Thursday, December 22, 2011
Today I play
Gotta go to work tomorrow so I made a three day sweep of my days off. I went to a spot close to home and had some luck. I had quite a few divers flying by and had 15 or so geese give me a the hairy eyeball. I only had a shot at one of the geese so I felt pretty good when I was able to put my hands on him.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
2 day total
Weed called last week and said he had hundreds of geese up on the poo pond. He invited me up for a goose hunt on Tues. The only thing we had working against us was the absence of the sun and with an East wind that would have made all the difference.
As it turned out he had the geese, but they easily picked us out, and choose to go to another spot for the day. We had plenty of calling, but only a few chances to bring some slobs down. When the smoke cleared and the gear was put up, we had a bird apiece to show for our day.
Better than getting skunked.
This morning I was greeted with thick fog and a little rain. As I was going to the ramp I actually missed the turn and had to go back. I got to my spot and set up late, but with the fog it really didn't matter.
I had a couple divers come by early when it was still all fogged up. Then it started to rain, happy day, I hate hunting in the rain. The good news was with the rain came some clearing of the fog. As soon as the fog started to clear I heard a honk, game on.
I had 10 birds coming in and they were not going to change their minds. In fact even after I shot, I had geese landing just outside of my decoys. Anyway, I shot my limit and started packing it in by 9:13 am, as my wife said," it took you longer to set out and pick up you decoys than it did to shoot your limit".
I had to agree.
As it turned out he had the geese, but they easily picked us out, and choose to go to another spot for the day. We had plenty of calling, but only a few chances to bring some slobs down. When the smoke cleared and the gear was put up, we had a bird apiece to show for our day.
Better than getting skunked.
This morning I was greeted with thick fog and a little rain. As I was going to the ramp I actually missed the turn and had to go back. I got to my spot and set up late, but with the fog it really didn't matter.
I had a couple divers come by early when it was still all fogged up. Then it started to rain, happy day, I hate hunting in the rain. The good news was with the rain came some clearing of the fog. As soon as the fog started to clear I heard a honk, game on.
I had 10 birds coming in and they were not going to change their minds. In fact even after I shot, I had geese landing just outside of my decoys. Anyway, I shot my limit and started packing it in by 9:13 am, as my wife said," it took you longer to set out and pick up you decoys than it did to shoot your limit".
I had to agree.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Always a week behind
So as the title says this is for last weeks adventures.
I got an invite up to a property that Weed has permission to hunt. He said there were hundreds of ducks on a couple small ponds in the middle of a field.
As it is the waterfowlers' curse the ducks wanted to be on the pond that we were not set up on. We did have a flock work really good, we didn't shoot hoping for another pass, of course there was not another pass. So we missed out on them, we did get another flock to come close enough for a shot. Eddie (a friend of ours) and myself dropped 3 mallards (Weed shot holes in the sky).
Sorry about the pic, we had to drudge through 2 blocks of mud with our gear to hunt where we hunted and everyone was too whooped to think about taking pics.
Wednesday I went to hunt some water hoping for ducks. I got a chance to take some geese, thankfully I didn't miss because it was the only chance I had.
Thursday I spent the first half of the day in a field that usually holds ducks and geese all season. It didn't however have so much as one flock pass over on the day that I hunt it. That's ok I needed the exercise anyway.
This week, I mean yesterday I went up to a public property for a walk around looking for deer. I saw 3, not one offered me a shot so I went to Tom's today. At 10am I saw my first deer, she came out of the fence row about 200 yards away. I was hoping she would come closer but she decided to go back into the fence row at 150 yards.
Last day Hail Mary, I let loose and hit the ground about 10 feet from her. I am sighted in at 100 yards so I put it on her back and let'er fly. Oh well at least I have one deer in the freezer, I'll have to wait til next year to get another deer.
Tomorrow is goose hunting I'll let'cha know how it goes.
I got an invite up to a property that Weed has permission to hunt. He said there were hundreds of ducks on a couple small ponds in the middle of a field.
As it is the waterfowlers' curse the ducks wanted to be on the pond that we were not set up on. We did have a flock work really good, we didn't shoot hoping for another pass, of course there was not another pass. So we missed out on them, we did get another flock to come close enough for a shot. Eddie (a friend of ours) and myself dropped 3 mallards (Weed shot holes in the sky).
Wednesday I went to hunt some water hoping for ducks. I got a chance to take some geese, thankfully I didn't miss because it was the only chance I had.
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| goose limit, 0 ducks |
This week, I mean yesterday I went up to a public property for a walk around looking for deer. I saw 3, not one offered me a shot so I went to Tom's today. At 10am I saw my first deer, she came out of the fence row about 200 yards away. I was hoping she would come closer but she decided to go back into the fence row at 150 yards.
Last day Hail Mary, I let loose and hit the ground about 10 feet from her. I am sighted in at 100 yards so I put it on her back and let'er fly. Oh well at least I have one deer in the freezer, I'll have to wait til next year to get another deer.
Tomorrow is goose hunting I'll let'cha know how it goes.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Wind and Rain no Ducks and a Pheasant
Last Tues started out with flooding everywhere. I hooked up the boat and headed out to one of my favorite late season lakes. When I got there I was soooo unimpressed with the wind and rain I just turned around and headed home.
Wed found me on a field that I have been seeing ducks and geese on. However this would be the second time I have hunted this field and the second time I have scored a big goose egg.
Thurs I went down to Huntington and got in on the Pheasant clean-up. I met a guy with a dog down there and I hunted with them most of the day. The Brittany pointed a hen that he got and flushed another that we didn't have a shot at. Rusty was getting sooo bored by 1 pm that he started pointing mice. I thought that was pretty amusing, Brian however didn't think it was soo funny. Anyway after they were done I went to a couple of my spots and was able to find a nice bird. It was the only one I got but he'll taste just fine.
Wed found me on a field that I have been seeing ducks and geese on. However this would be the second time I have hunted this field and the second time I have scored a big goose egg.
Thurs I went down to Huntington and got in on the Pheasant clean-up. I met a guy with a dog down there and I hunted with them most of the day. The Brittany pointed a hen that he got and flushed another that we didn't have a shot at. Rusty was getting sooo bored by 1 pm that he started pointing mice. I thought that was pretty amusing, Brian however didn't think it was soo funny. Anyway after they were done I went to a couple of my spots and was able to find a nice bird. It was the only one I got but he'll taste just fine.
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| MMMmmm crockpot pheasant |
Friday, November 25, 2011
Mon afternoon-Fri
That's how long I was off this week and I only hunted 2 of them. Mon I worked until noon so I took the rest of the day off to recoup my back I did the same on Tues. Now Tues I did go out scouting to find out where I was going to hunt on Wed. I found a field that had ducks and geese on it, that was the good news. The bad news was I didn't have permission to hunt it, so I ran home and looked up who owned it. I ran back out and secured permission to hunt the next day.
I woke up at 1:30 a.m. not because of the alarm, but I woke up cause I was dreaming of the flocks of ducks and geese we were going to have coming into the field. I got up and went downstairs and wasted the time until I could start getting ready to go. Well I met up with Weed and we went out to the field got set up just in time and settled in waiting for the flights to start.
Well long story short we had 3 ducks and 4 geese fly by, we got blanked. We didn't even get to fire a shot, we did however get some much needed sleep after 10 a.m. or so.
Well the next day was of course Thanksgiving so I decided not to go out, I figured everyone would be out. I did go out and check my fields to see which fields were being used.
Guess what I saw ...... yep, the field we hunted the day before was holding about 40 geese and 30 ducks IN THE EXACT SPOT WE WERE SET UP.
All I could do was laugh and drive on with the knowledge that I will smack 'em there this year.
So I spent the rest of the day at home with the wife, cooking the Jake I shot this spring. We had a great day together and the Turkey turned out pretty good too.
I will mention that out of all the Turkey's I've shot, the Jake's have been the toughest. So if you get a chance, try to shoot the Tom's, I don't know why they are better but they are.
Well that just leaves today, I went out this morning to hunt some water and after putting up with the 15-20 mph gusts I finally put a duck down. I saw some geese but they were quite a ways away and I really didn't have a chance of getting them to come in.
Now about the duck I shot, it was the first shoveler that I've ever got. I had seen them on TV but never shot one until today. She was a really cool looking duck, and to my surprise she was only about as big as a wood duck.
I thought they were bigger.
Well nuff said here's the pic.
I woke up at 1:30 a.m. not because of the alarm, but I woke up cause I was dreaming of the flocks of ducks and geese we were going to have coming into the field. I got up and went downstairs and wasted the time until I could start getting ready to go. Well I met up with Weed and we went out to the field got set up just in time and settled in waiting for the flights to start.
Well long story short we had 3 ducks and 4 geese fly by, we got blanked. We didn't even get to fire a shot, we did however get some much needed sleep after 10 a.m. or so.
Well the next day was of course Thanksgiving so I decided not to go out, I figured everyone would be out. I did go out and check my fields to see which fields were being used.
