huddled under blankets for two hours. Then we went to the lake, snagged my auger with a big dardevle, and drove to a different lake and went ice fishing that evening. I was low bagger back in the day. Now I don't ice fish, I pheasant hunt instead.
 
Bob Peters said:
I was going ice fishing and fell through to my neck. I tipped my toes way down and was standing on a boulder. I dropped the hand auger and my other arm was straight up holding a bucket, vexilar, etc. I tossed that as far as I could onto thicker ice. The rest is a blur. If I stepped off the boulder it was over my head. I swam and rolled onto thicker ice, grabbed my bucket, and "ran" to my ford ranger. Drove to my buddy's dorm, took a warm shower, he gave me a dry set of clothes. I huddled under blankets for two hours. Then we went to the lake, snagged my auger with a big dardevle, and drove to a different lake and went ice fishing that evening. I was low bagger back in the day. Now I don't ice fish, I pheasant hunt instead.
Click to expand...
Yeah fishing is low bagger,and big game hunters.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top