Four duck hunters, dog rescued from sinking boat in Chatham Harbor

CHATHAM — Four duck hunters and a dog were rescued after a 911 call from one of the hunters said their boat was sinking in Chatham Harbor early Tuesday afternoon, according to a fire official.

The caller said that two of the four onboard were in the water with the dog, Deputy Fire Chief Justin Tavano said in the release. They were wearing waders but did not have personal flotation devices. The hunters also did not know their exact location.

Two staff members on the harbormaster's boat located the hunters at 12:24 p.m. off Scatteree Landing "in extremely poor wind and water conditions," the release said.

The hunters and the dog were taken to the Chatham Fish Pier for evaluation for possible hypothermia by Chatham and Harwich rescue personnel, the release said. Once dry and warm, none of the hunters required transport to the hospital.

The Chatham Fire Department received a similar report Monday from a duck hunting boat in distress, the release said. On Saturday, duck hunters were stranded in a marsh in Barnstable Harbor and required a Coast Guard helicopter rescue.

More on Saturday's rescue: Coast Guard picks up stranded duck hunters in Barnstable Harbor

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In the release, Tavano urged caution while out on the water this time of year. "Water conditions have been extremely volatile for the past couple weeks as we have experienced strong winter storms."

The Chatham harbormaster's office and Massachusetts Environmental Police were conducting side-scan sonar and dive operations north of Ministers Point on Wednesday in an attempt to locate missing firearms from the overturned duck hunting boat, harbormaster Stuart F.X. Smith said in a release.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Chatham Harbor boat rescue: Four duck hunters, dog saved from water