The day before the last day of the season

Once again I headed for some open water, when I got there I had 100 or so geese take off. I hurriedly set up my 6 decoys, set up a path to get from the ice to the water, sat down and waited. The geese came back in singles and pairs, they gave one honk and landed so I didn't get any video. I did however get my limit of geese. I dropped 2 in the river and 1 flew across the river, directly behind me on the other side of the river.

So I waited 'til sunset picked up my gear, went back to the house dropped everything off. Got in the car drove back out to the other side of the river, walked in and found my third goose dead in the snow. It was a 1300 yard walk in the dark and knee deep snow but totally worth it when I found my goose.

Special thanks to Sarah for stepping outside in the cold to snap this pic.
Now it's just a couple days until the start of the late season- Feb. 1 to Feb.15- 5 a day.

5 geese in 3 days

Last weeks hunting started with a Tuesday pass shoot. Since I was only going to be hunting for 3 and a half hours I didn't wear a heavy pair of boots or put on as many layers as I probably should have. After hour 2.5 I couldn't feel my left foot, and my fingertips were a little chilly. I did the usual walk around to stay warm but in only a matter of minutes my extremities were back to numb. I guess it had something to due with the extreme cold snap in the area. With the temps in the 9 degree range with the wind blowing at 13mph it got pretty chilly. The best part is I actually dropped a goose that I had to hit 3 times before he fell from the sky. I did make a shot shell change due to the ineffectiveness of my current rounds.

I call this one my frostbite goose because I couldn't feel my foot until I made it the 650 yards to the car.
I have since moved up to BBB hevi-metal I'll let'cha know how that works out.

Wednesday found me in a field hoping to get some action. I haven't been seeing any geese in my fields but I knew they were passing over this field to get to another field.
 I was done by noon.

I thought I had some really good video of this hunt but Jack Frost zapped my battery.
I could've loaded the truck up with all the geese I had trying to land.

This goose just wouldn't leave, I already had limit and this guy fell in love with my decoys. He stayed there while I picked up and needed the last of my decoys.

The real goose is just beyond the feeder goose.
Thursdays hunt was on a local river, I have permission to cross a buddy's property to get to it. I only brought a dozen decoys, but I really didn't need more than that. I set up at noon and had to wait until 5 to get some action. The weather this day was also a little extreme: the temps were in the 4 degree range with winds at 20 mph gusting to 30. I think I was a little hypothermic by the time the action started, I just didn't feel on top of my game which would explain this....... 

The geese were really grouped tight and I didn't want to hit more than 3 with one shot. I did want to get more than the one though.
It took me 45 minutes and any other chance I would've had at filling my limit but I finally caught up with that dead goose.

As you can see I have some storage issues.

Yesterday's walk

I would've called it a coyote hunt, but I just can't justify what I did as a hunt. I must admit I got the crap kicked out of me yesterday. The only way to see song dogs is by working harder than anyone else. By that I mean calling sunup til sundown, making as many sets as possible and walking further than you would think anyone else would.
The snow I had to work through made all that next to impossible. Yesterday I made 6 or 7 sets; that does not a good day make. It took 3X as long just to get to my spots, don't get me wrong, I love hunting in snow, just not 16" worth. In my opinion the best snow to call in is now officially 2-4 inches, any more than that and it gets really difficult.
Of all the items I have been able to keep a hold of from my childhood, my snowshoes became my favorite as of yesterday.

If I didn't have a set of snowshoes I would have been done by 10am.
If I would've driven my car I wouldn't have been able to put in one set. I went to Huntington and none of the parking lots were plowed, I drove the truck with that thought in mind and wow was I right. I was the first one out hunting since the storm, so I had to forge my own way. Some of my best spots I had to pass up because the snow either drifted or was plowed up too high. I did have a shovel with me but I really didn't want to get stuck and have to waste the time shoveling my way out.
I will probably try again next week since the weather between now and then is going to do a 180. Next week water will be the problem, not snow. Hopefully I'll have better luck.

Winter Wonderland and other fun stuff from days past

I was out looking for geese before Christmas and ended up behind this RV at a local Meijer. I had to get out and get pics, if any of you have seen Vacation or Christmas Vacation you'll understand why I was giggling the whole time I was snapping pics.
If you click on these pics I think they will enlarge for you.

I took a pic of this lady and her daughter, with the RV, her name was Griswald.

 Alot of work went into this RV and it was the coolest thing I have seen in a while. If you notice the RV is the same type and color as the one Ed drove in Chistmas Vacation. 

Too Cool.

Here's some of other vehicles I saw while scouting for geese. These ones aren't as cool.....

but still "funny"...

There's a rip in the side from the drivers door past the passenger door.

I think it got hit by a snow plow.

This semi took a corner too sharp and almost flipped over.

Cop is in the turn lane, car on the median.

Geese in a field I don't have permission to hunt

Here are the pics I have taken the day of the storm and today when I got gas and went to the store.

And today

We got a lot of snow which put the area into a 'state of emergency' yesterday with only Emergency Vehicles allowed to go out. Today the sun is out, we're hovering around -4 degrees with -40 windchill.
I'm going coyote hunting tomorrow.  : )

New Years Eve and New Years Day

I got off work Monday a little early and raced home to get my binoculars so I could do some scouting. Much to my amazement I found a couple hundred geese on one of my fields so I knew where I was going to go New Years Eve. I called all my hunting buddies to see who wanted to go but no one else could make it. The next day would be all me, so I made sure all my gear was ready and off to bed I went. I got up @ 4am, ate, got to the field and set up by 7ish. Then comes the waiting. I had a couple flocks fly by but nothing wanted to play. I finally got my first shot at 2pm and was done and packed up by 3:45pm with my limit of geese.
I think I got some good video of this hunt, but am waiting to get our new computer before I drop it on the one I'm using now. When I get it ready I'll get it on here as soon as I can.

Since I was done before dark I wanted to do some scouting on the way home. I saw a couple hundred geese going over the same field I shot the Saturday before Christmas. So I got home and once again ran through my rolodex to find someone that wants to shoot some geese. I knew my buddy Brian was off so he was the first person I got a hold of.
We got out by 6am and was set up and ready by 7:30am which was 5 minutes past shooting light. Right around 8:30am the geese started moving. We had waves of geese coming to the field and they were far enough apart that we would shoot 2 out of the flock and wait for the next wave to shoot 2 more. The geese were flying good but they really didn't want to finish in the hole where I wanted them. We shot our limit by 10:30am and we were packed up and out of the field by 11:30.
Not bad for the first hunt of the new year.

Finally my goose numbers are getting a little bump.