Guess what I saw ...... yep, the field we hunted the day before was holding about 40 geese and 30 ducks IN THE EXACT SPOT WE WERE SET UP.
All I could do was laugh and drive on with the knowledge that I will smack 'em there this year.
So I spent the rest of the day at home with the wife, cooking the Jake I shot this spring. We had a great day together and the Turkey turned out pretty good too.
I will mention that out of all the Turkey's I've shot, the Jake's have been the toughest. So if you get a chance, try to shoot the Tom's, I don't know why they are better but they are.
Well that just leaves today, I went out this morning to hunt some water and after putting up with the 15-20 mph gusts I finally put a duck down. I saw some geese but they were quite a ways away and I really didn't have a chance of getting them to come in.
Now about the duck I shot, it was the first shoveler that I've ever got. I had seen them on TV but never shot one until today. She was a really cool looking duck, and to my surprise she was only about as big as a wood duck.
I thought they were bigger.
Well nuff said here's the pic.
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| (no band) |
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Best day of the week and I'm sitting at home.....
I only have one excuse- I torqued my back.
I thought it might be the way I sit in my duck boat, but I won't know until it gets better and I hunt out of my boat. Anyway I took the day off to try and recoup before I go into work.
So I went out on Tues. it was a pretty warm day and the fog took forever to get off the water, when it finally did the ducks started flying some. The problem now is that there was little to no wind. So I went out to employ some wave makers, on the way back to the boat I heard a quack. I looked up and saw a couple ducks circling, I gave a quiet quack and that's all it took, I had 'em. Just before they touched down I jumped up and gave 3 salutes.
Since I had all three misses out of my gun I figured the next duck was really in trouble. Unfortunately that next duck never showed up.
Wed- Got out in time, set up and was ready to do some shooting. I have been seeing alot of ducks but they just haven't been wanting to play. I did have 2 Suzie's drop in my dekes from the up wind side landing with the wind. Normally I would've shot but there were houses in that direction so I let them pass. After watching the morning flight pass me by, I finally had a drake that wanted to work. I called, he flew by, I did some panic calling, and lost him over the trees. I gave up on him, when from out of nowhere in he dropped. When he cleared my dekes I stood up and shot, it only took one, down he came. I had a couple others let me warm my barrel but finally dropped a Suzie to end my day.
PSA- Always use your safety chains.
I always load my boat by standing on the end of the trailer and pulling the boat onto the trailer. This time was no different, except the tongue popped off the hitch and left me standing on the end of the trailer holding on to the rope of the boat wondering what happened. So I tightened the little nut on the bottom of the hitch in hopes of keeping the trailer on the truck next time.
Next week goose season comes back and deer season ends.
Field hunters rejoice
I thought it might be the way I sit in my duck boat, but I won't know until it gets better and I hunt out of my boat. Anyway I took the day off to try and recoup before I go into work.
So I went out on Tues. it was a pretty warm day and the fog took forever to get off the water, when it finally did the ducks started flying some. The problem now is that there was little to no wind. So I went out to employ some wave makers, on the way back to the boat I heard a quack. I looked up and saw a couple ducks circling, I gave a quiet quack and that's all it took, I had 'em. Just before they touched down I jumped up and gave 3 salutes.
Since I had all three misses out of my gun I figured the next duck was really in trouble. Unfortunately that next duck never showed up.
Wed- Got out in time, set up and was ready to do some shooting. I have been seeing alot of ducks but they just haven't been wanting to play. I did have 2 Suzie's drop in my dekes from the up wind side landing with the wind. Normally I would've shot but there were houses in that direction so I let them pass. After watching the morning flight pass me by, I finally had a drake that wanted to work. I called, he flew by, I did some panic calling, and lost him over the trees. I gave up on him, when from out of nowhere in he dropped. When he cleared my dekes I stood up and shot, it only took one, down he came. I had a couple others let me warm my barrel but finally dropped a Suzie to end my day.
PSA- Always use your safety chains.
I always load my boat by standing on the end of the trailer and pulling the boat onto the trailer. This time was no different, except the tongue popped off the hitch and left me standing on the end of the trailer holding on to the rope of the boat wondering what happened. So I tightened the little nut on the bottom of the hitch in hopes of keeping the trailer on the truck next time.
Next week goose season comes back and deer season ends.
Field hunters rejoice
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Went deer hunting
I decided to get out deer hunting before shotgun opens on Sat. I got out and saw 4 bucks and a doe, none of which came close enough for me to get a shot. I also saw a coyote and a mink on Tues. not many geese out that way right now. I did however see a bunch of ducks on Thurs. morning, they were in the field just west of the field I am hunting in. I asked permission to hunt it and apparently there is a handicapped guy that he allows to hunt there, so he told me no.
I went out duck hunting (goose is closed) on Wed in the rain, I hate hunting in the rain. I did get 3 ducks- two suzie's and a drake mallard. There were actually a pretty good number of ducks out there. I hope with deer season starting it'll get the part time duck hunters off the water.
I went out duck hunting (goose is closed) on Wed in the rain, I hate hunting in the rain. I did get 3 ducks- two suzie's and a drake mallard. There were actually a pretty good number of ducks out there. I hope with deer season starting it'll get the part time duck hunters off the water.
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| gotta work on the dorky camera smile |
Thursday, November 3, 2011
couple good days off
Alright who am I kidding any day off is a good day, but when you get to go hunting I guess it's super good.
The first of Nov. found me at one of my close water spots, I saw one duck. I didn't even hear a goose.
Weed gave me a call and extended an invite to hunt the poo pond, I didn't even have to think about it. So at 6 am I started the hour drive to meet at the now infamous poo pond. As Weed was setting up the last 2 decoys I had a suzy buzz the spread, she didn't see another day.
We finally got everything ready and the geese started coming in. The first two were the 2 lessers, I haven't shot a lesser before so I was kinda cool. They were the size of a mallard, as a matter of fact a drake could have probably beat one or both of them up.
Well we shot our goose limits by 10 am or so and as we were picking up the geese just kept coming.
I got these video's only after the majority of the geese had already flown over and left.
I really wanted to hit a field on Thursday but I couldn't get anyone to go with, so instead a burning a field by myself I decided to hit a lake that is pretty close. I got to the lake a little late so I had to watch the morning flight go out. I was able to get some geese and 1 mallard to come in later in the day.
Sad to think that I gotta go back to work tomorrow.
Oh well, there's always next week.
The first of Nov. found me at one of my close water spots, I saw one duck. I didn't even hear a goose.
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| I was hoping this pic was a good omen |
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| turned out to just be fog until after 9:30 am |
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| I was hunting the X |
Weed gave me a call and extended an invite to hunt the poo pond, I didn't even have to think about it. So at 6 am I started the hour drive to meet at the now infamous poo pond. As Weed was setting up the last 2 decoys I had a suzy buzz the spread, she didn't see another day.
We finally got everything ready and the geese started coming in. The first two were the 2 lessers, I haven't shot a lesser before so I was kinda cool. They were the size of a mallard, as a matter of fact a drake could have probably beat one or both of them up.
Well we shot our goose limits by 10 am or so and as we were picking up the geese just kept coming.
I got these video's only after the majority of the geese had already flown over and left.
I really wanted to hit a field on Thursday but I couldn't get anyone to go with, so instead a burning a field by myself I decided to hit a lake that is pretty close. I got to the lake a little late so I had to watch the morning flight go out. I was able to get some geese and 1 mallard to come in later in the day.
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| happy day |
Oh well, there's always next week.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Been a couple weeks
My duck and goose opener started out pretty good. Since the corn is still up around here it's pretty much all water hunts. So I started this year at one of my favorite water spots. I really didn't see alot of ducks or geese but I had 1 dumb wood duck and 1 dumb goose come by. The next day it rained and blew all day, I never even squeezed the trigger.
Every Mon after I get off work, I drive around to all the properties I have permission to hunt on to see if the corn has come down yet. Well, even though none of the corn has come down I did find a field the geese were using. It is a field I had permission on last year, so I asked if I could hunt it this year and the owner said I could.
That is the great part, the bad part is it is a bean field this year. That means there is absolutely nowhere to hide, you are just out in the middle of the field in your layout blind, which is stubbled the best it can be with whatever kind of vegetation you can find.
So I set this hunt up with two of my buddies - Weed, who has been in here quite often, and Chad, this is the first time I have hunted with him.
Well I think the 2 things that stand out most about this hunt is:
1. Since Chad rode with me I noticed that as soon as he got into the truck that he had cologne on. Now this really isn't a big deal since ducks and geese don't rely on smell. However I did make some mention that whoever the next person is that uses that ground blind might question the goings on, on the last hunt.
2. Even though he had mentioned that he has hunted before, he still came walking out to the truck with a gun,a lunch bag, and the bestest part a white plastic bag that I can only assume had his gloves and face mask in. He assured me that he has a camo backpack, but his son had borrowed it and now he couldn't find it.
