Goose hunter trapped on frozen lake rescued by Kansas deputies

GEARY COUNTY (KSNT) - Deputies rescued a man who had become stranded on Milford Lake on Thursday.

The Geary County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to Milford Lake after receiving a call about a person stranded on the water in a boat that had stopped functioning. The sheriff's office received the call at 9:42 a.m. and searched the area of the lake near Auld Road.

The Fort Riley man had become stuck while taking a boat to retrieve his geese decoys. The boat drifted away from where the man had been hunting and got stuck against ice before freezing in place. The man told dispatch that he had been on the water for around 40 minutes.

At 10:20 a.m., deputies located the man from the shore. The Geary County Sheriff's Office Marine Unit responded to the situation and set off to rescue the man at 11:09 a.m. Junction City Fire and EMS also responded to the situation.

The sheriff's office said their marine unit was forced to break through ice at the City of Milford boat ramp before setting out across the water. The team encountered dense fog, making the search more difficult. The marine unit's large watercraft began to experience mechanical issues and their engine went into limp mode.

Just as the marine unit was about to return to shore to seek another way to rescue the man, they spotted him about 100 yards away. The marine unit tried to tow the man's boat to shore, but were unable to break it free from the ice so they instead chose to pick the man up and leave the boat behind. At 11:55 a.m., the marine unit returned to the boat ramp and the rescued man received treatment before being released.