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New Hampshire Hunter Stuck In Swamp For 33 Hours After Shooting Duck

HAVERHILL, N.H. (CBS) - A missing hunter has been found, after he became stuck in swamp mud for 33 hours after shooting and killing a duck.

Lebanon Police contacted the New Hampshire Fish and Game Conservation authorities around noon Wednesday to report that a 79-year-old Alexander Samor of Lebanon was missing, after leaving his home at 4 a.m. Tuesday to hunt waterfowl.

Searchers located Samor shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday. He was "alive, stuck in the mud and submerged up to his neck in the wooded swamp," the Fish and Game Conservation said in a statement.

NH Hunter rescue (Fish & Game pic) (1)
Vermont game warden Will Seegers, left, and New Hampshire conservation officer Kevin Bronson, who assisted in the search for a missing hunter. (Photo: New Hampshire Fish & Game)

Samor, who was suffering from hypothermia and fatigue, was rushed to a local hospital for evaluation "after being stuck in the mud for 33 hours and exposed to the heavy overnight rain that fell in the area." Two officers extricated him from the mud.

Samor's family had reported him missing to police Wednesday morning, after Samor did not return home as planned Tuesday night.

"No one knew exactly where the missing man would be hunting but family felt that he would hunt somewhere along the Connecticut River. A Conservation Officer recalled seeing the man's vehicle at Bedell Bridge boat launch in Haverhill," the New Hampshire Fish and Game Conservation said.

Two Vermont Game Wardens and three New Hampshire Conservation officers began searching the area. While two officers searched the Connecticut River by boat, three officers searched the large wooded swamp that is adjacent to the boat launch. They later found Samor about a half mile from the boat launch.

Samor later told police that he had entered the swamp in chest waders to retrieve a duck he had shot at around 7 a.m. Tuesday.

"He became hopelessly stuck and the more he struggled, the more he sunk into the mud," the Fish and Game Conservation said.

State officials are reminding hunters and outdoor enthusiasts to leave an itinerary with friends or family before leaving on a hunting trip.

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