I'll be sure to update you on that when I see the backpack. By the way I did tell him I had a bag he could have if he needed it.
So we got to the field and got set up, waited only a half hour or so when we had 5 coming in just like I wanted them to. When they got into the kill zone I called the shot and 3 geese dropped. The other 2 didn't want to leave so we kept calling, the fourth goose got close enough and we winged him. He went down in the next field and since he wasn't moving we decided to leave him there. We kept working on the last goose but he finally took off.
I was keeping an eye on the wounded goose when I noticed him up and walking. We didn't want him to get away so I loaded up and went after him, by the time I got within a block of him he had made it across the road and parallel to some corn. Fortunately the owner of the property showed up as I was crossing the road, I let him know what was going on and asked if I could chase the goose on his property. He said that I could, so I looked over and saw the goose with his head down "hiding" by the corn so I walked up to within 20 yards and shot. MISS, what? now the goose is up and running, shoot again, MISS, Really?? Shoot the last round aaaannnnndddd got him. I started walking over to him to pick him up, got within 2 feet and this goose stood up started running and flew away over the corn.
SON OF A, so I went into the corn to see if I could locate this goose, I spent at least a half hour walking the corn rows looking for this bird but without a blood trail I was unable to find him.
So we ended up with 3 geese for the day, we had a good time, got some sleep and didn't get rained on. What else could you ask for?
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| sorry about the indoor pic |
That is the great part, the bad part is it is a bean field this year. That means there is absolutely nowhere to hide, you are just out in the middle of the field in your layout blind, which is stubbled the best it can be with whatever kind of vegetation you can find.
So I set this hunt up with two of my buddies - Weed, who has been in here quite often, and Chad, this is the first time I have hunted with him.
Well I think the 2 things that stand out most about this hunt is:
1. Since Chad rode with me I noticed that as soon as he got into the truck that he had cologne on. Now this really isn't a big deal since ducks and geese don't rely on smell. However I did make some mention that whoever the next person is that uses that ground blind might question the goings on, on the last hunt.
2. Even though he had mentioned that he has hunted before, he still came walking out to the truck with a gun,a lunch bag, and the bestest part a white plastic bag that I can only assume had his gloves and face mask in. He assured me that he has a camo backpack, but his son had borrowed it and now he couldn't find it.
I'll be sure to update you on that when I see the backpack. By the way I did tell him I had a bag he could have if he needed it.
So we got to the field and got set up, waited only a half hour or so when we had 5 coming in just like I wanted them to. When they got into the kill zone I called the shot and 3 geese dropped. The other 2 didn't want to leave so we kept calling, the fourth goose got close enough and we winged him. He went down in the next field and since he wasn't moving we decided to leave him there. We kept working on the last goose but he finally took off.
I was keeping an eye on the wounded goose when I noticed him up and walking. We didn't want him to get away so I loaded up and went after him, by the time I got within a block of him he had made it across the road and parallel to some corn. Fortunately the owner of the property showed up as I was crossing the road, I let him know what was going on and asked if I could chase the goose on his property. He said that I could, so I looked over and saw the goose with his head down "hiding" by the corn so I walked up to within 20 yards and shot. MISS, what? now the goose is up and running, shoot again, MISS, Really?? Shoot the last round aaaannnnndddd got him. I started walking over to him to pick him up, got within 2 feet and this goose stood up started running and flew away over the corn.
So we ended up with 3 geese for the day, we had a good time, got some sleep and didn't get rained on. What else could you ask for?
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| Weed, Chad, and Me |
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| Time to pick up. |
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
My Deer Opener
I finally got a day off today and was able to start my 2011 Deer season. 15 minutes after shooting time my deer season was over, well at least my Buck tag was filled.
After I shot, he only went about 45 yards laid down and passed. I gave him plenty of time because of the extreme angle of the shot. After I field dressed him and started dragging him, I realized that I had to find a better way to get him to the car. Tom was at bingo (he won some pop tarts and mac and cheese) so I went over to the neighbors and asked to borrow their gator. Thank god they said yes or I would still be dragging that deer to the car. This is the biggest buck I have taken on this property, not the biggest I have seen though. This typical 8 point is going on the wall, since it's probably the last buck I'll take here.
Tom- the old property owner, sold the farmland to Mike- the guy farming it, and he plans on tearing out all of the fence rows. I can still hunt there, but without the fencerows it's uncertain where the deer will go through at. So I'm making hay this year and hope to put 1 or 2 more in the freezer before the 15th.
Now I can just fun hunt (does) until duck season opens on the 15th.
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| He weighed out at 167 pounds |
Tom- the old property owner, sold the farmland to Mike- the guy farming it, and he plans on tearing out all of the fence rows. I can still hunt there, but without the fencerows it's uncertain where the deer will go through at. So I'm making hay this year and hope to put 1 or 2 more in the freezer before the 15th.
Now I can just fun hunt (does) until duck season opens on the 15th.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Totally sexy and ready for Waterfowl opener
I've been wanting to revise my top to my duck boat for a couple of years. I finally got it designed in my head and put on the boat. The heating and bending on the door frames took some time and was the hardest part. All I had to do after that was sew on the cordura and attach some grass. I have a fixit kit in the boat for the first time out, I know I will find something to improve on.
Oct. 15th is DUCK season...........
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| old top style |
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| frame complete |
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| just a grass island |
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| with a surprise |
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
HERO'S
That's what we were.
On last day of early goose season three of us entered the field and we left with 5 birds apiece. We started with a quad on the water, when the shot was called, all four were down before I even got a shot. After that the geese came in pairs and trips all morning, until..... The mondo wad showed up, and then it was utter chaos. We were shooting birds, we had birds landing in the decoys and 10-20 birds flocks on the horizon with their minds made up to drop in on us. It was pretty intense for about 15-20 min. then the big flocks moved off and we picked up the bodies.
We were only 3 short, so we decided to wait until 11:20 to try and limit out. In a matter of minutes we had 2 more down, one cripple swimming away to the other side of the pond and trying to make a run for it on land. Weed went to get him on the other side by driving his truck around.
While he was gone Ron and I had one lone goose coming in from over the corn headed straight for us. The funny thing was we were just standing there talking when this guy came in low and fast. As we got down Ron told me to take him, before I could get a safe shot on him he landed. So I had to get up and practically run at this goose to get him to take off. When he did....boom, gravy, so Ron and I started gathering up the decoys and breaking our blinds down. When Weed got back from chasing the goose down he was really perplexed when he saw us gathering everything up. He said ,"don't we have one more?" to which I replied,"nope, shot him when you were gone". So we got everything picked up and got the hero pics taken, and were packing up the trucks when a CO showed up.
Now normally I would've cracked a couple jokes like, "did anyone see my lead shot" or "who gets the extra goose." But something just told me to keep my mouth shut and be respectful, which I did.
This guy was thorough, I mean he checked out our guns which were already cased, our licenses, our shells and our geese.
After we were all checked, he said that the lady across the street had called the sheriff and the CO's to report shot raining down on her house, and also stated that there is no property damage but she was scared to go outside.
I felt bad that she may have had shot hit her house. I also knew that she was far enough that there was no way she could've been hurt by any shot that may have hit her house. We will never know if shot actually did hit her house or if she simply did not want us shooting geese across from her.
After he said why he was there he stated, "I'll be right back with your tickets". I didn't know anything was wrong until right then, apparently one of my buddies just got his license the day before from Meijer and was missing some stuff. He told me he had gone into Meijer and told the sporting goods person that he needed all the licensing to hunt geese. Well the person didn't sell him an IN waterfowl stamp, which he got a ticket for. My buddy also didn't sign across his Federal waterfowl stamp for which he got another ticket. He also forgot to get his HIP number finally catching a break he was only issued a warning. He was in such a hurry to get ready that he just didn't check to make sure his i's were dotted and his t's were crossed. Learn from his mistake and make sure your licenses are correct up to date and you have everything you need to be legal. My buddy neglected to do this and we guesstamated his tickets to be about $300.00. I hope it's not that much but it very easily could be.
Even thought the day ended on a pretty sour note, the last day of season ended well for me with 5 more geese to add to this years total.
On last day of early goose season three of us entered the field and we left with 5 birds apiece. We started with a quad on the water, when the shot was called, all four were down before I even got a shot. After that the geese came in pairs and trips all morning, until..... The mondo wad showed up, and then it was utter chaos. We were shooting birds, we had birds landing in the decoys and 10-20 birds flocks on the horizon with their minds made up to drop in on us. It was pretty intense for about 15-20 min. then the big flocks moved off and we picked up the bodies.
We were only 3 short, so we decided to wait until 11:20 to try and limit out. In a matter of minutes we had 2 more down, one cripple swimming away to the other side of the pond and trying to make a run for it on land. Weed went to get him on the other side by driving his truck around.
