Johnson County
Sheriff's Office
Clarksville, Arkansas
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01/26/2009

2 Hunters Located After Brief Search

2 Johnson County residents were located by personnel of the Sheriff's Office, Johnson County Dive Team, Johnson County Rural Fire District # 4 and the Johnson Regional Medical Center Ambulance Service after darkness overtook them while they were duck hunting on the Grassy Lake in the Hartman Bottoms.  The hunters, Phillip Maag, Jr. of Coal Hill and Bryan Webb, of Ozone were located at approximately 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 25.  Both had been duck hunting and as they were making their way back to their vehicle between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. it became too dark to see.  Both were wading at the time so they made the decision to wait where they were and make a call for help.  It was determined that both men were on the south side of the lake but searchers could not launch boats from there and had to launch from the north side.  2 members of R.F.D. # 4 paddled across the lake in a small flat-bottom boat and made contact with the hunters at approximately 9:30 p.m.  Because of the brushy conditions of the lake  and the water depth they could not make the return trip with the hunters.  Members of the Johnson County Dive Team arrived with their airboat, located all individuals, made 3 trips and brought them to the staging area on the north side of the lake.  Both hunters were taken to a waiting ambulance where they were checked out and allowed to warm up before being released.  "Both hunters were smart to stay where they were when they realized they could not make it back to their truck.  If they would have tried to walk in the dark the situation could have been much worse." As the Sheriff, I'm very pleased with the teamwork by all of these agencies and members of the public who showed up to help and offer support.  I appreciate all the help in the very cold weather and appreciate the ambulance crew standing by for so long and helping out.  This is just another reason why Johnson County is a County of Excellence.