Ken DeBaere and three others went hunting 20 years ago west of Lynd, but a mishap took the life of his best friend in what has been ...

The day started like any other hunting trip that four friends were about to embark on. However, that day ended in tragedy.
DeBaere, Scott VanOverbeke, Jeff Arendt, and Shawn Doyle took off at 5 a.m. in the morning on Nov. 5, 2000 to go duck hunting on Wood Lake five miles west of Lynd and six miles northwest of Russell.
Following a boating mishap, three of the men made it back to shore, but Doyle lost his life in the frigid water.
Even though 20 years has passed, it still seems like yesterday to Ken DeBaere, an insurance agent with Doyle Insurance in Minneota.
"There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about it," said the unassuming DeBaere, 51, who can't help but notice the sign hanging above the door each day he goes to work. Doyle Insurance was owned by Shawn's father, Cecil. When Cecil retired and sold the business, the name was retained.
"It was cold and real windy; and it was still dark out," said DeBaere when asked what the weather conditions were like on that November morning. "Shawn and I had hunted this place we were going to the day before and had good luck. So the four of us decided to go there the next day."
Ken and Shawn are Marshall High School graduates who were a year apart in school. They were best friends for many years and often hunted deer, pheasant, ducks and geese together. Arendt and VanOverbeke are also Marshall graduates. All four are within two years of one another.
From the shore on the north side of the lake where the boar ramp is located, the foursome headed for a small island on the southwest side of the lake, which was situated about 400 yards away.
VanOverbeke was seated on the back bench of his duck boat and manning the motor. Seated on the bench directly in front of him was DeBaere, with Doyle and Arendt, in the next two benches, respectively.
About halfway to their destination, the wind whipped around a western inlet as they approached and the waves began to slap at the right front side of the boat.
"Jeff had his feet up on the front end of the boat and they were getting wet with the waves splashing over the boat," said DeBaere. "So we decided to switch and have Jeff move back to Shawn's seat and Shawn moved back and sat on the seat with me. That way, we had a little more weight in the back and the front end would be up a little higher."
But the water continued to find its way into the boat and, unbeknownst to the hunters, was filling up in the back end."It was dark and we had all our decoys and bags and gear in the back so we couldn't see the water filling up in the boat," DeBaere said.
VanOverbeke didn't feel the cold water on his feet and legs because he was wearing waders.
As the back end of the boat began to descend into the water, VanOverbeke yelled for the others to "bail out", DeBaere recalls.
Each of them jumped into the frigid water which was around 12 feet deep in that spot.
Initially grasping a life vest and then duck decoys to stay afloat, DeBaere made his way back to boat, which had filled with water but was still floating. Arendt soon joined him and the two clung to the same side of the boat.
With the wind in their favor, DeBaere and Arendt began kicking to propel the boat back to shore in the dark and cold water.
"It took about 20 minutes to get back to shore," DeBaere said.
En route to the shore, DeBaere and Arendt could hear VanOverbeke yelling that his waders were filling up with water. But they heard nothing from Doyle.
Despite swimming with the now heavy waders, VanOverbeke made it shore 10 minutes ahead of DeBaere and Arendt and was searching for his phone in his truck to call for help when they arrived.
DeBaere took off running for a farmhouse when he reached shore. Arendt said his legs felt like "Jell-O" and remained sitting on shore.
"I reached the house and started banging on the door and yelling for help," DeBaere told. "It was 5:30 in the morning and still dark outside. If that was today, no one probably would have come to the door."
The husband answered the door and immediately took off in his truck to search the west side of the lake where they were hoping Doyle reached safely.
"The man's wife told me to sit down in the kitchen and warm up," DeBaere said. "She then called for help on their phone."
After a few minutes, DeBaere returned to the boat ramp area.
VanOverbeke had been placed in an ambulance and taken to the hospital. DeBaere and Arendt were put in a separate ambulance to be checked over, but neither needed to be taken to the hospital.
"While we were in the ambulance being looked over, another ambulance went past us," said DeBaere. "They told us Shawn was in there, but we didn't know anything else."
DeBaere and Arendt drove back to their homes to get dry clothes and then went to the hospital to find out about Doyle's condition. Once at the hospital, Shawn's parents, Cecil and Kris, had already arrived.
At that point, DeBaere broke down for several minutes as he was unable to recall who told him that Doyle did not make it.
To this day, it's uncertain how Doyle died. He was discovered soon after rescue personnel began to search in the water for him and reports indicated there was a large bump on his head.
"He was a good swimmer," said DeBaere. "We just don't know what happened."
Since Doyle's death, DeBaere has been unable to enjoy hunting the way he once did. He has gone out a few times, but admittedly has little interest in the sport anymore. He also finds it very difficult to get into a boat again.
"I've been on a pontoon, but it's hard for me to get into a boat again," he said somberly. "There's a certain fear factor."
For several years following the accident, DeBaere made his way back out to the lake and tossed a duck decoy into the water in honor of his best friend.