Lost at Sea: The Heart-Stopping Rescue of 38 Hunting Dogs That Almost Ended in Tragedy
A pair of pals and their fishing guide became widely recognized heroes after springing into action to save not one, not two, but 38 dogs over Father’s Day weekend. Although Bob Gist and Brad Carlisle had planned a fishing day at Lake Grenada, their selfless water rescue proved to be even more memorable than the friends could imagine.
Gist, who’s from Arkansas, and Carlisle, from Tenessee, traveled to the Mississippi Lake to go fishing with local angling guide Jordan Chrestman. Although the trio got out on the water without a hitch, they weren’t on the water for long when Chrestman noticed odd-looking things in the water about half a mile offshore.
These fishermen didn’t think twice before loading the struggling dogs in their small boat to bring them back to shore. It took three trips for the men to take 38 dogs back to dry land, but the hound dogs were all carried to safety, much to everyone’s relief.
The dogs were numbered with black and white paint and affixed with radio collars. Judging by their long distance from shore (no land can be seen where the dogs were found) and the frantic way they looked around in the water, Gist told KLTV that they could tell the dogs were lost. Gist estimated that they’d been treading water for 45 minutes to an hour.
Meanwhile, the dogs’ panicked owners were waiting on the shore. These pups had been part of a local fox hunt in Grenada when the pack chased a deer into the lake. Gist knew immediately that the dogs had no chance, which inspired the group’s quick actions.
“A deer can swim the Mississippi River, and those dogs are not going to catch a deer in the water,” he told AP News. But he credits the group’s heroism to Chrestman, who recognized the dogs in the water and steered the boat toward them. The men also refused to accept reward money for saving the dozens of dogs.
Do Hunting Dogs Normally Swim?
While several dog breeds were bred for hunting and retrieving game in the water, hound dogs are primarily land hunters thanks to their especially sharp sense of smell. Like most pups, hounds typically can swim and will continue to follow a scent or animal into the water. Still, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers natural resource specialist Chris Gurner confirmed with AP News that it’s rare to see dogs following their target that far into the water.
Once the hunting dogs lost the deer’s scent in the water, it’s easy to see how they got turned around. By then, they couldn’t see the shore to tell which direction they came from, nor could they smell anything to give a sense of direction. If it hadn’t been for the trio noticing them, it could have been a tragedy for each and every one of these lucky dogs.
