2000 Darwin Awards

Can Duck Shooters Swim?

2000 Darwin Award Winner
Confirmed by Darwin

At the Cairn Curran Reservoir near Castlemaine in central Victoria, a group of duck shooters set forth on an adventure in a small aluminum dinghy. This 3-meter craft is termed a "tinny" for it's cheap aluminum design. This particular tinny was rated to carry 3 adults.

Instead it was carrying George and his three friends, all from Melbourne. And it was carrying George's son, six shotguns, and 3 crates of ammunition at 25kg each. The tinny found itself loaded with over 500kg. With all that gear and flesh onboard, there was no room for life jackets, so they were left behind in the car. Instead the men were wearing their waders, and waders act like lead weights if they fill with water. It is virtually impossible to swim wearing them.

Always wear lifejackets. If this story teaches you nothing else, let it teach you this.

300 meters from shore, the boat capsized, pitching its contents into the water. Three men were rescued by boaters to live until another day's stupidity. George and one friend were less lucky. They were found dead, both wearing waders and Darwin Awards.

Sadly the son, who was too innocent to win, also died.

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Submitted by: Tom Croft, Earle Orenstein, Sean Kelly, Debs
Reference: Herald Sun, The Age of Australia

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What Readers Think

For your non-metric readers, a 3 meter boat would be a smidgen under 10ft, and 500 kg should be over 1100 lbs.  I own an 11.5 ft tinny and the only way it would be rated for 3 adults would be if they were adult spider monkeys! Harley - Friday, Jan 19

The numbers just don't add up! The story clearly says George, three friends and one boy were on board, for a total of 5 people. It says George and one of the men died, as did the boy, which leaves only 2 people. It then states that men were rescued. Where did the other man come from? If the story is true, the numbers most definitely can't be right. Devcom - Wednesday, Jan 17

These Aussies were thinking ahead. They evidently knew they were such terrible shooters that they wouldn't need any additional room for ducks in the already overcrowded boat. okie - Tuesday, April 04 at 18:37:54 PDT

Mundane stupidity, but Darwinesque nonetheless. Steve - Wednesday, April 05 at 11:31:39 PDT

Having seen these kinds of city people shooting, I can honestly say you do not want to be anywhere near them. These blokes will let off five or six shots at a duck, often without hitting it. Anything that moves is a target. PS: the mother of the child said, "It was his first time out on a trip with his father, a bit of an adventure." Pity the mother kept him home until he was 7. Tom Croft - Wednesday, April 05 at 15:21:42 PDT

The relatives of the drowned morons are apparently going to sue the police for stopping the search that evening in order to assist the survivors of a light plane crash. A Melbourneite - Sunday, April 16 at 04:16:16 PDT

Ducks everywhere breathe a sigh of relief as would-be assassins lose to their own lack of buoyancy. Fly onward, brothers! Fly onward knowing that your pain is mirrored in those two-legged scourges that send you reeling from the sky. Donald - Monday, April 17 at 19:45:47 PDT

Just to clear up any confusion 1 round on 12g duckshot weighs exactly 53grams. I weighed one. Thats 470 rounds of ammunition each. They're bloody great big ducks down here! and you need a few extras to teach the greenies a lesson Jason - Thursday, April 27 at 20:55:56 PDT

Guys sadly this story is 100% true and correct. I personally know one of the dead. Sad he died, but let's be honest, all of them were MORONS!!! bmacka - Wednesday, May 3

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