I know most of us don't like to wear life jackets and some never will wear them. I can only remember wearing them as a kid and then stopped when I was one my own. After havin kids my whole attitude changed. I really don't give a chit if I don't look cool cause have a pfd on and wear my lanyard. I'm not trying to preach to you but if you have kids, please do it for them. I know we aren't breakin speed records but chit happens. Here is a story I'm sure some of you read last year, all I ask is you read it and think about your kid having to go through this. I get choked up everytime I read it. Please keep this family in our prayers.

CATAHOULA — A 10-year-old tried desperately to save his father from drowning after the 36-year-old duck hunter fell out of his fishing boat Saturday morning, but the weight became unbearable and the boy was forced to kiss his father goodbye and swim to land for help, a family member said.

Catahoula’s Archie Vicknair was duck hunting with his son, Ridge, around 6:30 a.m. in an Atachafalaya Basin lake near Catahoula when he fell overboard from his Go-Devil boat and drowned, authorities said.

Richard Poche is the uncle of Mady, Vicknair’s wife. He was deer hunting on land about a mile away at the time of the accident. Poche said he spoke with Ridge about what happened.

“Archie must have slipped and hit his head then fell into the water, which is about 5 feet deep there,” Poche said. “Ridge was trying to pull him out but the weight became unbearable. He pushed his father up so his head was out of the water.”

Poche said Ridge kept trying to hold onto the boat and hold onto his father at the same time.

“All of a sudden his dad quit breathing,” Poche said. “He looked into his father’s eyes and could tell his father was dead. At that point he realized his own life was in danger as his legs were beginning to get cold from the water. After realizing his dad had died, he kissed him on the forehead and said he loved him. This is a little boy in an alligator-infested swamp.”

Poche said what is especially amazing is Ridge has an eye condition known as Achromatopsia.

“He’s legally blind, but fortunately this happened before daybreak and he can see better in the dark,” Poche said, adding Ridge then swam about 400 yards back to land to get help.

“An assistant coroner from St. Martin Parish went out and pronounced (Vicknair) dead on the scene,” Capt. Lastie Cormier of the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ Enforcement Division said.

Vicknair and hundreds other Teche Area waterfowl hunters were out Saturday for the opening of the 2008-09 waterfowl hunting season in Louisiana’s East Zone. West Zone duck and goose hunting opened a week earlier.

Cormier said Vicknair was not wearing a personal flotation device at the time of the accident, and alcohol is not suspected as a factor in the accident.

“With this cold weather, we urge everyone to wear their life vest and jackets,” Cormier said.

Vicknair worked as a contract welder for New Iberia-based Superior Derrick Services LLC. His sister, Lisa Vicknair, said he was a lifelong outdoorsman.

“He loved hunting, fishing, golf and playing with his kids,” Lisa Vicknair said this morning. “It was all so sudden. He’s going to be missed.”

Vicknair is survived by his wife Mady, Ridge, and daughter Dru.

this sucks makes me think tiwice bout wearing one...

After haveing a little one, I wear mine mainly b/c I don't want her to grow up without a father b/c I was too stupid to wear a cheap life jacket.

Yeah, I don't think I can put the kids through something like that, especially if they are with me. I think of this story everytime I'm in the boat.

Got a 10 year old myself that loves to run the marsh and bayous with his dad, grandpa, and good friends that I trust with my life and his. Kill switch= a must, life jacket=a must. Your right, we are not breaking speed records but what we do is some of the most dangerous hunting done, in my opinion, and yes stuff WILL HAPPEN FAST. Kids make your outlook change 100%, Thanks for the mind set before the season. Good look hunt'n.

I may not wear mine all the time but I have some hard and fast rules about when to:

1. In the dark
2. By myself
3. When the waders go on so does the PFD
4. If I have a bunch of clothes on, cold weather
5. Bad weather

If you get in my boat to go duck hunting I will offer you one, comfortable to wear and camo. If you refuse it I will tell you it is OK but "if you drown I am going to tell your wife and kids you were a dumb ass and refused a PFD for a ride in bad weather when it was still dark and you were wearing waders crossing an open bay in a mud boat".

Get one that is comfortable. If not you will find excuses not to wear one even when you should.

like robin2 said it happens really fast and everyone has been guilty of not wearing one. if you get in da habbit tho it aint all that bad

One thing I have used for forty years is a flotation jacket. Stearn's sells them and you can purchase them from Cabela's or some safety stores. They cost $130-150 and come in several colors. I usually purchase the camo color and it has pockets for shotgun shells, etc. They are waterproof and very warm. I would not advise you to walk with the jacket any distance because you will get hot really quick. Also, they are Coast Guard approved.

I heard a story out in the field ealrlier this week. a man drowned, and they were able to find him on the bottom of the lake somehow, and bring him back up. when they got him up, he was wearing one of those inflatable life jackets that inflate when you hit the water. it never inflated. all the game wardens and officers that were out there were standing there wearing the exact same thing. IF I wear a pfd, it's one of these. I'm seriously thinking about testing mine to see if the thing even works. how hard is it to reload?

I have started wearing mine lately though I did not for many years. I tried on the inflateable PFDs and didn't like the way they rub on my neck. And I don't understand how the MANUAL inflateable vest could be considered legal cause you could go into the water unconscience. I have heard a couple reports of the automatic not working also. Better safe than sorry.

I believe in the "LaigInThery" .... put yore laig in the left hoop of the thro cushion ...... it's always helped fo me. I sho'nuff hate to here 'bout sombody lost. May God Bless.

i always make ma boy wear one, but i figure since we go max 15mph, i dont need one...but u never know...this 1 kinda scares me a lil

GUYS I Have a "float coat" like the one mentioned earlier and they are nice. They block the wind and rain out, what's 130-150 dollars is that more than your life is worth...You don't have to worry about the other ones not working right or being uncomfortable. They are very comfortable and warm in the winter time like a regular hunting jacket...IF YOU DON'T HAVE ONE, GET ONE!!!!!!!!