While he was gone Ron and I had one lone goose coming in from over the corn headed straight for us. The funny thing was we were just standing there talking when this guy came in low and fast. As we got down Ron told me to take him, before I could get a safe shot on him he landed. So I had to get up and practically run at this goose to get him to take off. When he did....boom, gravy, so Ron and I started gathering up the decoys and breaking our blinds down. When Weed got back from chasing the goose down he was really perplexed when he saw us gathering everything up. He said ,"don't we have one more?" to which I replied,"nope, shot him when you were gone". So we got everything picked up and got the hero pics taken, and were packing up the trucks when a CO showed up.
Now normally I would've cracked a couple jokes like, "did anyone see my lead shot" or "who gets the extra goose." But something just told me to keep my mouth shut and be respectful, which I did.
This guy was thorough, I mean he checked out our guns which were already cased, our licenses, our shells and our geese.
After we were all checked, he said that the lady across the street had called the sheriff and the CO's to report shot raining down on her house, and also stated that there is no property damage but she was scared to go outside.
I felt bad that she may have had shot hit her house. I also knew that she was far enough that there was no way she could've been hurt by any shot that may have hit her house. We will never know if shot actually did hit her house or if she simply did not want us shooting geese across from her.
After he said why he was there he stated, "I'll be right back with your tickets". I didn't know anything was wrong until right then, apparently one of my buddies just got his license the day before from Meijer and was missing some stuff. He told me he had gone into Meijer and told the sporting goods person that he needed all the licensing to hunt geese. Well the person didn't sell him an IN waterfowl stamp, which he got a ticket for. My buddy also didn't sign across his Federal waterfowl stamp for which he got another ticket. He also forgot to get his HIP number finally catching a break he was only issued a warning. He was in such a hurry to get ready that he just didn't check to make sure his i's were dotted and his t's were crossed. Learn from his mistake and make sure your licenses are correct up to date and you have everything you need to be legal. My buddy neglected to do this and we guesstamated his tickets to be about $300.00. I hope it's not that much but it very easily could be.
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| Weed-Ron-Me |
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
The Day Before the Last Day
Went out this morning and had all my decoys set for a WNW wind and I felt the wind change. Yep, the dreaded waterfowlers curse, just when you get your decoy's set the wind switches. So after a couple half spread changes to accommodate the ever changing wind I managed to nail down 2 geese. Mostly singles and doubles today, I only saw one flock of 4. Tomorrow is the last day of season and I just got the invite to my buddy Weeds' cow pond he has permission to hunt. So keep your fingers crossed for me, you can be a hero or a zero at this spot and I hope I get to be a hero.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
The day before the day before the last day
I got out this morning and was treated to a fairly strong SW wind. I got set up and got out my radio, to listen to the Bob and Tom show. As I was cranking it (it doesn't use batteries) the crank mechanism gave way, so after a little ingenious maneuvering I figured out how to get it to work, major catastrophe avoided right there.
Well I had 2 geese drop in across the water, I tried to get them to come over but they had no intentions of flying or swimming towards me.
After what seemed like forever I had a goose crossing across the water from me, so I started calling just to let him know I was there. He must of liked what he heard cause he cranked his head hard to see where the calling was coming from. He turned and glided in towards my decoys and just seconds before he landed, I dropped him with one shot. I think I'm getting the hang of my new choke tube.
Well I had 2 geese drop in across the water, I tried to get them to come over but they had no intentions of flying or swimming towards me.
After what seemed like forever I had a goose crossing across the water from me, so I started calling just to let him know I was there. He must of liked what he heard cause he cranked his head hard to see where the calling was coming from. He turned and glided in towards my decoys and just seconds before he landed, I dropped him with one shot. I think I'm getting the hang of my new choke tube.
Friday, September 9, 2011
A break in the action
OK so I finally have some time to sit down and update my blog. I just got off work on time for a change so I thought I would catch you up on the happenings. I have been out hunting 4 days since the first. It would have been more but apparently geese and doves dying don't count as a death in the family. So I was expected to be at work all the normal days and usually over my scheduled work day.
Anyway enough of the boring stuff lets get to the fun stuff.
I got out on the first and didn't see or even hear a goose. I decided to try and get a dove hunt in later the same day and managed to bring home 3.
I went out again on Labor day and got 2. It should've been a couple more but I got a new choke tube this year and it's taking me a little time to get use to it.(everyone needs an excuse)
The next day I got out was on Wed. (the holiday kinda screwed up my week) I didn't see as many geese on Wed but did get one. I had another land right in my decoys and when I finally had to jump him up he was pretty far out and flying away. (more excuses)
Anyway I didn't get pics or video because it was rainy all day.
On Thursday I went up to Mongo, IN to hunt some doves on their sunflower fields. Now I don't know if it was the weather which was misty, cold, and windy all day. Or if it was because of their sunflowers came in nicely but I saw over a hundred birds flying around. I actually only got 7 and shot better than the national dove average which is 5 shots per bird. I only averaged out 4 shots per bird, but this is the first year I had to shoot steel at doves and that's a whole other ball game. (I gots all kinds of excuses)
That's OK though cause I finally have enough doves to make a meal.
So right now all my gear is drying and my guns have been cleaned and oiled. I'm just waiting for Tues so I can start all over again. I only have 3 more days of early goose season left, and I really would like to get limit one of the days.
Anyway enough of the boring stuff lets get to the fun stuff.
I got out on the first and didn't see or even hear a goose. I decided to try and get a dove hunt in later the same day and managed to bring home 3.
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| Huntington's fields didn't fill out this year |
I went out again on Labor day and got 2. It should've been a couple more but I got a new choke tube this year and it's taking me a little time to get use to it.(everyone needs an excuse)
Anyway I didn't get pics or video because it was rainy all day.
On Thursday I went up to Mongo, IN to hunt some doves on their sunflower fields. Now I don't know if it was the weather which was misty, cold, and windy all day. Or if it was because of their sunflowers came in nicely but I saw over a hundred birds flying around. I actually only got 7 and shot better than the national dove average which is 5 shots per bird. I only averaged out 4 shots per bird, but this is the first year I had to shoot steel at doves and that's a whole other ball game. (I gots all kinds of excuses)
That's OK though cause I finally have enough doves to make a meal.
 |
| I'm not throwing gang signs, just giving a dove count |
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Almost here
Months,weeks,days and now less than 24 hours before the 2011 hunting season kicks off.
I have yet to put away my boat I'm still hoping to get out to the big lake at least 1 more time this year.
However I am very excited to get this year rolling. My deke's are all cleaned and ready to be deployed. I have been watching my fields constantly, and it looks like my geese have boycotted all but one. That sounds pretty good doesn't it? Well not really, in the morning a guy will be clearing a ditch right next to the only field that the geese are still going to. So it looks like we'll be hunting the water which is perfect for a SSW wind, so wish me luck.
A hunting we will go , a hunting we will go , hi ho the dairy-o..............
I have yet to put away my boat I'm still hoping to get out to the big lake at least 1 more time this year.
However I am very excited to get this year rolling. My deke's are all cleaned and ready to be deployed. I have been watching my fields constantly, and it looks like my geese have boycotted all but one. That sounds pretty good doesn't it? Well not really, in the morning a guy will be clearing a ditch right next to the only field that the geese are still going to. So it looks like we'll be hunting the water which is perfect for a SSW wind, so wish me luck.
A hunting we will go , a hunting we will go , hi ho the dairy-o..............
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
July's here with a heat wave
Sorry about not updating this like I should be, but there really hasn't been anything to write about. I have been getting out fishing but haven't really caught huge numbers or massive fish.
That has been the trend the last couple weeks.
Today however was different, I thought I should start with some night fishing considering it was supposed to get to 100 plus. So I went up to Crooked Lake, to try to catch some walleye and/or pike. I caught neither, all I caught was 1 smallmouth. So after staying until an hour or so after sunrise I decided to change lakes.
I went to Silver Lake to hopefully improve my luck and catch some bass and maybe a pike. I did catch some bass but the closest thing I came to a pike was a bowfin (dogfish). This beast put up the best fight I have had this year. When I was bringing him in I couldn't believe how he fought, and it's a roughfish!! I'm guessing he weighed around 3 or 4 pounds, he even straightened 2 of my hooks.
Well I stayed until the sun popped out and bumped the temp up 10 degrees or so. After getting beat up all night and struggling until I got to Silver, when it heated up I was ready to throw in the towel. So I did just that, I packed up the boat and pointed the truck south for home.
P.S.- Hunting season is just around the corner..... I can't wait.
That has been the trend the last couple weeks.
Today however was different, I thought I should start with some night fishing considering it was supposed to get to 100 plus. So I went up to Crooked Lake, to try to catch some walleye and/or pike. I caught neither, all I caught was 1 smallmouth. So after staying until an hour or so after sunrise I decided to change lakes.
I went to Silver Lake to hopefully improve my luck and catch some bass and maybe a pike. I did catch some bass but the closest thing I came to a pike was a bowfin (dogfish). This beast put up the best fight I have had this year. When I was bringing him in I couldn't believe how he fought, and it's a roughfish!! I'm guessing he weighed around 3 or 4 pounds, he even straightened 2 of my hooks.
