6 Minnesota duck hunters survive close call after boat capsizes

Rescue crews and police officials were on the scene at Lake Ann Monday night to aid six men who were tossed into a frigid lake after their boat capsized while they were duck hunting, KARE 11 reports.

Zimmerman firefighters and Sherburne County deputies responded to a call about 6:30 p.m. about a boat capsizing. The firefighters helped retrieve the men with a rescue boat and paramedics treated them at the scene.

Some of the men were treated for mild signs of hypothermia but none of them were hospitalized.

Four of the men were from Big Lake. The others were from Becker and Clearwater. The men ranged in age from 20 to 29 years old.

More hunters die every year from cold water shock, hypothermia and drowning than firearms mishaps, according to national statistics, the the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reports.

There have been no duck hunter drownings in Minnesota during the last two waterfowl seasons, the DNR says.

Last month, a 61-year-old Albertville man was rescued by a good Samaritan after his duck hunting boat capsized in Pelican Lake in Buffalo Township, WCCO-TV reports.

After struggling awhile in the water, the man was able to get on the top of his boat and called out for help for about 90 minutes until a fellow duck hunter arrived to save him, the station says.