Author Topic: Do you know snowshoes float under ice ! (Read 410 times)

RdFx · « **on:** February 15, 2004, 08:22:00 PM »

I was snowshoeing river checking bvr traps and next thing i know was treading water but made like an otter quick and crawled out in three foot of snow and rolled toward shore..... looking back i could see one shoes tip sticking out of water and snow........ cut long alder branch and crawled out on belly and hooked shoe tip and got it out of heavy wet snow and water. Had to probe thru snow and water to feel under ice and water for other shoe...... after about 15 minutes felt other shoe down under ice..... tried to push alder pole tip thru webbing but had to feel for shoes front part where lacings had wider spacings...... after about 1/2 hour of frustrating feeling and poking finally got shoe out and put on and shoed on to bvr sets. I have always said when you hear ice cracking you dont have anything to worry about but when you hear nothing and next thing you feel is water is when you DO have to start worrying. Thanks for wool clothing as it was 4 degrees and everything froze quickly and when i rolled in snow it took most of outside water off . After shoeing for awhile i was warm again though damp. Another thing that helped me was a long walking pole i was carring that kept me from falling all the way into river thru ice as it spanned the hole i made falling thru. Any young bvr trappers out there always trap with partner and when walking ice stay aways apart so if one falls thru the other can help if needed. Nuff said! :shock:

Bvtrap · « **Reply #1 on:** February 16, 2004, 01:54:55 AM »

Most of my late season beaver trapping is done on frozen brooks and small rivers. And it scares me to pieces. :eek: No matter how cold it gets, I don't trust ice that has water FLOWING under it. When I have to travel on the ice for any distance I have a life jacket that I wear that is big enough to fit over my heavy clothes. Plus I carry a light weight safety pole. And if the ice deteriorates too bad or is thin from the beavers movements around the lodges I'll fasten a safety line from myself to the shore. :roll: I take all the precautions I can, because usually I travel by myself.

Several winters ago, a small river I was trapping opened up enough to travel by canoe, but the coves where the beaver lodges were was still frozen. While checking the traps I went through the ice. Needless to say I got safely out , but I had to travel for 1/2 hour by canoe and another 1 1/2 walking to get out to the truck.

The moral of the story is always carry water proof matches and fire making tinder.

jim-NE · « **Reply #2 on:** February 16, 2004, 10:15:43 AM »

short handled spade shovels do not float, however.
when my wife lost her balance while digging a mock slide from above on the bank, she lost her balance and went in. I was about 40 or so feet away putting in another set when I heard her yell. I looked over just in time to see the spade making a flying arc across the sky and into the creek...she must have tossed it as she went in. I ran over and looked over the edge of the bank, and there she was. All I could see of her was her face at the water line and her two hands clinging onto a root snarl coming out of the bank. I reached down and hauled her up out of the muddy water. We walked back across a corn stubble field into the teeth of a pretty stiff wind and freezing rain. I made a beeline for her folk's place about 2 miles away, and she spent the rest of the afternoon in a hot bath.
I went back out to retrieve my pack, traps, and whatever else we left along the bank.
spades do not float.
Jim-NE

jim-NE · « **Reply #3 on:** February 16, 2004, 10:18:09 AM »

Also, FYI...somehow this story of my wife falling in, over the last few years anyway, has been somehow "twisted" around among her family as they joke about the time that "I pushed her in" when we were trapping before that big winter storm rolled in.
Just wanted to set the record straight with your grandfather here, dear.
Jim-NE

cdnclub45 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 16, 2004, 02:00:26 PM »

Spades don't float and neither do snowshoes-if you're still in them. this from personal experience and something I really don't want to expand on :grin:

Wackyquacker · « **Reply #5 on:** February 16, 2004, 04:17:39 PM »

Leave it to RdFx to wear shoes made of snow...sheez...I prefer leather or when near water rubber! :-D

RdFx · « **Reply #6 on:** February 16, 2004, 04:31:32 PM »

Anyone knows that snow shoes are lighter than rubber boots ... Snow has air in between the crystals. But what could a desert rat know about bvr ponds and ice and snow!!!!!!!!!!