Thread: Beware of hidden dangers

Went hunting Thursday, long story but spooked a stag , another deer later and a pig but no animal on the deck.
Anyway on the way out the area was very wet and lots of mud around. Hoping over a log into some mud that looked soild enough(not real swampy) i ended up
in what the nearest thing to quicksand is.
Before i knew it both legs were knee deep in the mud and i was stuck fast! The more i tried to get out the deep i went. I was in a bad situation.
Nothing to grab or use and i was thinking im stuck there until help arrives or use the pLB (which needs replacing as over its date) unless i can dig myself out

I tried digging out one leg with my hands to see if could get the laces un done to try free a leg. 35 mins later got one leg out but im still stuck fast with the other.
More digging and trying to get my hand under the heal to break the suction as the mud was like semi wet cement.
After some effort and just pure grunt putting my leg(where streched the calf muscle bad() i managed to get my hand under the heal and broke the suction and free myself.
The effort required after a long day out in the bush and being a little unfit i was knacked and pulled muscles.

Slow effort out and home at 8pm after leavinf home at 5am.
Next day bodies too fu ked to do much.but one things for sure, hwatch those hidden dangers in the bush!
Sunday going strech the aching muscles and go for a short look in a new area where a mate saw a couple of fallow stags on the road couple weeks ago.

See if i can find them ....i watch out for mud hole s thou lol

Whew!

Glad you got out of that sand hole,hope you get a fallow for all yr pain.

Originally Posted by Trout

Glad you got out of that sand hole,hope you get a fallow for all yr pain.

Decided im taking my mate and his dogs and go for one of the pigs in that spot.
i know where the pigs are living so hope to get one. might have another look for a deer while we at it , see how it goes.
I have a look for the fallow on monday or thursday

Bloody hell, that's a bit scary.

Lucky escape, glad it all turned out alright. We sure do need to be careful out there.

Interesting. I've never had that happen.

Jesus mate, thats close and a wake up call.

Himmm whats the heel on your boot look like?

Is it one of those that spreads out? As in dose not run straight from the fabric/leather striaght down but tappers outwards so that it supports more weight?

I wounder if, so then this would have made it harded to break out. Like a cork in a bottle as the wet end swells to make the seal.

Good to hear your alright. I guess you could not have laid flat so that your legs would pull up wards. As you see in the movies.

Scary.......had a slightly similar experience in the Dobson some years back. Was walking down the river close to the water and wandered over a wet looking area ....smooth river gravel with maybe a few mm's water on the surface. Sank to almost to my knees immediately....lucky my big strong mate was a couple of metres away, and stepped over ( but not into the wet) grabbed my pack straps and heaved me forward. Still think back on that......

Really glad you got out. Can imagine how helpless you would have felt.
I had a similar encounter trying to catch carps under a bridge near Taupiri. Got excited and chased a carp by running along the river bank. Next moment the legs just sunk. I was by myself and no one knew I was there. It was absolutely terrifying. Luckily the only things I lost were my gumboots.

My dad was always going on about quick sand when I was a kid, maybe he was right after all!

So does the idea of lying flat and swimming out work or is that for hollywood

Had a similar experience to yours. I managed to hook a small manuka with my rifle which gave me enough purchase to extricate myself. Made quite an impression on me. Went back to the hut and wrote a poem about it. So if your hunting on the ''Homestead block'' at Masons Bay and wander out passed the lakes don't do a bee line for the track which goes by Island hill, sometimes the shortest distance, isn't.

Originally Posted by 223nut

So does the idea of lying flat and swimming out work or is that for hollywood

Kind of. As a kid my old man did a lot of salmon fishing, I used to hang out down near river mouths and lagoons and generally muck around. Many times I would cross dodgy mud (I mostly remember it down near the mouth of the rangitata), but it's not swimming, more crawling on your belly. This first thing you need to do is take the weight of your legs and spread it across your body. You had to get down quick before your legs were too deep.