P.S.- Hunting season is just around the corner..... I can't wait.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Lake Michigan
Well I went up to the big lake this week. I really wasn't going to go up til next month, but I noticed the weather was going to be perfect so I thought I would give it a shot. I called a couple guys from work to see if they wanted to go but no takers. I woke up at 1:30 am and couldn't sleep, so I got up and started to get around. I packed up my 3 poles and set out at 3 am.
I got to the dock and met Mike, the charter captain of Brother Nature, and he said they have been catching 'em out by the wreck. Good enough for me, I ran the 8 miles to the wreck and set lines.
This is my mom's kind of fishing, just look for all the boats and go there. There were plenty of boats around and the radio had people sayin where, what on, and how many they were catching. I was at a distinct disadvantage with only being able to put out 3 lines.
My first taker was around 9am, a nice coho. I thought my luck was changing and I will be filling the cooler.
A couple hours after I caught my coho I started switching up and doing some radio fishing- that's what its called when you go where they are catching 'em and by using what they are saying they are using.
A couple hours after that I was still struggling, I was switching lures and depths regularly.
Then all of a sudden it happened, my right rigger pole started bouncing like it had a fish on it. I jumped up grabbed the pole and started reeling in the slack and I was right, there was a fish on it. After realizing the fish was on the line I neglected to pop the line out of the clip, and before I could snap out of my daze, he got off. Just that quick from a hero to a zero.
I kicked myself the rest of the day for this - take an idiot fishing day - moment.
After giving it alot of thought I figured it was a steelhead that took the orange spoon on the slider off the main line. That's why I could feel the fish and not have the line pop out of the clip, I'm guessing it was a steelhead because they LOVE orange.
Anyway I lasted til 6 pm just trolling around the Lake and marking bait balls and many fish. I'm not sure why I couldn't get them to bite but that's why they call it fishing and not catching.
It's ok though, I had a great day anyway
I got to the dock and met Mike, the charter captain of Brother Nature, and he said they have been catching 'em out by the wreck. Good enough for me, I ran the 8 miles to the wreck and set lines.
This is my mom's kind of fishing, just look for all the boats and go there. There were plenty of boats around and the radio had people sayin where, what on, and how many they were catching. I was at a distinct disadvantage with only being able to put out 3 lines.
My first taker was around 9am, a nice coho. I thought my luck was changing and I will be filling the cooler.
A couple hours after I caught my coho I started switching up and doing some radio fishing- that's what its called when you go where they are catching 'em and by using what they are saying they are using.
A couple hours after that I was still struggling, I was switching lures and depths regularly.
Then all of a sudden it happened, my right rigger pole started bouncing like it had a fish on it. I jumped up grabbed the pole and started reeling in the slack and I was right, there was a fish on it. After realizing the fish was on the line I neglected to pop the line out of the clip, and before I could snap out of my daze, he got off. Just that quick from a hero to a zero.
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| I think this is one of my better drawings... what do you think? |
I kicked myself the rest of the day for this - take an idiot fishing day - moment.
After giving it alot of thought I figured it was a steelhead that took the orange spoon on the slider off the main line. That's why I could feel the fish and not have the line pop out of the clip, I'm guessing it was a steelhead because they LOVE orange.
Anyway I lasted til 6 pm just trolling around the Lake and marking bait balls and many fish. I'm not sure why I couldn't get them to bite but that's why they call it fishing and not catching.
It's ok though, I had a great day anyway
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
What I did for Summer Vacation
I went home to MN for vacation this year. Sarah and I left on Tues. morning a made it home Tues. night. While we were home we stayed in Mom and Dad's camper- very plush accommodations.
Since I only get home once a year my mom has the family over one of the days so I can see everyone. I also went to Gander,Marine General and the local sporting goods store. I did find some stuff I couldn't live without.
I even went out for some pizza with my best friend from the Falls, Steve. Thanks for a great catch up session and pizza, by the way next year I get to buy the tips.
After all the shopping and visiting was over with, it was time to go fishing.
I went out to Eagle Lake twice, with my Dad and Uncle Reg. My Uncle Reg has a cabin on the Eagle and knows all the hot spots.
As always I went fishing with my cousin Corey. We went to Fish Lake and drifted for some walleye.
Then the last trip I went on was with my Uncle Rick, who has a cabin on Rainy Lake on the Ontario side. I was only able to spend a couple days, but still had a great time.
I had to split up the movie I made of Rainy because it was too big unfortunately the end product turned out a little grainy.
PART 1
INSERT COMMERCIAL HERE
PART 2
After all was said and done we had a great vacation. I want to thank everyone that made that happen, especially my wife who let me stop at Cabela's on the way home.
Since I only get home once a year my mom has the family over one of the days so I can see everyone. I also went to Gander,Marine General and the local sporting goods store. I did find some stuff I couldn't live without.
I even went out for some pizza with my best friend from the Falls, Steve. Thanks for a great catch up session and pizza, by the way next year I get to buy the tips.
After all the shopping and visiting was over with, it was time to go fishing.
I went out to Eagle Lake twice, with my Dad and Uncle Reg. My Uncle Reg has a cabin on the Eagle and knows all the hot spots.
As always I went fishing with my cousin Corey. We went to Fish Lake and drifted for some walleye.
Then the last trip I went on was with my Uncle Rick, who has a cabin on Rainy Lake on the Ontario side. I was only able to spend a couple days, but still had a great time.
I had to split up the movie I made of Rainy because it was too big unfortunately the end product turned out a little grainy.
PART 1
INSERT COMMERCIAL HERE
PART 2
After all was said and done we had a great vacation. I want to thank everyone that made that happen, especially my wife who let me stop at Cabela's on the way home.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Got Rain????
This was from one downpour today, it rained hard for about 20 mins. I don't think I have to say anything else.
I was on the computer and remembered I parked on the street to get the truck out today. The muffler was completely underwater but the inside was still dry when I moved it. It did start up with no hesitation or problems.
I was on the computer and remembered I parked on the street to get the truck out today. The muffler was completely underwater but the inside was still dry when I moved it. It did start up with no hesitation or problems.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Monster shrooms
On Thursday I went back down to Mississinewa where I found the first batch of shrooms. I had some trouble finding more but then they just started to appear.
Well they were getting close to done (kinda dried up) so I decided to try further North (for some fresher shrooms). Bad idea, I looked for a couple hours but couldn't find another shroom on any of the other 2 properties I tried. Well if I go next week I'll stay closer to home and try for some.
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| Then I found this monster, it's the largest of my career. |
2011 Turkey season
After weeks of waiting turkey season finally arrived and it went a little something like this:
Approx.-2 min
Well as you can see my Mississenewa hunt didn't go well at all. Since I had such a bad hunt this year I will not ever put in for a draw down there again.
I did get a couple no show draws at Mongo and my mood was lifted dramatically. My hunts there went a little something like this:
Approx.- 6 min
Well that was last week, and since it was turkey season, and the weather has been sooo wet. I let my yard work kinda pile up, so I have worked my butt off to get caught up. I got all my yards mowed and even trimmed some bushes, and yanked some others.
The last couple of weeks the weather has been cold and rainy. Then yesterday summer showed up, at a sweltering 89 degrees.
Needless to say I still made it out for my first day on the boat. It's a huge relief to be able to get the outboard to fire up and push the boat across the lake on the first outing.
I went to Max. and caught a couple smallies off the beds. Then moved to Winona and caught a largemouth from under a dock.
Approx.-2 min
Well as you can see my Mississenewa hunt didn't go well at all. Since I had such a bad hunt this year I will not ever put in for a draw down there again.
I did get a couple no show draws at Mongo and my mood was lifted dramatically. My hunts there went a little something like this:
Approx.- 6 min
The last couple of weeks the weather has been cold and rainy. Then yesterday summer showed up, at a sweltering 89 degrees.
Needless to say I still made it out for my first day on the boat. It's a huge relief to be able to get the outboard to fire up and push the boat across the lake on the first outing.
I went to Max. and caught a couple smallies off the beds. Then moved to Winona and caught a largemouth from under a dock.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
first shrooms
I got out this morning to do some morel hunting and found a couple tiny shrooms. We have had plenty of water but only 3 days above 65 degrees. Next week should be great, we're supposed to have more rain and warmer temps.
Yeah they're tiny but a small morel is better than no morels.
This weather really screwed me up this week, right now I'm supposed to be setting up camp at Mississinewa for my turkey hunt tomorrow. Instead I'm home getting my stuff together because all the forcasts are saying nothing but rain. So I'll drive back and forth until I hopefully get a bird.
Wish me luck, the next time I'll be on here will be after my hunt.
This weather really screwed me up this week, right now I'm supposed to be setting up camp at Mississinewa for my turkey hunt tomorrow. Instead I'm home getting my stuff together because all the forcasts are saying nothing but rain. So I'll drive back and forth until I hopefully get a bird.
