Thin ice and hot water

When I was a kid, we had a wintertime game called "sliding". It was pretty simple; you found a frozen pond, cleared the snow, got a running start and competed to see who could get the best "slide" distance. No skates were aloud. Safe ice guide, from the experts of Alaska DNR and the Dept. of Fish and Game.We were playing that game one frigid day when my turn came up. I took off as fast as I could and completed my slide. I'd had a good one and, instead of turning around and walking back, I began to run to the nearer shoreline where we had a fire burning. That's when the ice collapsed underneath me and I dropped in over my head. I was lucky that I was very close to shore. I grabbed an over-hanging tree branch and was able to pull myself out. It was a long walk home and my pants and coat were frozen stiff. I remember standing on a hot-air register to defrost my feet and the intense burning I felt as they warmed. That experience was quite a scare and I quickly developed a respect for any frozen body of water. Poor judgement, inexperience or a laissez-faire attitude can be harshly rewarded with terminal effectiveness. With this January's weather dipping into ice making temperatures, many folks will be reaching for ice skates and ice augers. If some of the white stuff blows in, snowmobiles will be motoring about the countryside with some daring to travel across frozen ponds and lakes. It's time to consider what makes ice safe for play and travel. Minnesotans, with their land of 10,000 lakes and sub-zero temperatures, are experts when dealing with icy activities. Their Department of Natural Resources offers these safety suggestions. They recommend that the minimum thicknesses for ice safety are: 4" of new clear ice for travel on foot, 5" for snowmobiles and ATVs, and 8"-12" for cars or small trucks. Alaska, another state known for ice-smarts tosses in one more caution in their safety charts. If you're taking your pet wooly mammoth for a stroll, wait for the ice to reach at least 25-52 inches. Before you go, there are some basic precautions to take: · Check for known thin ice areas by contacting parks or bait shops. Test the thickness yourself using an ice chisel or a cordless drill with a 6 inch or longer bit. No ice is 100% safe, it's your responsibility to check. · Consider wearing a life-vest or inflatable and carry a pair of ice-safety picks or a pair of screwdrivers attached by a string. It's difficult to pull yourself back onto the surface of unbroken, wet and slippery ice, especially when soaked with frigid water. The picks can be the difference in you telling a hair-raising story, or your friends telling it. What if a companion falls through? · Don't run up, you could break through and become another victim. Using your imagination, look for something you can use to reach or throw to pull them out of their predicament. Jumper cables, a tree limb, ski, rope, or knotted jackets all work. What if you fall in? · Turn toward the direction you came from. Place your hands and arms on the unbroken surface and, using your ice picks, work forward onto the ice by kicking your feet. If it breaks, repeat the effort. Once on the ice, don't stand; roll away from the hole. That spreads out your weight until you're on solid ice. In either case, get medical attention. A rescued person may seem fine but can suffer a potentially fatal condition called "after-drop". This occurs when cold blood that's pooled in the extremities circulates into the body's core. It's good to remember that no ice is totally safe. Variables such as fluctuating water levels, currents and springs and even decaying vegetation can create soft spots. I was able to escape my close-call but, during my work with DNR, I've had to deal with the families of those that weren't so lucky. Enjoy your time outdoors but certainly exercise the caution that these resources deserve. I enjoy having you as a reader. "It's a strange world of language in which skating on thin ice can get you into hot water." — Franklin P. Jones Along the way According to the Division of Wildlife, Ohio hunters checked 17,373 white-tailed deer on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 21-22, during the state's additional weekend of deer gun hunting. Last year, hunters tagged 15,470 deer during the gun weekend, with a three-year average of 13,417. During the additional gun weekend, hunters checked 4,491 antlered deer (26% of the total) and 12,882 antlerless deer (74%). The antlerless total includes does, button bucks, bucks with shed antlers, and bucks with antlers shorter than 3 inches. The top five counties for deer taken during the 2024 additional gun weekend were: Ashtabula (580); Coshocton (574); Tuscarawas (515); Knox (491) and Licking (454). Local county harvests, with last year's total in parenthesis, were: Allen: 128 (89); Hancock: 189 (117); Hardin: 131 (109); Henry: 70 (67); Putnam: 84 (61); Sandusky: 100 (67); Seneca: 264 (156); and Wood: 101 (72); Wyandot: 196 (137). The 2024 weekend total: 17,373; the 3-year average total: 13,417. The legal hunting implements to take deer in Ohio during the deer gun season includes shotguns, straight-walled cartridge rifles, muzzleloaders, handguns, and archery equipment. Straight-walled cartridge rifles have been legal for deer gun hunting since 2014. There has been a definite shift in the popularity in hunting guns since the rule changes allowing straight-walled cartridge rifles and they have become the over-whelming favorite. Here is the harvest breakdown of both the regular week-long Ohio gun season and the extra weekend's harvest. Week-long Gun Season · Straight-walled cartridge rifle, 64% (55,611 deer) · Shotgun, 30% (26,486 deer) · Muzzleloader, 4% (3,271 deer) · Archery equipment, 2% (1,357 deer) · Handgun, less than 1% (467 deer) Weekend Deer Gun Season: · Straight-walled cartridge rifle, 66% (11,413 deer) · Shotgun, 27% (4,723 deer) · Muzzleloader, 4% (706 deer) · Archery equipment, 2% (433 deer) · Handgun, less than 1% (98 deer) Nonresidents have purchased 39,861 hunting licenses, many of them to enjoy Ohio's terrific deer hunting opportunities. The most popular states from which hunters traveled were Pennsylvania (7,643 nonresident licenses); Michigan (4,962); West Virginia (3,581); North Carolina (3,191) and New York (2,996). Step outside • Students can apply now for scholarship support to attend classes at Stone Laboratory, The Ohio State University's Island campus on Lake Erie. Stone Lab offers college credit courses and workshops each summer on topics ranging from algae identification to aquatic biology, and credits are transferable to most colleges. The deadline to apply for scholarships is February 15, 2025 for Ohio State students and March 28, 2025 for non-Ohio State students and high school students. Stone Lab classes, as part of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, provide students with a hands-on outdoor science experience in areas such as amphibians, birds, fish, local plants, and foundational knowledge about numerous Lake Erie ecosystems. Introductory courses are open to advanced high school students — sophomores, juniors, and seniors who have already taken biology — as well as to college undergraduates in any major, while the wide-variety of advanced level courses are ideal for science majors looking for practical experience in their chosen field. To see a full list of scholarship requirements and to apply, students must fill out the online scholarship application at go.osu.edu/aid. • Tomorrow: Trap Shoot, 1 p.m. Mount Blanchard Gun Club, 21655 Delaware Township 186. • Tomorrow: Primitive Blackpowder Muzzle Loader Shoot, round ball only, 1 p.m. Black Swamp Muzzle Loaders Club, 8831 Township Road 19, McComb, OH 45858. Email: roadkill4u@hotmail.com. • Thursday: Venison Snack Stick Making Class, Ohio Division of Wildlife, 952 Lima Ave., Findlay. The class is free, but registration is required and spaces are limited. All equipment provided. Information: Jaren Beck 419-429-8324. To register: https://apps.ohiodnr.gov/wildlife/educationregistration. • Thursday: Trap and Skeet Practice, open to the public. 4 p.m. UCOA, 6943 Marion Township 243, Findlay. • Jan. 10: Winter Riparian Walk, Howard Collier State Nature Preserve in Seneca County. Registration required. Call or email to register: Autumn.Moore@dnr.ohio.gov, 419-701-1244. Explore the riparian zone of the Sandusky River and look for signs of winter flora and fauna. This is an easy 1.5 mile hike from the trailhead at the parking lot. Parking at Collier is limited so car-pooling is encouraged. Dress for the weather. • Jan. 22: Venison Snack Stick Making Class, Ohio Division of Wildlife, 952 Lima Avenue, Findlay, OH. The class is free, but registration is required and spaces are limited. All equipment provided. Information: Jaren Beck 419-429-8324. To register: https://apps.ohiodnr.gov/wildlife/educationregistration. • Jan. 24: Winter Hike at Irwin Prairie State Nature Preserve. This program is weather dependent and will cancel if a Level 2 or higher Snow Emergency is declared in Lucas, Henry, or Fulton County. For information: Contact Lauren, lauren.broddrick@dnr.ohio.gov, 419-276-2876. Jim Abrams is a retired wildlife officer supervisor for the state Division of Wildlife in Findlay. He can be reached at P.O. Box 413, Mount Blanchard, OH 45867-0413 or via email at jimsfieldnotes@aol.com.