A duck hunter drowned when he went to swim after a boat which had floated away.
According to WSAZ 3, Jon Kaleb Nation was only 22 years-old when he drowned in Lake Eufala earlier this month. Lake Eufala runs along the Alabama and Georgia border, and Nation lived in Griffin, Georgia.
Reportedly, Nation was with a group, preparing for a hunt when tragedy struck. According to the Henry County Sheriff's Department, the group was at an island near Thomas Mill Creek on the morning of December 15th. Nation drowned after taking off for a boat which had floated away from the group. As Nation made his way toward the boat, other hunters watched from afar. Sadly, Nation never made it to the boat, and disappeared into the water.
A call was made to the Henry County Sheriff's Office around 5 AM reporting of Nation's disappearance into the water. By 10 AM, Nation's deceased body had been recovered by a dive team. The divers had first found the boat in open water, before then recovering the drowned duck hunter.
Henry County Sheriff Eric Blankenship took some time to thank the various agencies who were involved in the timely response and search effort for the disappeared Nation. Regardless of those efforts though, the outcome is one that Blankenship said the Department was obviously not hoping for. Moreover, Blankenship made a point to ask that any and all persons keep the family and friends of Nation in their thoughts and prayers.
Georgia Duck Hunter Tragically Drowned Earlier This Month
Duck hunting can be a dangerous hobby. Being that duck hunters often spend so much time in water, the risk for drowning is persistent. Aside from Nation's drowning earlier this month at Lake Eufala, several other duck hunters have drowned in previous months and years.
Last December, a 24 year-old graduate student drowned in an Oklahoma lake while retrieving a duck. Likewise, an 81 year-old duck hunter drowned after falling from his boat in the Great Salt Lake just earlier this season, on October 22nd.
Duck hunting can certainly be dangerous, for a variety of reasons. As is such, proper safety measures should be taken by all duck hunters in advance of any hunt.
