It was a normal fishing day, Bob Gist from Arkansas and Brad Carlisle from Tennessee joined by local guide Jordan Chrestman, headed out to Grenada Lake, Mississippi. However, shortly after the some time on the water, neither of them could believe what they saw ahead of them: 38 dogs in the middle of the lake trying to stay afloat for dear life.
The moment they saw the emergency, Jordan was able to maneuver the boat carefully towards each dog while Bob and Brad both carefully grabbed each dog one by one. The problem is that the boat wasn’t large enough to hold all of them and they could only fit 27!
“When we first started there was this white one that Brad tried to reach for and the dog bit at him. He moved closer to me, so I tried to reach for him, and he tried to bite me, so we left him.” Gist said. “When we came back for the second load it was probably 30-45 minutes later. By that time, he was ready to get in the boat. He wasn’t biting anybody.”
They quickly navigated the boat to the nearest shore for safety and turned the boat back for another round. Fortunately all of the dogs were able to hang in there! They picked up the remaining 11 and brought them back to shore to join the rest of the pack.
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How Did 38 Dogs End Up in the Lake?
The 38 dogs stuck in the lake was a fox hunt gone terribly wrong. The dogs became distracted with a deer and started chasing the deer instead of the fox. The deer was strategic enough to get into the lake to avoid getting caught, which led to the dogs getting stranded the moment the deer was able to get back to safety. It was stated that the dogs were stranded and treading water for at least 45 minutes.
None of the hunters had boats to save their dogs, which led to the dogs to fend for themselves.
When Bob, Brad, and Jordan approached the dogs, they knew the pact belonged to a professional sporting event because each of them had a really expensive white radio collar that indicated they were in danger (an estimated $16,000 worth).
To make the story even more heartwarming, the fox hunters were willing to give the heroes a reward for their efforts, but the men refused and were just thankful to be able to save every one of them.
The guide told the foxhunters, “When you see us in trouble, ya’ll come help us.”
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Granada Lake’s Story
Granada Lake has an interesting history that started during the historic Mississippi River Flood in 1927. The lake was created because a dam (known as the Grenada Dam) for the Yalobusha River had to be built, and this construction was completed in 1954. Today the Grenada Lake is a perfect summer location for fishing, boating, swimming, and you’ve guessed it, fox hunting.
Fishing at Granada Lake is a major tourist attraction. The lake has 35,820 acres filled with largemouth bass, white bass, catfish, and it’s impressive crappie fishing (3-4 pounds!).
The Fishermen and the Foxhunters
One interesting takeaway from this story is how these two worlds came together. For example, the foxhunting season is normally November through January, and if this incident happened during that time period, the dogs would have clearly died from hypothermia.
From The Club
I love covering stories like this. It’s a great affirmation that there are amazing people in this world willing to do things with no expectations or rewards. It’s also such a relieve that these dogs have been able to tread water for such a long time without drowning! Since they’re all safe, the story of chasing a deer in the water reminds me of a Looney Tunes cartoon with Wiley Coyote chasing the Roadrunner. 😂
This original story broke on Jonesboro Right Now
