The dogs were a part of an annual fox run that takes place in the area, Gist said he learned after the encounter. Chrestman noticed a deer in the water and the group of dogs were attempting to chase the animal.
"We went on fishing for about 10 or 15 more minutes, and Jordan [Chrestman] said, 'Hey guys, if you don't mind, we really need to go check on those dogs because they're way out there in that water,'" Gist said. "We're just flabbergasted because it's dogs everywhere, and they're all going in different directions because they can no longer see the bank on either side," Gist said.
"And they're all hunting dogs — we can clearly see that because they have expensive GPS radio collars on them." Without hesitation, the men took the dogs onto the boat so they wouldn't drown.
Three men turned a normal day of fishing into a rescue mission after discovering 38 dogs treading water nearly one mile from a bank off Grenada Lake in Mississippi.