THREE Bendigo men face charges over a hunting expedition that went horribly wrong on Thursday night.
They were trapped overnight in a flooded section of the Koondrook State Forest on the New South Wales side of the Murray River.
Efforts to rescue the men during the night were abandoned and they spend a cold night in the bush before being rescued the next day.
Police said that the men, aged in their 30s, entered the closed forest illegally to hunt pigs without the appropriate licences when their four-wheel-drive utility became inundated at around 11pm.
The men and their three dogs left the vehicle for high ground and called 000.
Emergency services were dispatched, including the NSW State Emergency Service unit, ambulances from Barham, Cohuna and Kerang and Barham police.
They travelled into the forest on McMahon Road, more than 20 kilometres south east of Barham, but could not reach the three men because of extensive flooding.
Limited phone service also made finding the men difficult, so an Ambulance Victoria helicopter was dispatched from Bendigo.
By about 2am the helicopter crew was successful in locating the men, who had left their partially submerged vehicle for high ground and started a fire, but an aerial rescue was not possible because of dense bush and windy conditions.
Inspector Jy Brown, from New South Wales Police, said the men were instructed to wait before a land rescue could be launched the following morning.
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“We resumed the operation at about 8.30am on Friday morning with the assistance of the SES and New South Wales State Forests officers,” he said.
“The officers used a six-wheel vehicle capable of travelling on land and water to bring the men and their dogs out one at a time, taking about three-and-a-half hours.”
Inspector Brown said the men had to be brought about 1.5 kilometres across floodwater to dry land.
“Enquiries are ongoing but they are facing a number of charges related to illegal hunting and entering the forest when it was closed,” he said.
“The forest was closed and clearly signposted and the men would have had to get out of their vehicle and actually shift the sign.
“There was a large amount of expense involved in the search and rescue, including the use of a helicopter to locate them.”
Inspector Brown said the men were cold, wet and embarrassed, but otherwise uninjured.