Wish me luck, the next time I'll be on here will be after my hunt.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Growing goose calls
Well even though I was grounded this week (impending garage sale) I did manage to finally finish my first goose call. I have been working on it for a while and finally finished it today. I started with a block of wood and a pillar of plastic and turned it down to what you see here. The barrel (top part) is marble wood and the insert (bottom part) is mica pearl. I was able to find a set of green Foiles guts on ebay so I put those in for the sound. The band that's on it is from a guy named Ron Gould, he laser engraves the bands and has different scenes you can get on them. The other bands I have are wider and have geese on them. I have already started my insert for the next call and will probably get some walnut or kingwood for the barrel. As soon as it is done I'll put it up here. It takes me some time to get one done because I only work on it once or twice a week, and only for a couple hours.So it will take a while but I'll post it when it's done.
Just in case you're wondering, this call sounds as good (I think) as it looks.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Casting LM 13 April
Went back up to the big lake on Wednesday for some more casting. I actually got up there early enough to get my spot. There were only 2 people up there when I go there. I fished for about 5 hours and caught 2 coho. They were the only fish I saw caught, nobody else left with fish. I would've stayed longer but I had an impending delivery at the house. I had ordered some goose decoys and they were suppose to show up on Wed. So, after I caught my two gave it enough time to add another and when that didn't happen I decided to head for home.
The good news is I caught fish, the bad news is I won't be on the water for 2 weeks. Next week we're having a garage sale and the week after is my Turkey hunt. Well the Turkey hunt isn't bad news but I won't be fishing. So unless I get out next week for a couple hours, I won't talk to ya for a while.
So until then be safe
So until then be safe
Friday, April 8, 2011
My 2011 fishing season has begun
Well as with years past I started at L.M. this year. It was not the best start of a fishing year, I was greeted with fog and clouds. I casted at The Port for 3 hours without even a bump, one fish had been caught that I knew of. So I decided to go to Bass Pro (which still doesn't impress me) and pick up some needed items for this year. Bass Pro was just closer than the Cabela's store in Hammond 5 min compared to 25 to go to Cabela's, next time I'll spend the extra time. After Bass Pro I went to get some breakfast, I had forgotten my lunch box so I had a nice meal at Denny's. With all that taken care of I was itchin' to start fishing again so I went to the walkway at the mouth of the ditch. Their were 4 boats trolling the mouth and I had reports of fish being caught so I went and got my gear. After about 4 more hours I had lost a good King and landed a decent Coho.
Well that's all for this week I am hoping to get out again next week and will probably end up back at the Ditch. I'll try again to get some video, the hard part of that is getting the fish to bite on cue.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
2010 is a wrap
I went out for the last day of the late goose season on Feb 15. We have been getting some geese back in the area. So after not hunting last week I was itching to get out. Since I have always seen geese over on the other side of town I elected to hunt over there, even though I scouted the fields by my house and saw geese. In hind sight that was a bad gamble, apparently the geese haven't come back too strong cross town yet. I got out and set up by 8 am which for me is late but I was fairly certain they wouldn't fly early.
Around 9 am I saw my first 4 pack fly out off the roost, not even close to coming my way.
Soon after that I saw my first yote...... yes I said yote. He was walkin' around, a couple hundred yards away, so I didn't give him too much notice. I did give him a couple clucks and some moans to see if he would come closer, he didn't. So I waited for the geese.
Around 10am I saw another yote, I did the same thing to see if he would come closer, and to my surprise he did. He keyed in on the furthest decoy from me and started putting on a nonchalant stalk. He got to within inches of the super mag shell decoy before he realized it was not real. When he spun around to walk away I let the big dog bark. I rolled up that yote at least 4 times and he just kept on trotting away. I knew he was hit pretty bad and I was waiting for him to drop. He just kept walkin' away, I watched him cross the fence line and disappear.
It turned Noon and I was certain I had some time to kill before the geese flew. So I started tracking the yote I shot earlier. I was surprised to see how little blood this dog was leaking. I got up to where he crossed the fence and I tracked him down the fence line. He jumped up 30 yards down the fence line I got off one quick shot and he ran across the next field and the next before I lost him.
Back to tracking, I saw he was headed for a ditch so I cut back to the east to try and get him to go to the west. When I hit the ditch I started pushing it to the west. I heard a rustle in the bushes I raised my shotgun and located the noise, it was a red tailed hawk. Upon closer inspection I saw that this hawk was caught in 2 leg hold traps set for yotes. He had one foot in each trap, I wasn't going to just leave him, so I leaned my gun against a tree took off my coat and covered the hawk. As soon as he was covered he didn't struggle at all, he just let me untrap him. Even though he was free he still sat on the ground making himself look as big as possible until I turned around and walked away.
Back to the task at hand, I tracked that yote all the way across the field I was goose hunting, until I ran out of land I had permission to hunt. It was a mile and a half round trip from start to finish through some rather deep snow.
So when I got back to my blind I was ready for some rest and relaxation. I waited until sunset to see if I could get a goose but no luck. They just didn't want to come down to where I was. I did have a dozen or so come in a couple hundred yards to my east but I couldn't get them to commit to my spread.
So I didn't get a goose or the coyote, I did save a red tailed hawk and oh yeah did I mention I was covered up in ducks all day? It was pretty cool they just kept coming in and buzzing my spread.
Here's the video-
Well there's always next year, and I have alot of room for improvement. So until then, happy fishing and if you get out for some Turkey hunting good luck.
I know I'm going to try to get out for one.
Around 9 am I saw my first 4 pack fly out off the roost, not even close to coming my way.
Soon after that I saw my first yote...... yes I said yote. He was walkin' around, a couple hundred yards away, so I didn't give him too much notice. I did give him a couple clucks and some moans to see if he would come closer, he didn't. So I waited for the geese.
Around 10am I saw another yote, I did the same thing to see if he would come closer, and to my surprise he did. He keyed in on the furthest decoy from me and started putting on a nonchalant stalk. He got to within inches of the super mag shell decoy before he realized it was not real. When he spun around to walk away I let the big dog bark. I rolled up that yote at least 4 times and he just kept on trotting away. I knew he was hit pretty bad and I was waiting for him to drop. He just kept walkin' away, I watched him cross the fence line and disappear.
It turned Noon and I was certain I had some time to kill before the geese flew. So I started tracking the yote I shot earlier. I was surprised to see how little blood this dog was leaking. I got up to where he crossed the fence and I tracked him down the fence line. He jumped up 30 yards down the fence line I got off one quick shot and he ran across the next field and the next before I lost him.
Back to tracking, I saw he was headed for a ditch so I cut back to the east to try and get him to go to the west. When I hit the ditch I started pushing it to the west. I heard a rustle in the bushes I raised my shotgun and located the noise, it was a red tailed hawk. Upon closer inspection I saw that this hawk was caught in 2 leg hold traps set for yotes. He had one foot in each trap, I wasn't going to just leave him, so I leaned my gun against a tree took off my coat and covered the hawk. As soon as he was covered he didn't struggle at all, he just let me untrap him. Even though he was free he still sat on the ground making himself look as big as possible until I turned around and walked away.
Back to the task at hand, I tracked that yote all the way across the field I was goose hunting, until I ran out of land I had permission to hunt. It was a mile and a half round trip from start to finish through some rather deep snow.
So when I got back to my blind I was ready for some rest and relaxation. I waited until sunset to see if I could get a goose but no luck. They just didn't want to come down to where I was. I did have a dozen or so come in a couple hundred yards to my east but I couldn't get them to commit to my spread.
So I didn't get a goose or the coyote, I did save a red tailed hawk and oh yeah did I mention I was covered up in ducks all day? It was pretty cool they just kept coming in and buzzing my spread.
Here's the video-
2010 Hunting Season Breakdown
Species | Days Afield | Number of Critters Taken
Turkey --------1----------------1
Deer -----------21---------------0
Dove ----------1/2--------------0
Pheasant--------1---------------1
Waterfowl-----44----------15 ducks/21 geese
Rabbit-----------1----------------1
Total--68 1/2-----39
Wow the numbers don't lie, looks like I should have brought some more meat home.Well there's always next year, and I have alot of room for improvement. So until then, happy fishing and if you get out for some Turkey hunting good luck.
I know I'm going to try to get out for one.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Happiness is 2 matched sets
The calls from Left to Right are: Smoke/Max-4 - Straight Meat Mallard and Straight Meat Honker, Chartreuse/Blue - Straight Meat Honker and Dead Meat Mallard.
The last piece of my completed perfect sets came in today.
I started my "collection" with the specially ordered Char./Blue Straight Meat Honker. I bought it back in 09' and ever since I bought that 1 call I knew I needed more.
The reason is: these are the best sounding, easiest calls to use that I have found.
Since I had just started field hunting I knew that was the perfect excuse....um... reason to add the calls needed to complete my sets. So I picked up the Smoke/Max-4 Straight Meat Honker. After that I got the Straight Meat Mallard used, for half the price of new. Yes I washed it thoroughly.
Finally to finish out the set I ordered the Dead Meat Mallard, and it arrived in the mail today.
