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Extreme Aerial Bowfishing: Jumping Carp Breaks Woman's Jaw in Illinois
Extreme Aerial Bowfishing: Jumping Carp Breaks Woman's Jaw in Illinois
There's a problem in the reservoirs of the Illinois River. The population of Asian carp, an invasive species, has exploded, and due in part to their habit of jumping from the water when boats approach, these fish have become a real nuisance. Enter Chris Brackett of Brackett Outdoors, based in Mapleton, Illinois. Brackett has perfected a method of shooting leaping fish with a bow from a boat moving at high speed. Brackett and his team coined the term "extreme aerial bowfishing," and the sport is catching on.
But it's not always all fun and games. The size and number of carp that can take to the air is astounding, and many end up in the boat or collide with shooters onboard. A few laughs and a few bruises seem to be the routine when carp flop in, but sometimes a jumping fish can cause real damage. During a recent DVD shoot, photographer Bill Konway happened to capture the following stills of Brackett's fiance, Jodi Barnes, getting hit in the face with a flying carp. Here's the story of what happened.
In this shot, cameraman Shane Indrebo films in the foreground as Chris Brackett drives the boat and Nicole Jones and Pat Reeves sit in the shooters seats.
Photo by Bill Konway
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Photo Gallery Comments (36)
Wow, right in the kisser. That had to hurt. This looks like a lot of fun, except the broken jaw.
picture 23 looks like it could be dangerous...
I'm not totally crazy about whats going on in picture 23.. Totally unsafe.
When does this stuff air on TV. I would find that very interesting to watch one morning or night. Also if they caught the flying fish on video hitting the women's jaw, it needs to be on youtube not for laughs but for well... kicks and giggles. And yes, I agree with pic 23, very unsafe, way to make something fun look dangerous so they can put restrictions on it later.
Chris Brackett hosts Arrow Affliction. He does some really cool stuff with a bow. Shooting pieces of chalk, coins, moths, frogs. He's cool and the music on the show rocks!
OUCH! Thats some dangerous fishing right there...
all fun and games till somebody f's up re:pic23
yeah pic 23 is dangerous i was going to say they might not be that close but pic 24 prooves it
I would LOVE to go bowfishing! I think it would be a blast.
what they did in picture 23 maybe dangerous but that is completely on them why would you put restrictions on something so silly. In that case should hunting in groups making deer drives be restricted also? Its what you make of it and no matter what people will do dumb things sometimes
alright
1. this seems like alot of fun.
2. pic 23 does seem dangerous see pic 24 for proof.
3. Swilmot1 logic does not always prevail when politician decide to make laws. so if the wrong person sees this series of pics they could say this is a dangerous activity and the proof is the broken jaw and double shot carp.
Wow. That looks really fun but hard.....
that would be a great way to sharpen your bow skills!
her mouth is going to be wired shut for 6 weeks, i bet her soon to be husband is going to love that.
This is the kind of fishing Im talkin about. Ok I'm kind of extreme but if you could add a shot gun to this scenerio that would be the best.
The Black Widow
flying carp to bad they cant sprout wings and fly back to asia not a good fish to have in the water ways
Holy Crap that has to hurt bad.
That would be lots more fun with 12 guage pumps!
ohh my god that would hurt so bad but it looks like fun
I second the 12 gauge idea! Water skeet! Just not in the line of fire with another boat!
Yes, pic 23 is bad but, what about pic 1-22?
When we fish from a boat we use Life Jackets!
When we hunt from a stand we use Fall Protection!
Either one or the other would surely proove to be worthey. This would have been a real tragedy had the fish knocked her into the motor and then the water! But besides that, Rock On!
Hey guys and gals! We had a blast bowfishing with Brackett and Jodi. Unfortunately yes, she broke her jaw but she is one tough cookie and a good sport at that! Pic 23 looks like the girl on the right is aiming at the other boat but it is the force of angle that the pic is taken from to make it look that way! It was totally safe, we all knew the guidelines and safety measures and we took them to the extreme! There was nothing poor Jodi could do but take one in the jaw! The show will air on Driven TV on the Outdoor Channel Monday Sept. 21 @ 7:00 a.m., Tuesday Sept. 22 @ 3:00 p.m. and Sunday Sept. 27 @ 9:00 a.m. (all eastern times) We hope you can tune into watch the show let us know your comments www.drivenhunter.com
I have heard that the asian carp are a huge problem but dang. Im happy to see sportsmen and women making the best of it. It really looks like something I'd like to try. I don't know about photo 23 though.
Sure broken jaws suck. Colliding with flying carp is common. What you might not realize is that they routinely collide with a bow at full draw and what happens? KaPOW! Blown up bow. The beginner usually knocks down one carp for every 75 or 100 shots. Last I heard the bigheads and silvers make up for more than half of the biomass in the Illinois river between Beardstown and Lacon, IL. That's plenty of targets. Everybody come and shoot carp in the summer! Blow all your money now so I can have my old places to hunt when bow season opens.
Looks like a great time. I like pic 14 too. One of those artistic "in the moment" shots with good depth.
JC-
They dropped her off on shore and went back to fishing....I hope they didn't catch a load of you know what for that one later.
Nothin worse than seeing a lady in pain, let alone bustin' up a pretty face in the process!!!! I think I may have to head off to Illinois and avenge her! Who says chivalry is dead!!??
agree with robinhood. I cant drop the wife off on shore to tinkle and head back out, no shot at throwin a hoola-popper after she rearanges her teeth with a carp!!
tough sport screw the life vest where is the catcher's mask...
WOW! That sucks but is cool at the same time. Its cool to have the experience of doing it but it sucks her jaw had to be wired shut for so long. Hopefully it didn't scare her for life.
that's crazy i hope she get's back to fishing trips
I have to agree with several folk above. My very first thought when I saw the very first photo of the series was SHOTGUN!
