Duck hunter in Maine rescued after getting trapped in mud

BRUNSWICK, Maine — A Maine duck hunter was rescued Wednesday after he went to retrieve the birds he shot and became stuck in deep mud, police said.

The Brunswick Police Department said 31-year-old Matthew Alexander of Topsham called 911 shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday to report that he was stuck in the mud off Wharton’s Point in Maquoit Bay and was unable to get himself out. He had been standing on the bank when he shot several ducks, but when he walked across the mud to retrieve them, he started sinking.

Topsham was “unable to move, and the more he struggled, the deeper he became,” police said. Officers responding to the scene found Topsham waist-deep in the mud.

A video shared by the police department shows two officers using the department’s Marine Patrol airboat to reach Topsham. Police said it took two officers to “pull and break the suction” to free Topsham from the mud. He was pulled onto the airboat, and the ducks were later retrieved as well.

Topsham was transported by Brunswick Rescue to Mid Coast Hospital for evaluation after spending so much time in the water, and was later released.

Police are reminding the public that coastal mud flats are “unstable” and have unseen “honey pots,” or areas that behave like quicksand, trapping people and dragging them deeper the more they move or struggle.