With the season coming to a close, I always like to think back on what I might have done different if I had taken a little more time in thinking things through - either for more birds in the bag or from a safety standpoint.
As I get older, less ambitious and not so eager, I try to hunt alone as little as possible now after accepting that it can typically turn a not so dangerous situation to critical in a matter of seconds.
One recollection of this lesson was from last year, just after the heavy rainfall at the beginning of the season. I always like to start out in the backwaters on the river not too far from home, it's a guaranteed wood duck or two and there's no pressure from other hunters. I had done my due diligence and scouted a few days prior - everything looked to be as expected & I had a perfect little spring fed hole that was going to work out well.
Got a late start, somewhat on purpose as a little bit of daylight makes navigation a little more comfortable. On my path to get back to this little spring fed hole, I had crossed a series of channels that were just below the top of my waders. Didn't think anything of the depth at the time, I could get through no problem and the antsy black lab I was with was already well ahead of me.
We eventually made it to our spot after walking through a few hundred feet of oak low lands, that to my surprise was actually holding 12-16" of water. Flooded timber in MN, a first for me & kind of neat. Found the wood ducks to be non-existant in the previously scouted spot, but jump shot a couple while traversing around in the woods so we called it good & continued making our way back.
This was when my lack of thought hit me as we approached the channel. It must have been flooded over by at least another foot at this point, and I was screwed as far as I could tell. No cell phone service back here either, strike two.
After finding several spots that had a depth beyond what I could reach in my waders, I finally decided just to throw my gear across and "moon bounce" as best as possible while holding the dog and his vest - hoping he'll provide the needed buoyancy rather than freaking out. I got wet, but we made it. The next channel closed off at the top so it was fine & was happy to find my boat still tied off to get us back across the main river. Luckily strike three never occurred that day.
Fortunately, this story is not that extravagant - just an example of a simple situation turning potentially bad.
I'm sure you guys can do better & would love to hear - at the very least we can learn from each other's mistakes.