Lost hunter rescue shows DNR conservation warden teamwork
November 20, 2012
By: Joanne M. Haas/Bureau of Law Enforcement
The story of the lost hunter in Dodge County Monday night not only has a good ending – it also is an example of how the conservation wardens use teamwork with other agencies to answer a call.
The story started last night, November 19. Conservation Warden Paul Nell of Dodge got a call from the Dodge County Sheriff’s Department. A 75-year-old hunter failed to make it home after a day in the Horicon Marsh.
Nell immediately worked the phone and got an emergency response into gear. “It takes some time to get equipment in place,” he says of the step-by-step process. Since emergency responders would be dealing with a marsh, that meant water and possible tree cover.
First thing he did? Nell called Conservation Warden Ben Nadolski of Fond du Lac. “He came and grabbed my surface drive,” Nell said, referring to a boat and motor that only needs a few inches of water to operate. Ideal for the marsh and nearly anywhere the man could be.
Next step of the process, as he was driving to the scene before 8 p.m., Nell called DNR Deputy Conservation Chief Karl Brooks to get the FLIR plane ordered. That’s the DNR plane with the camera that can spot heat sources on the ground. In this case, the missing hunter.
Brooks then made that plane order and alerted the DNR pilot that his services would be needed pronto. However, as fast as the crew started to assemble to handle the emergency, it was determined their services would not be needed.
While Nell was traveling to the scene and Nadolski was arriving with the surface drive boat, the area fire department spotted the hunter on an island. Nadolski assisted other emergency responders with the surface drive boat and the man was rescued about 8:45 p.m.
“They were lucky to find him,” Nell says. The temperatures were falling along with some rain, which could have made for a miserable night for the man.
So this story had a good ending. The lost hunter became a found man and went home to his family.