Promoting Boating Safety to Hunters

Auxiliary Brings the Paddlesports Safety Message to Waterfowl Hunters
The day after Christmas might be viewed as a time for rest and relaxation for many of us but it was not so for several members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary who were heading out the door at 0345. They were embarking on a unique mission to bring the paddlesports safety message to hunters on the first day of the Western New York waterfowl hunting season. Gathering at Beaver Island State Park in the Town of Grand Island, New York an island community surrounded by the Niagara River members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary prepared to meet the hundreds of hunters who would be showing up for the daily duck blind drawing. Although sunrise was more than an hour away and the temperature hovered around freezing, the usual icy winds laden with snow were thankfully absent. An avid kayaker for several decades, Paul Leuchner, Flotilla 35, Grand Island, New York was determined to reach out to members of the paddling community who plied area waters well after the close of the traditional boating recreation season. He put together a recreational boating safety outreach plan intended to raise paddlesports safety awareness amongst waterfowl hunters and recruited fellow Flotilla 35 members Ray Gress and Steve Birtz to assist him.

At 0400 the hunters began to arrive with an armada of paddlecraft consisting of various kinds of duck boats, canoes, kayaks and row boats. The Flotilla 35 team sprang into action with the intent of achieving several goals. The first was to remind hunters of the New York State law that requires the proper wearing of a U.S. Coast Guard approved life jacket while out on the water during the winter months. A second but equally important goal was to get hunters to fill out and apply the orange identification labels to their paddlecraft. These labels contain essential ownership and contact information that first responders need when coming upon a canoe, kayak or rowboat floating empty and adrift. The final goal was to engage hunters in discussions that would increase paddlesports safety awareness.

The anticipated response from this group of paddlers was largely unknown since a project like this had not been attempted previously. It is generally well known that waterfowl hunters often view their boats as a means to an end and as such safety is not always a high priority. The Flotilla 35 team members were elated to find that the response of these hunters was quite positive. It was clear that there was an overwhelming interest in safety. Within an hour the Flotilla 35 team had distributed and affixed identification labels to more than 50 paddlecraft and had given out over one hundred Operation Paddlesmart safety brochures. In addition, there were numerous individual and group conversations covering topics such as life jacket wear, the importance of float plans, cold water immersion and hypothermia, overloading, capsizing risks and changes in weather. Without exception every hunter contacted was eager to learn more about being safe on the water while engaged in waterfowl hunting activities.

At one point the Flotilla 35 team was approached by an experienced duck hunter. He cheered the Auxiliary in its efforts to get hunters to apply paddlecraft identification labels to all of the canoes, kayaks and duck boats that had been brought to the duck blind drawing. When asked why he was so enthusiastic he recounted an experience that really brought home the importance of these labels. Several years ago this particular individual had landed on a remote uninhabited island in the upper Niagara River for a day of waterfowl hunting. He arrived alone in a canoe that contained all of his gear including the extra warm clothing needed to endure the windy blizzard like conditions. While setting out his decoys, he lost track of his canoe and was horrified to find it was nearly a quarter mile away drifting down the river with the current. Other hunters in the area retrieved the boat and eventually returned it to him but not after spending most of the morning hours huddled in the cold. Although this story had a happy ending the hunter was convinced that he would have received aid much sooner had there been an identification label in his boat.

After the duck blind drawing and with the ensuing daylight the Flotilla 35 team traveled around the 25 mile perimeter of Grand Island passing out paddlecraft identification labels and paddlesports safety literature to other area duck hunters. Their success transcended the day’s events as other hunters learning of the paddlecraft identification later sought out the members of this team with requests for additional identification labels and paddlesports safety information.

Contributed by
[mailto:frog2327@verizon.net Paul Leuchner], BC-BLC, American Canoe Association Branch Chief