Arrr.
Arrr.
Arrr.
I don't think it'd be a bad idea to have designated sites for shotgunning the carp. If the IDNR could scrape up enough money for a couple site supervisors and charged a fee to shoot they'd rake in the dough. You don't just find these in the river, the backwaters are absolutely full of them, too.
Looks Like fun and yes pic 23 and 24 could've been alot worse then a brokrn jaw.....thats exactly why shotgunning the carp would never work.
Probably just giving her a thank you kiss for the
"bow" job.
Ouch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the fish appearently decided to fight back
Post a Comment
Wow, right in the kisser. That had to hurt. This looks like a lot of fun, except the broken jaw.
picture 23 looks like it could be dangerous...
I'm not totally crazy about whats going on in picture 23.. Totally unsafe.
Chris Brackett hosts Arrow Affliction. He does some really cool stuff with a bow. Shooting pieces of chalk, coins, moths, frogs. He's cool and the music on the show rocks!
OUCH! Thats some dangerous fishing right there...
I would LOVE to go bowfishing! I think it would be a blast.
what they did in picture 23 maybe dangerous but that is completely on them why would you put restrictions on something so silly. In that case should hunting in groups making deer drives be restricted also? Its what you make of it and no matter what people will do dumb things sometimes
alright
1. this seems like alot of fun.
2. pic 23 does seem dangerous see pic 24 for proof.
3. Swilmot1 logic does not always prevail when politician decide to make laws. so if the wrong person sees this series of pics they could say this is a dangerous activity and the proof is the broken jaw and double shot carp.
flying carp to bad they cant sprout wings and fly back to asia not a good fish to have in the water ways
Hey guys and gals! We had a blast bowfishing with Brackett and Jodi. Unfortunately yes, she broke her jaw but she is one tough cookie and a good sport at that! Pic 23 looks like the girl on the right is aiming at the other boat but it is the force of angle that the pic is taken from to make it look that way! It was totally safe, we all knew the guidelines and safety measures and we took them to the extreme! There was nothing poor Jodi could do but take one in the jaw! The show will air on Driven TV on the Outdoor Channel Monday Sept. 21 @ 7:00 a.m., Tuesday Sept. 22 @ 3:00 p.m. and Sunday Sept. 27 @ 9:00 a.m. (all eastern times) We hope you can tune into watch the show let us know your comments www.drivenhunter.com
I have heard that the asian carp are a huge problem but dang. Im happy to see sportsmen and women making the best of it. It really looks like something I'd like to try. I don't know about photo 23 though.
Looks Like fun and yes pic 23 and 24 could've been alot worse then a brokrn jaw.....thats exactly why shotgunning the carp would never work.
When does this stuff air on TV. I would find that very interesting to watch one morning or night. Also if they caught the flying fish on video hitting the women's jaw, it needs to be on youtube not for laughs but for well... kicks and giggles. And yes, I agree with pic 23, very unsafe, way to make something fun look dangerous so they can put restrictions on it later.
all fun and games till somebody f's up re:pic23
yeah pic 23 is dangerous i was going to say they might not be that close but pic 24 prooves it
Wow. That looks really fun but hard.....
that would be a great way to sharpen your bow skills!
her mouth is going to be wired shut for 6 weeks, i bet her soon to be husband is going to love that.
This is the kind of fishing Im talkin about. Ok I'm kind of extreme but if you could add a shot gun to this scenerio that would be the best.
The Black Widow
Holy Crap that has to hurt bad.
That would be lots more fun with 12 guage pumps!
ohh my god that would hurt so bad but it looks like fun
I second the 12 gauge idea! Water skeet! Just not in the line of fire with another boat!
Yes, pic 23 is bad but, what about pic 1-22?
When we fish from a boat we use Life Jackets!
When we hunt from a stand we use Fall Protection!
Either one or the other would surely proove to be worthey. This would have been a real tragedy had the fish knocked her into the motor and then the water! But besides that, Rock On!
Sure broken jaws suck. Colliding with flying carp is common. What you might not realize is that they routinely collide with a bow at full draw and what happens? KaPOW! Blown up bow. The beginner usually knocks down one carp for every 75 or 100 shots. Last I heard the bigheads and silvers make up for more than half of the biomass in the Illinois river between Beardstown and Lacon, IL. That's plenty of targets. Everybody come and shoot carp in the summer! Blow all your money now so I can have my old places to hunt when bow season opens.
Looks like a great time. I like pic 14 too. One of those artistic "in the moment" shots with good depth.
JC-
They dropped her off on shore and went back to fishing....I hope they didn't catch a load of you know what for that one later.
Nothin worse than seeing a lady in pain, let alone bustin' up a pretty face in the process!!!! I think I may have to head off to Illinois and avenge her! Who says chivalry is dead!!??
agree with robinhood. I cant drop the wife off on shore to tinkle and head back out, no shot at throwin a hoola-popper after she rearanges her teeth with a carp!!
tough sport screw the life vest where is the catcher's mask...
WOW! That sucks but is cool at the same time. Its cool to have the experience of doing it but it sucks her jaw had to be wired shut for so long. Hopefully it didn't scare her for life.
that's crazy i hope she get's back to fishing trips
I have to agree with several folk above. My very first thought when I saw the very first photo of the series was SHOTGUN!
Arrr.
Arrr.
Arrr.
I don't think it'd be a bad idea to have designated sites for shotgunning the carp. If the IDNR could scrape up enough money for a couple site supervisors and charged a fee to shoot they'd rake in the dough. You don't just find these in the river, the backwaters are absolutely full of them, too.
Probably just giving her a thank you kiss for the
"bow" job.
Ouch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the fish appearently decided to fight back
Post a Comment