That was a close call

It’s been a while since I’ve fallen through the ice, but late-season pheasant hunting always carries that risk.

I didn’t expect any problems this year. It had been dry for months and the freeze came early. Every stock pond and marsh up here had good, thick ice by December.

The slow-moving Milk River was almost entirely frozen over.

Almost.

Hunting with friends last week along the river west of town I heard a shot and watched a rooster drop out of sight over the bank.

“Great,” I said to myself. “Mike got another bird.”

A minute later, though, while following Ace through thick cover 50 yards awa...