Georgia Duck Hunter Dies After Kayak Capsizes

Brooks Hardie’s senior photo when graduating from Bremen High School.

The body of a former Bremen High School standout baseball player was recovered early Monday, Dec. 18, two days after his kayak capsized while he was duck hunting on Alabama’s Lake Guntersville.

Brooks Hardie’s body was recovered about 3:30 a.m. near the Goose Pond Resort. Hardie was 22 and lived in Bremen.

The avid hunter and fisherman graduated from Bremen High School in 2021. He went on to play baseball for Snead State Community College in Alabama before graduating this past spring.

Hardie’s kayak capsized at about 8 a.m. on Saturday. Officials with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) Marine Division said Hardie was not wearing a life jacket at the time of the capsizing, and it is believed his waders may have filled up with water. Other duck hunters reported seeing Hardie capsize and not resurface. The water temperature on Lake Guntersville at the time was between 46 and 49 degrees.

Rescue personnel said recovery efforts were hampered by the amount of aquatic grasses in Lake Guntersville. Their sonar and dragging equipment didn’t work well in the thick grasses.

“This boy had a piece of my heart the minute he walked into my eighth-grade classroom,’’ former teacher Tracey Morris wrote on Facebook. “Brooks loved big, and you always knew where you stood with him. The last time I saw him, he immediately stopped hitting to come sit with me. We talked for an hour about life, the Lord and the future.”

“To say that our hearts are broken would be an understatement,” Bremen High Blue Devil Baseball posted on Facebook. “Brooks was the identity of our baseball team for many years.”

“I still see his impact on our team multiple years after he graduated,” the team wrote. “The way he prepared, competed and led the way will never be forgotten.”