I would Love to say these calls are the "magic calls" that all waterfowler's are looking for. You know, the ones that call in every passing duck and goose with just one breath of air.
I know that's not going to happen, however with some practice I can certainly tip the scales in my favor.
So as this season passes and I anxiously await next years season. I'll be watching "the tapes" just as I have in previous years. I'll get as much practice as I can, without driving my wife insane.
Speaking of my wife I should probably say Thank You, for allowing me to continually indulge my hobbies.
Thank You Sarah
I Love You
The last piece of my completed perfect sets came in today.I started my "collection" with the specially ordered Char./Blue Straight Meat Honker. I bought it back in 09' and ever since I bought that 1 call I knew I needed more.
The reason is: these are the best sounding, easiest calls to use that I have found.
Since I had just started field hunting I knew that was the perfect excuse....um... reason to add the calls needed to complete my sets. So I picked up the Smoke/Max-4 Straight Meat Honker. After that I got the Straight Meat Mallard used, for half the price of new. Yes I washed it thoroughly.
Finally to finish out the set I ordered the Dead Meat Mallard, and it arrived in the mail today.
I would Love to say these calls are the "magic calls" that all waterfowler's are looking for. You know, the ones that call in every passing duck and goose with just one breath of air.
I know that's not going to happen, however with some practice I can certainly tip the scales in my favor.
So as this season passes and I anxiously await next years season. I'll be watching "the tapes" just as I have in previous years. I'll get as much practice as I can, without driving my wife insane.
Speaking of my wife I should probably say Thank You, for allowing me to continually indulge my hobbies.
Thank You Sarah
I Love You
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Mother Nature is a comedian
I wished and wished for snow, snow like I grew up with.
Ya know when they say be careful what you wish for you just might get it? Well I got it.... feet of snow in just a couple days.
That all by itself is not a bad thing, the bad thing is that Late Goose season just started the day before the snow storm.
Now all that's left is snow..... 95% of my geese have flown south to get to some food. I just got back from scouting and saw 6 geese on a pond that has an aerator in it. The worse news is that the temps are going to drop tonight and tomorrow with wind chills below 0. That really doesn't bother me except it should freeze up any remaining open water and push the 6 geese in the area south.
The only good news is that it is supposed to get up to 40 degrees this weekend. I can only hope we shed enough snow, and get some geese back so I can hunt the last day of season.
If the snow only held off another 2 weeks you would be looking at pics of happy hunters and piles of geese. Sadly this is not the case, here I sit blogging about not hunting instead of blogging about the hunt.
Well think warm happy thoughts for me, I might only have 1 more day to goose hunt.
Guess it's time to start thinkin' about shootin' some yotes.
Ya know when they say be careful what you wish for you just might get it? Well I got it.... feet of snow in just a couple days.
That all by itself is not a bad thing, the bad thing is that Late Goose season just started the day before the snow storm.
Now all that's left is snow..... 95% of my geese have flown south to get to some food. I just got back from scouting and saw 6 geese on a pond that has an aerator in it. The worse news is that the temps are going to drop tonight and tomorrow with wind chills below 0. That really doesn't bother me except it should freeze up any remaining open water and push the 6 geese in the area south.
The only good news is that it is supposed to get up to 40 degrees this weekend. I can only hope we shed enough snow, and get some geese back so I can hunt the last day of season.
If the snow only held off another 2 weeks you would be looking at pics of happy hunters and piles of geese. Sadly this is not the case, here I sit blogging about not hunting instead of blogging about the hunt.
Well think warm happy thoughts for me, I might only have 1 more day to goose hunt.
Guess it's time to start thinkin' about shootin' some yotes.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Late season opened today
I went out for the late season goose opener this morning. I went out to my buddy Tom's place --I didn't do any scouting but there are always geese out there.
I was not disappointed around 10 am they lifted off of the roost and came over to see me. They were right on track to enter the kill zone when they just took a hard left. I watched as they went to the end of my field and looked to set down, all but a four pack that was headed back my way. So I turned my attention to the four still coming my way, as they got closer I noticed the other 25-30 geese coming straight at me low and silent. I switched to calling to them, as they closed the distance I got a little trigger happy and called the shot a little too soon. I did put one down but couldn't drop any more. Well the whole flock saw me drop one of there own so the rest turned tail and went back to the roost.
So I waited...... at 1 pm I had 2 come from my left and try to cross out in front of me. They came in silent and I couldn't find my call to place them better into range (had it tucked into my jacket so it wouldn't freeze up) so I just waited for them to get closer. I ran her dry on those two and I know I smacked the first one (I heard the shot hit) but he didn't fall. After going to make sure he didn't drop on his way back to the roost I got back into the blind and continued to sleep-- I mean, hunt.
Well after 2-ish the blizzard that was suppose to hit did, the winds picked up and the decoys blew over. That's when I knew it was time to hang it up and head for home.
I didn't get any pics because of the snow and wind so hopefully this blizzard will pass by tomorrow and I'll be able to hunt on Thursday.
I'm not sure why my shooting was sub par, the only excuse I can use is I hadn't shot in two weeks.
I was not disappointed around 10 am they lifted off of the roost and came over to see me. They were right on track to enter the kill zone when they just took a hard left. I watched as they went to the end of my field and looked to set down, all but a four pack that was headed back my way. So I turned my attention to the four still coming my way, as they got closer I noticed the other 25-30 geese coming straight at me low and silent. I switched to calling to them, as they closed the distance I got a little trigger happy and called the shot a little too soon. I did put one down but couldn't drop any more. Well the whole flock saw me drop one of there own so the rest turned tail and went back to the roost.
So I waited...... at 1 pm I had 2 come from my left and try to cross out in front of me. They came in silent and I couldn't find my call to place them better into range (had it tucked into my jacket so it wouldn't freeze up) so I just waited for them to get closer. I ran her dry on those two and I know I smacked the first one (I heard the shot hit) but he didn't fall. After going to make sure he didn't drop on his way back to the roost I got back into the blind and continued to sleep-- I mean, hunt.
Well after 2-ish the blizzard that was suppose to hit did, the winds picked up and the decoys blew over. That's when I knew it was time to hang it up and head for home.
I didn't get any pics because of the snow and wind so hopefully this blizzard will pass by tomorrow and I'll be able to hunt on Thursday.
I'm not sure why my shooting was sub par, the only excuse I can use is I hadn't shot in two weeks.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Last day of regular season for me
After I got home late from Weed's field, I put my stuff away and called my buddy Donovan to see if he wanted to go hunting the next morning.
There was no answer and I was almost hoping he wouldn't call back so I would have a day to recuperate before going back to work.
No such luck, Donovan called a half hour later. I told him my plan and we hung up with plans to meet in the morning.
I didn't want to drive too far so I could get more sleep. I decided to hit a field I hadn't shot yet only because the owner lets anyone hunt it. Without knowing when it was shot last it was kinda a crap shoot field. I didn't really know if we would see a bird.
After we got to the field I let Donovan know the reason I wanted to shoot it, and when I wanted to pack it in. I decided noon O'clock is all I wanted to give this field to produce geese. Now as anyone that has been in the outdoors with me knows, I stay until limit or dark, so the noon time curfew was very uncharacteristic of me. I just didn't have a whole lot of confidence in this field and I did want to relax for a little bit.
So when the first flock silently came in like ghosts through the snow I had to do a double take. Yep, they were geese so after some brief persuasion and a couple times around the spread they got into range. I gave the order and my gun blazed and 2 geese fell.
Donovan's first words were,"my gun jammed" so we had to wait for another flock. The good news was I had renewed confidence in the field. It wasn't too long before we had another flock working. Bang another goose, and another flock working and bang another goose.
Then we were done....time please....10 am.
AWESOME, we packed it in and headed to the house.
Even as we were picking up the spread we had many geese flying, wanting to dump into the field. I would guess we saw at least 500 plus geese sliding in and out of sight.
Turned out to be a great day and great shoot for my last day of regular season.
There was no answer and I was almost hoping he wouldn't call back so I would have a day to recuperate before going back to work.
No such luck, Donovan called a half hour later. I told him my plan and we hung up with plans to meet in the morning.
I didn't want to drive too far so I could get more sleep. I decided to hit a field I hadn't shot yet only because the owner lets anyone hunt it. Without knowing when it was shot last it was kinda a crap shoot field. I didn't really know if we would see a bird.
After we got to the field I let Donovan know the reason I wanted to shoot it, and when I wanted to pack it in. I decided noon O'clock is all I wanted to give this field to produce geese. Now as anyone that has been in the outdoors with me knows, I stay until limit or dark, so the noon time curfew was very uncharacteristic of me. I just didn't have a whole lot of confidence in this field and I did want to relax for a little bit.
So when the first flock silently came in like ghosts through the snow I had to do a double take. Yep, they were geese so after some brief persuasion and a couple times around the spread they got into range. I gave the order and my gun blazed and 2 geese fell.
