Posted on 11/13/2005 3:22:26 PM PST by girlangler
Thanks to his Lab, hunter avoids death By Bill Wundram
BRENT Teel was going down for the fourth time in deep water. His waders, filled with water, kept sucking him deeper into the cold Mississippi River. Wader straps were tangling around his neck. Water was up to his nose.
“I knew I was going to die. I was choking, but could yell for my dog, Junior. He had been circling me in the water. That black Lab knew that I was in big trouble. He swam to me. I grabbed onto his collar and he pulled me at least 20 yards to the bank of a sandbar — that’s 60 feet — a long way.”
Brent Teel is telling about his close call with death by drowning a weekend ago while duck hunting near his hometown of Buffalo. His voice is still hoarse from a cold, suffered from his struggle in the 45- degree water. He says:
“My dog and God saved me from dying.”
His mother, Pat Teel, speaks up, “When I saw Brent after all that, he was shaking like in a convulsion. His lips were white. He could hardly talk.”
Brent, 29, a big-time outdoorsman, set out in his boat for duck hunting with Junior. He was in a boat blind, anchored at the point of an island near Linwood, upstream from Buffalo. It was a spot where he had often hunted for ducks.
“A flock of mallards flew over and I fired. I watched one come down and walked onto a wing dam to get the duck that was floating away. After 30 yards, I slipped off that wing dam into the water. It was deep. It can be 35 feet deep in some spots. I tried to get up, but my waders kept filling with water.”
Brent kept his cool. If he could get his waders off, he’d probably be all right. He stiffly held out his 12-gauge shotgun as a prod to help, but it went straight down into the deep water. As any outdoorsman knows, waders full of water can be deadly anchors.
“I was getting weak, went down three times before finally getting out of my waders but the straps tangled around my neck. When I went down the fourth time, the water was up to my nose. I was freezing cold and drowning. I knew that I was gone, but somehow, could see Junior thrashing around me.
“I yelled and he came close enough to grab his collar. He pulled me through the water right up to land, all those 60 feet, at least. He’s a young dog but strong and weighs 75 pounds.”
Exhausted and barely able to move, Brent remembers stretching out on the island’s shore, shaking and gagging. He crawled on hands and knees to reach his boat and shakily call on his CB to his dad, Steve Teel Sr.: “Dad, I need help.”
Steve says, “He could hardly talk. We didn’t know what was going on, but moved fast to where we knew he was hunting.”
Brent’s family called the Buffalo Ambulance Service to wait on the shore. Brent and Junior were found huddled in the boat. The dog was close against him, as if to keep him warm.
We sat in the living room of the Teel home, listening to the family describe the ordeal. Brent brought Junior — a rambunctious Labrador — inside from his kennel. Brent hugged the big dog and said:
“If it wasn’t for this dog, I wouldn’t be here to talk to you.”
Bill Wundram can be contacted at (563) 383-2249 or bwundram@qctimes.com.
. . . and, BTW, how are your kitties doing?
Big difference.
And I'm very happy how well RPC (rest his doggie soul) protected my young daughters from strange dogs and men, back in the day.
/john
She has a heck of a lot to say, and quite a repertoire of whines, snuffles, low barks, little growls, and big WOOFs to say it with.
/john
Thanks for the ping!
Dignified?
Or undignified? :~D
Our new kittens are doing great... Latest pictures here :~D
Once upon a time... I slept on the porch and got woken up with stray dogs trying to hurt RPC. We all scrapped in the dark. Roscoe ended up without part of an ear (probably my fault). I lost part of a toe (not my fault). The stray dogs left. We don't do a lot of shows. But we're homey kind of folk...
/john
I love the undignified one! It's almost worth a hillary run for prez just for the photoshop pics. That is a beautiful dog.
Years ago I built a big dog run for my two yellow Lab males. They were happier, I was happier and my wife quit threatening to murder us all.
Before I built it they ate a sofa, ivory chess set, most of the air conditioner outside unit, ten rose bushes, an umbrella tree, and an entire Old Smokey BBQ Pit except the grill and bolts!
Ouch! That's some jaw strength!
He was a great dog... Both he and the other small dog in the picture passed over the bridge a couple years ago, but we had a great 16 years. :~D
Awwwww--well worth the keeping. : )
most of the air conditioner outside unit, ten rose bushes, an umbrella tree, and an entire Old Smokey BBQ Pit except the grill and bolts!
RPC was an elemental type of power. He could make everyone reconsider....
/john
That must have been some good barbeque!
This is my Sasha, she is my guardian angel and shadow. I know she would save me if I needed saving. Ginger on the other hand would only do so if I had something to eat.
Wash that poor dog's mouth out with Listerine . . .
(I did that when Shelley caught a possum. Her mouth stank so bad I didn't want her in the house until she got a rinse and her face washed. The possum was just playing possum and was gone the next day.)
DOG is my co-pilot 
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
