Nebraskaland

56 Nebraskaland • January-February 2020 t was Nov. 30, 1998. Three of my childhood friends were coming back to duck hunt – a tradition we had done since the mid-1980s. I've known one since kindergarten, the rest of them fi fth and sixth grade, more than 50 years. We grew up hunting together with BB guns, so we spent a lot of time in the fi eld getting to know one another. This probably had a lot to do with the fact we're still alive. We were hunting on the Missouri River, and it was a very mild day – 48 degrees. When we fi nished our hunt, we decided to scout. We were coming back from a little pothole near the main channel of the river toward the Santee boat ramp. We had four guys, two dogs and a pile of decoys in a 14-foot john boat with a wooden blind on top of it; we'd hunted out of it for several years. We weren't thinking about our weight, or what could happen if your boat is overloaded, or if you're not in the right place inside the boat. I said, "Let's go down one more channel, check one spot and then we'll turn around and come back." Then, at the last minute, we decided we weren't going to do it. I was in the back of the boat, running the tiller, and the rest of the guys were in front. I stopped, then began to turn around in a little bay. As I did, one of the guys in the front of the boat said, "Get the bucket." That's the last thing I remember before our boat turned upside down. So, in a matter of 30 seconds, we went from tooling down the river to being underwater. Looking back, several things were wrong. There was too much weight to begin with, but even if there wasn't, we didn't distribute it properly. I had a fl at-bottomed boat, which I will never have again because water can come over the front way too easily. Plus, it was a mild day, so we were a little more relaxed than we normally would be. We popped up like bobbers, and the look on everyone's faces was complete shock. It happened so fast that it wasn't really so much "we're in a bad spot," as it was disbelief. If the boat had fl ipped mere feet in a diff erent direction, we would have been dumped in the main channel and no one would have survived. Fortunately, because we had just drifted off that channel, we could stand. We didn't have to swim, but my dog was leashed to the front of the boat – which had suctioned to the water surface – and was trapped underneath. My buddy was able to reach underneath and unleash my dog so she could get out. My other buddy threw his dog on top of the boat, and we all just stared at each other. I'll never forget the hopelessness watching our decoys, life jackets and other gear drift away with the current. We got the boat to a long point of cattails where it would set, then realized we were in trouble. No one was on the water, and we weren't prepared. Only one of us was wearing polyester, while the rest were in big, heavy, cotton shirts and jeans. We had another channel to cross before we could even get close to the channel that took us to the boat ramp. At that point, and I truly believe that because of us knowing each other so long, none of us panicked. We started throwing information at one another and trying to fi nd the right fi x. We had no way of getting across the channel, and it was an hour before sunset. It was getting cold, and we were trying to get the boat tipped upright. When we fi nally got it turned back over, we got as much water out as we possibly could. At that point, I couldn't get the motor started, so we agreed that once we got enough water out to fl oat the boat, we had to get I ater e front way too easily. d day, so we were a little more relaxed than Left: Scott Lewis, Todd Mills, and Gray Carlson hunt in 2016 near Grand Island. Above: Scott Lewis and Dean Schade hunt in 2017 on the Missouri River. 56 Ne Nebr bras askala land nd • January-February 2020 Looking back, several things were wrong. There was too much weight to gear d We set, t water polye jeans. get cl At know throw right was a It w tippe got I co we Le 20 Sc Scha A Warm Day Survival on the Missouri By Todd Mills, as told to Jeff Kurrus

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