By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

GREENE – Rescue crews plucked three deer hunters from the banks of the Androscoggin River on Friday morning after their boat sank, leaving them stranded, wet and cold.

Scott Soucy, 30, a Greene volunteer firefighter, his brother Paul Soucy, 28, and Adam Furin, 20, were making their way to a small island south of Center Bridge Road when their boat sank.

Greene Fire Chief Joe Brown said the three had set off for Pine Island to hunt deer. They rode in a small, flat-bottomed boat, pulling a canoe behind them, but the boat got swamped because of heavy winds and waves on the river, said Deputy Travis Lovering of the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department.

Scott Soucy and Furin swam to the canoe once the boat sank and pulled themselves in. Paul Soucy, who couldn’t reach the canoe, was rescued by the others. They held onto him while they paddled the canoe to the river bank on the Greene side of the river, about a mile south of Center Bridge.

“One thing that counted in their favor is that they kept their heads,” Lovering said. “Some people would panic, but they managed to stay together and call for help.”

The stranded men called Turner Rescue on Soucy’s cell phone. Rescuers gathered on the boat launch on the Turner side of the river and kept in contact with Soucy via cell phone. The hunters were clustered on the Greene side of the river, waiting for help and saying they could see the rescuers’ flashing lights.

“It was very lucky for us that they had that cell phone,” Fire Chief Brown said. “We had no idea where they were just by looking. They were able to talk to us on the phone and guide us to them.”

Greene and Turner rescue crews and divers from Androscoggin County responded, along with officials from the Maine Warden Service.

A LifeFlight helicopter circled over the hunters until the boats reached them. Rescuers used two boats, one from the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department and a second from the warden service.

“We were lucky to get any boats,” Brown said. “This time of year, everybody puts their boats away for the season. So we were lucky to get two.”

The three men were hustled into waiting ambulances, where they were warmed and treated. They were taken to Central Maine Medical Center, treated for hypothermia and released.