Conservation at its finest! (w/pix)
Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 2:38 pm
I made it over for a little snow goose action this weekend. Richie and I had some guys that Cameron and Kale met last year give us a call wanting to stay at the lodge in exchange for taking a few of us with them on some professionally guided and videoed hunts over decoys. Well. . . to make a real long story REAL short; they laid out all day Friday and killed 8 or 9. In the meantime, after seeing how that was going, me and J.D. and club buddy Cameron went and jumped a group down the road and picked up 30. The big surprise was (J.D. and Cameron: Are you sitting down???) after picking the birds up in the field, carrying them to the truck, throwing them in the truck, throwing them on the shop floor and throwing them outside, I moved them out of the drive over the side and picked up a . . . [anyone? anyone?] yup. . . a band.
No fowl play involved, but inattentiveness on all of our parts before hand. J.D. and Cameron: We have to talk!
The next day, the professionals decided that maybe their decoying skills weren't quite up to the competition of umpteen bajillion birds flocked up around the area, so they all kind of split up and went their own ways for a little "hopping" as they called it. (That would be "jumping" to us rednecks.) They jumped a roost that Blake Cox and I manage to miss out on. Partly because we just screwed up; and partly because we had to go help Andy with this:
The result of the 2nd deer strike on a hunting trip this year by the boys from Tuckerman. The difference is that Andy's truck was toast and could only be moved out of the road after we pulled the bumper out of the tire with a chain. While screwing with the truck, we did manage to kill 3 geese flying around. After getting Andy's truck towed, I then went on a solo stalk. (Solo because the rain sent everyone else to the houses and cafe's.) I picked up 43 from 6 BB's or BBB's. I've got to get a magazine extension and hevi-shot next time!!!
Afterwards, Blake Cox got back out and we jumped another field. We only picked up 19, but . . . you guessed it . . . another band! From there is was off to Swan Pond where Andy was sitting on a field waiting on us where the 3 of us picked up 44. For the day, I think that brought me and my company to 109 for the day!
The next morning, the guys from Kansas, get this. . . slept in and then rolled out without so much as a thank you, good-bye, or kiss our ass. Maybe that's just the way they do things in their part of the country! Only 2 of them (one guy from OK and another from WI) got up to chase a while before heading out. These guys are rumored to have been deer hunting with magazine extensions on their guns when the three of us popped over a levee and dropped 66. Just FYI the patterns of carnage were noticably different (which prompted me to ask what they were shooting), but I based on what I saw, I think I'll stick with my large steel shot - especially at that range!
I saw the most geese this weekend I have ever seen (and that is saying a lot), but by midday Sunday, you couldn't hardly find a goose in the area as they had all staged up and headed out. Duck hunting may have been average this year, but with the exception of hearing the words, "That'll be tawoo-hundrid, tawoo-hundrid, tawoo-hundrid, and, uh, tawoo-hundrid!", the snow goose chasing was as good as ever.
I'm hoping for one more trip when the next train rolls in. Just give me a call if you can make it.
No fowl play involved, but inattentiveness on all of our parts before hand. J.D. and Cameron: We have to talk!
The next day, the professionals decided that maybe their decoying skills weren't quite up to the competition of umpteen bajillion birds flocked up around the area, so they all kind of split up and went their own ways for a little "hopping" as they called it. (That would be "jumping" to us rednecks.) They jumped a roost that Blake Cox and I manage to miss out on. Partly because we just screwed up; and partly because we had to go help Andy with this:
The result of the 2nd deer strike on a hunting trip this year by the boys from Tuckerman. The difference is that Andy's truck was toast and could only be moved out of the road after we pulled the bumper out of the tire with a chain. While screwing with the truck, we did manage to kill 3 geese flying around. After getting Andy's truck towed, I then went on a solo stalk. (Solo because the rain sent everyone else to the houses and cafe's.) I picked up 43 from 6 BB's or BBB's. I've got to get a magazine extension and hevi-shot next time!!!
Afterwards, Blake Cox got back out and we jumped another field. We only picked up 19, but . . . you guessed it . . . another band! From there is was off to Swan Pond where Andy was sitting on a field waiting on us where the 3 of us picked up 44. For the day, I think that brought me and my company to 109 for the day!
The next morning, the guys from Kansas, get this. . . slept in and then rolled out without so much as a thank you, good-bye, or kiss our ass. Maybe that's just the way they do things in their part of the country! Only 2 of them (one guy from OK and another from WI) got up to chase a while before heading out. These guys are rumored to have been deer hunting with magazine extensions on their guns when the three of us popped over a levee and dropped 66. Just FYI the patterns of carnage were noticably different (which prompted me to ask what they were shooting), but I based on what I saw, I think I'll stick with my large steel shot - especially at that range!
I saw the most geese this weekend I have ever seen (and that is saying a lot), but by midday Sunday, you couldn't hardly find a goose in the area as they had all staged up and headed out. Duck hunting may have been average this year, but with the exception of hearing the words, "That'll be tawoo-hundrid, tawoo-hundrid, tawoo-hundrid, and, uh, tawoo-hundrid!", the snow goose chasing was as good as ever.
I'm hoping for one more trip when the next train rolls in. Just give me a call if you can make it.