As Texas deals with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, duck hunters and fishermen-turned-rescuers are using their personal boats to navigate flooded parts of Houston and search for survivors.
Men to whom many often give little thought–men who are first in the duck blind on opening day or last off the lake during a late night of fishing–are now trolling their boats down flooded streets and byways, seeking out Houston residents who may remain trapped and/or in danger.
At a time like this, the value of such men cannot be exaggerated; especially as they find the cold and wet, then lift them into their boats and deliver them to safety.
USA Today reports that many such duck hunters and fishermen–and others possessing private boats–have come together under the auspices of the “Cajun Navy” to conduct rescues throughout the flooded Houston area. This means “guys with hunting boats, shallow draft duck hunting boats with mud motors, airboats, pirogues, [and] kayaks” are all involved.
Grace Toohey–crime reporter for The Advocate–tweeted:
The Washington Post observes:
The country is suddenly grateful for this “Cajun Navy,” for their know-how, for the fact that they can read a submerged log in the water, and haul their boats over tree stumps and levees and launch them from freeway junctions. There are no regulators to check their fishing licenses or whether they have a fire extinguisher and life preservers on board, which they don’t. They’re used to maneuvering through the cypress of Caddo Lake or the hydrilla and coontail of the Atchafalaya, where the water might be four feet or it might rise to 18, and the stinking bog is called “coffee grinds” because of the way boots sink in it. Spending hours in monsoon rains doesn’t bother them, because they know ducks don’t just show up on a plate, and they’ve learned what most of us haven’t, that dry comfort is not the only thing worth seeking.
The Post also notes that the number of hunters and fishermen-turned-rescuers is so great that they outnumber the number of government rescuers in the Houston area. And that point is not a negative reflection on government rescuers; rather, it is a positive reflection on the burgeoning generosity and spirit of the American heart; particularly the heart of the American hunter and fisherman.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.