Donovan's first words were,"my gun jammed" so we had to wait for another flock. The good news was I had renewed confidence in the field. It wasn't too long before we had another flock working. Bang another goose, and another flock working and bang another goose.
Then we were done....time please....10 am.
AWESOME, we packed it in and headed to the house.
Even as we were picking up the spread we had many geese flying, wanting to dump into the field. I would guess we saw at least 500 plus geese sliding in and out of sight.Turned out to be a great day and great shoot for my last day of regular season.
And we waited
Weed and I went right back out to "his" field yesterday. I had another easy limit day dancing in my head..... until the weather broke.
The sun came out and all hopes of an early limit were dashed. There were geese trading back and forth between roosts but they didn't want to play. We slept,talked and waited for the evening flight.
They won't move when the suns out until last light. Then you need 'em to get to the spread in a hurry, finish 'em and get home.
We finally got the geese we wanted and man did they show up. We had 100-150 geese converging on us at one point only to bug out and fly away.
We were able to get a flock to cup and commit and I dropped 2. The skies were still black with geese so I stayed put and kept calling. I noticed one of my geese steadily walking away, so once the flying geese retreated I ran/walked out to put him down. After I shot him I heard Weed yell at me to get down. I looked to my right and 1 single goose was comin' in fast and low. So I dropped onto my stomach in the field and let Weed work the magic. I watched the goose as long as I could until he got behind me to my right.
I heard Weed stopped calling, and then there was 1 lone shot. I turned to see the goose drop right into our spread. After a couple hoops and hollars and a slight recap of the last gooses demise we got down to breakin' the spread down.
As we were stowing our gear we watched as a nice flock of mallards circle. They were playing follow the leader with 2 hen wood ducks that were leading the pack. The woodies actually put down in the field 5 yards from where I was standing it was pretty cool.
The sun came out and all hopes of an early limit were dashed. There were geese trading back and forth between roosts but they didn't want to play. We slept,talked and waited for the evening flight.
They won't move when the suns out until last light. Then you need 'em to get to the spread in a hurry, finish 'em and get home.
We finally got the geese we wanted and man did they show up. We had 100-150 geese converging on us at one point only to bug out and fly away.
We were able to get a flock to cup and commit and I dropped 2. The skies were still black with geese so I stayed put and kept calling. I noticed one of my geese steadily walking away, so once the flying geese retreated I ran/walked out to put him down. After I shot him I heard Weed yell at me to get down. I looked to my right and 1 single goose was comin' in fast and low. So I dropped onto my stomach in the field and let Weed work the magic. I watched the goose as long as I could until he got behind me to my right.
I heard Weed stopped calling, and then there was 1 lone shot. I turned to see the goose drop right into our spread. After a couple hoops and hollars and a slight recap of the last gooses demise we got down to breakin' the spread down.
As we were stowing our gear we watched as a nice flock of mallards circle. They were playing follow the leader with 2 hen wood ducks that were leading the pack. The woodies actually put down in the field 5 yards from where I was standing it was pretty cool.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Weed's Field
Yep that's right I said Weed's field.
After weeks of rejection he finally got permission to hunt a field. I won't tell you he's had permission to hunt yotes on it for years, so getting to hunt geese on it wasn't a real stretch.
Anyway as it was Weed's field, it of course had a hundred or so geese on it yesterday. The roost at Hamilton Lake was holding 1,500 birds so there were plenty of birds in the area.
We met up, drove out in the field (it was nice to drive out there instead of having to pack everything in) and set up on a little rise.
We were sitting there talking when 1 goose came in low and slow to the N of us. We called but the goose was acting really weird, he set down about 100 yards away from us all by his lonesome. Well Weed had had enough and started to put a sneak on the goose. He got about 40 yards away from me and our set up when the skies darkened and the geese started working the spread. For whatever reason they flared out and the flock behind them followed suit. That was kind of a blessing cause Weed got tired of crawling, so he decided to stand up and just try to get close enough to the goose to shoot him. Well the goose took off and swung around into our spread where I was waiting to put him down for a dirt nap.
Weed got back to our set up and snuggled into his blind and waited for the rest of the geese to show up. It didn't take too long and we had honks cupping and slipping into the "death zone".
I honestly can't remember who called the shot. I just remember sitting up squeezing the trigger, hearing shotguns barking and watching 3 geese fall from the sky.
Game over, it's only 10 am so we picked up the spread as quickly as we could, and got out of the field. Before we left however we did a little scouting for the next time we would hit this field, which will be tomorrow or Thurs.
The birds up there were acting really weird, we attributed it to more hunting pressure up north. For some reason they didn't really want to finish until we hit the calls real hard. We also had a couple flocks flare off which hasn't happened alot this year, but up there it just seemed they saw something they didn't like. Well enough bout that we got in shot 4 and got out hoping to shoot it again in the next couple days.
It was a super fun hunt.
After weeks of rejection he finally got permission to hunt a field. I won't tell you he's had permission to hunt yotes on it for years, so getting to hunt geese on it wasn't a real stretch.
Anyway as it was Weed's field, it of course had a hundred or so geese on it yesterday. The roost at Hamilton Lake was holding 1,500 birds so there were plenty of birds in the area.
We met up, drove out in the field (it was nice to drive out there instead of having to pack everything in) and set up on a little rise.
We were sitting there talking when 1 goose came in low and slow to the N of us. We called but the goose was acting really weird, he set down about 100 yards away from us all by his lonesome. Well Weed had had enough and started to put a sneak on the goose. He got about 40 yards away from me and our set up when the skies darkened and the geese started working the spread. For whatever reason they flared out and the flock behind them followed suit. That was kind of a blessing cause Weed got tired of crawling, so he decided to stand up and just try to get close enough to the goose to shoot him. Well the goose took off and swung around into our spread where I was waiting to put him down for a dirt nap.
Weed got back to our set up and snuggled into his blind and waited for the rest of the geese to show up. It didn't take too long and we had honks cupping and slipping into the "death zone".
I honestly can't remember who called the shot. I just remember sitting up squeezing the trigger, hearing shotguns barking and watching 3 geese fall from the sky.
Game over, it's only 10 am so we picked up the spread as quickly as we could, and got out of the field. Before we left however we did a little scouting for the next time we would hit this field, which will be tomorrow or Thurs.
The birds up there were acting really weird, we attributed it to more hunting pressure up north. For some reason they didn't really want to finish until we hit the calls real hard. We also had a couple flocks flare off which hasn't happened alot this year, but up there it just seemed they saw something they didn't like. Well enough bout that we got in shot 4 and got out hoping to shoot it again in the next couple days.It was a super fun hunt.
Monday, January 3, 2011
New Years Eve hunt
Weed, Donovan, and I got out and stayed out Dec 31.
We were set up before the crack of dawn and laid in wait through the nice weather and the rain for our chance at some geese.
After noonish the first flock came over of which we dropped 2 out of it. Then another flock and once again we dropped 2.
We had one more flock work from behind us. They came over when we were all hangin' around with our blinds open. To my surprise they looked like they wanted to work so we put it to 'em. I was waiting for Weed to call the shot, while watching the birds land in groups getting closer to us, and in range. Apparently someone got anxious and blind doors opened and shotguns roared. The ground however stayed uncluttered- nothing fell. I did notice one flying lower than the rest, as I watched it looked to me like it went down.
The journey was a long one (400-500 yards) but worth it. I saw the goose in the next field over, when I got up to it to pick it up I noticed it wasn't the one I was looking for. So I picked him up and kept looking, after walking another 800-1000 yards I gave up. I figured either he didn't go down or he managed to avoid me, either way he was coyote food.
The goose I found, I figure was one of the geese from the first flock, that got hit but didn't drop. So it was a good thing I went to look for the other goose, if I hadn't I would've never found the one I did.
Sorry no pics, I did take some pics but it was a little after sunset and they didn't turn out at all.
We were set up before the crack of dawn and laid in wait through the nice weather and the rain for our chance at some geese.
After noonish the first flock came over of which we dropped 2 out of it. Then another flock and once again we dropped 2.
We had one more flock work from behind us. They came over when we were all hangin' around with our blinds open. To my surprise they looked like they wanted to work so we put it to 'em. I was waiting for Weed to call the shot, while watching the birds land in groups getting closer to us, and in range. Apparently someone got anxious and blind doors opened and shotguns roared. The ground however stayed uncluttered- nothing fell. I did notice one flying lower than the rest, as I watched it looked to me like it went down.
The journey was a long one (400-500 yards) but worth it. I saw the goose in the next field over, when I got up to it to pick it up I noticed it wasn't the one I was looking for. So I picked him up and kept looking, after walking another 800-1000 yards I gave up. I figured either he didn't go down or he managed to avoid me, either way he was coyote food.
The goose I found, I figure was one of the geese from the first flock, that got hit but didn't drop. So it was a good thing I went to look for the other goose, if I hadn't I would've never found the one I did.
Sorry no pics, I did take some pics but it was a little after sunset and they didn't turn out at all.
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