{"id":588,"date":"2024-09-16T20:40:57","date_gmt":"2024-09-17T01:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/?p=588"},"modified":"2024-09-16T20:43:48","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T01:43:48","slug":"water-marine-safety-for-waterfowlers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/water-marine-safety-for-waterfowlers\/","title":{"rendered":"Water\/Marine Safety for Waterfowlers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WardenBY WDNR Recreation Warden Martin Stone<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been working as a conservation warden for more than 20 years now, and I\u2019ve spent that entire time working along the Mississippi River.\u00a0 It is a wonderful place to hunt and fish, or to just enjoy your time outdoors.\u00a0 As many know, the Mississippi\u00a0 River is a popular destination location for waterfowl hunters.<\/p>\n

When I think about waterfowl hunting and the Mississippi River (or any waterways), I\u2019m reminded of three safety regulations which could quickly turn a fun waterfowl outing into a tragic or life threatening outing.\u00a0 I don\u2019t mean to imply that these are the only regulations one must follow, or that others are not equally important, but when I think hunting and boating, these jump to mind.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Make sure you have a life jacket (PFD -personal flotation device).\u00a0 Each person on your boat must have a wearable US Coast Guard approved PFD, of the proper size for that person, and that is in good serviceable condition.\u00a0 If not worn, make sure they are readily accessible to the person who may need to use it.\u00a0 If your boat is 16 feet or longer, you also must have one US Coast Guard approved type 4 throw-able PFD on board was well. Ideal waterfowl hunting conditions of brisk winds, a boat full of gear, heavy clothing, waders, cold air temperatures and cold water temperatures really should have hunters wearing a life jacket during every outing. \u00a0Trying to locate and put on a life jacket during the panic of someone falling overboard or the boat capsizing is nearly impossible \u2013 Wear it Wisconsin.<\/li>\n
  2. Always use navigational lighting.\u00a0 All motor boats that are operating between sunrise and sunset must display proper lighting.\u00a0 Make sure you display your red & green bow lighting so it\u2019s plainly visible.\u00a0 Make sure that the white stern light is visible for 360 degrees without obstructions.\u00a0 Check to see that it\u2019s well above all your gear and everyone\u2019s head.\u00a0 The sunrise and sunset times can be determined in the back of your Wisconsin Boating Regulations pamphlet.\u00a0 Another critical safety aspect when hunters are heading to and from their favorite hunting spot prior to and after opening hours.\u00a0 Remember, boat lights are designed per the rules of navigation for boats, not like your vehicle lights which are designed for driver visibility and also to seen by others on the road.<\/li>\n
  3. Don\u2019t exceed your boat\u2019s safe operating capacity.\u00a0 Follow your boat\u2019s capacity plate normally located near the operator\u2019s position.\u00a0\u00a0 Loading your boat with decoys & gear, and then with hunters sporting heavy waders & clothing, can quickly overload your boat\u2019s safe carrying capacity and put you at risk of swamping or capsizing your boat.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Like life jackets and navigation lights, knowing the ideal waterfowling conditions and having a stable boat with plenty of free-board (space between waterline and top of boat) is critical for for the safety of you and your hunting partners (including your dog).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    BY WDNR Recreation Warden Martin Stone I\u2019ve been working as a conservation warden for more than 20 years now, and I\u2019ve spent that entire time working along the Mississippi River.\u00a0 It is a wonderful place to hunt and fish, or to just enjoy your time outdoors.\u00a0 As many know, the Mississippi\u00a0 River is a popular…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":591,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-words-from-the-wardens"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":590,"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588\/revisions\/590"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomiccoffee.com\/WWA\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}