Paul’s Tips
Getting Home
I
’m a bit of a klutz. Well, maybe not really a klutz, but I do tend to have some serious bad luck. I get rained on during fishing trips, hailed on during deer hunts and have flats on the interstate in the middle of the night. You would think that I’d learn from all these issues and have emergency supplies on hand at all times, but I’m not really smart so I don’t. Case in point, I was running the other day (really, I was. I do other things besides hunt and fish) and was a good distance from my truck when I stepped on a rock wrong and rolled my ankle. It’s a good thing nobody was around because I may or may not have screamed like a girl. Last month we talked about a few things
you need to keep in your boat to stay safe and make sure it makes it home under its own power. This month we’re going to go over a few things you need to keep with you on all your outdoor excursions in order to make sure you get home from your next hunting or fishing trip under your own power. In the above example, I was less than
a half mile from my truck (as the crow flies) when I slightly injured my leg so help wasn’t that far away. Still, it would have helped immensely if I would have had some way to wrap my ankle to prevent swelling or further injury while making my way back to the vehicle. Now, think about how far away you are from help on some of your hunting excursions. Some hunters walk miles to their stands. What about walkin duck hunters on public land? I know plenty that put in a lot of miles in knee deep mud walking to blinds. What happens if you twist an ankle on the way back from the deer or duck blind? At a minimum the walk will be slow and painful and in a worst case scenario you might not be able to walk at all. A simple elastic bandage (more commonly referred to as an Ace bandage the same way we Texans refer to all soft drinks as Cokes) could be a life saver, or at least make walking easier and get you to real medical treatment faster. An Ace bandage is like the Swiss Army Knife of the first aid world. I’m sure MacGyver carried one everywhere he went. If you sprain an ankle, wrist, or bang up your knee you can wrap it up with the bandage and hobble home. Dislocated shoulder from tripping over a log? No problem, just immobilize it with an Ace bandage sling. Get a nasty cut? Piece of cake. Wash it off, then wrap it up to keep it clean until you get to a doctor. You should never ever go on a hunting or fishing trip (or apparently jogging) without an Ace bandage somewhere in your backpack or boat. I was on a dove hunting trip one time where we were literally swarmed by flying ants. This wasn’t at some exotic dove hunting lodge in Central America; it was in Central Texas after a rain. The swarm CONTINUED ON PAGE 69
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illistration by paul bradshaw
by Paul Bradshaw | TF&G Contributing Editor
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7/19/13 4:27 PM