Hunting

So I have been an avid waterfowl-upland game hunter for as long as I can remember. Growing up next to Utah Lake and having our family farm of 300+ acres was the perfect situation that gave me endless opportunities to hunt birds and because passionate about the world of hunting. I have bagged many Pheasants and Ducks of all kinds, but the one bird that has always eluded me is the King of the Waterfowl birds, the Canadian Goose. I have tried on several occasions to harvest my first Goose, but one way or another I have always came up empty handed. My envy towards these birds started early as my big bro would go hunting with his friends Mike and Lane and they would come back with stories and limits of huge Canadian Geese on opening morning. Back then I was to young to hunt and by the time I was old enough they had moved on to hunting with other friends and other parts of the state. One of the only times I felt like I really had it right was when Sean and I were coming back from Duck hunting the opener, it was really windy and the Geese were coming in to the lower north grain field by the flock. We zipped home grabbed our decoys and set up in a ditch. With in minutes we had a whole flock of about 30 flying low and right over our heads. I unloaded a shot then my gun got jammed. I was so mad, sad and frustrated that my first shot didn’t connect. I don’t know how to this day we didn’t knock down one bird out of 4 shots, but that’s Goose hunting I thought until today.

Today was different I had spotted Geese in the lower Grain Field multiple times as I was coming back form Duck hunting. I decided that Tuesday morning was when I was going to get them. As I reached the field in the dark early hours. I was surprised to see that there were already people there setting up to hunt my exact spot. I was upset at first then I decided to see if it was Mike (which I tough it would be) to my surprise it was Mike, Lane and Brett who I consider to be Goose hunting royalty in our town and who I always wanted to hunt Geese with. They were cool with letting me hunt with them since it was my property. So we got our coffins (mine was just a bunch of straw) and decoys set up. By first light we could hear the Geese starting to quack and with in seconds it seemed we had two majestic Geese flying low and right into our decoys. Mike and Lane had the open shots and with two shots put them both on the playing field. It was amazing and my first real up close case of Goose fever. After some laughs and stories of the past we were surprised yet again with another flock of 7 Geese. This time I was going to get a shot off. They landed in the very northern end of our decoys so I jumped out of my blind to get around Mike, shoulder my gun and down went my very first Goose!!! I was filled with excitement and adrenaline, but kept my composure and downed another with my second shot. I shot again, but the last bird was to far by that time. To my surprise my second shot bird regained its strength and few away. Dang it! But I was just fine with that because I was sitting on the top of the world and nothing could take the happiness and joy I was feeling at that moment. I had accomplished another goal that seemed so far and almost lost and to do it with old town friends made it even sweeter. We downed 4 birds out of the seven and should have been five if my second wouldn’t of flown away. But the action wasn’t done just yet, we were waiting on the big flock to grace us with its presence and it did. As the loud honks and Goose noises came closer we knew that we were in for a treat. The big flock of about 20 flew right over our heads, circled around the front of us and looked as if they were about to land, but as I have figured out in the past Goose hunting is hard and everything has to work out right. We could have shot, but we pasted it up hoping they would land in the decoy spread, but those wise Geese must have noticed something wrong and headed for the safety of the lake. We all had a lot of “what if” moments after that, but that’s why it is called hunting and not killing. What an exciting day…I love the atmosphere and feeling that Goose hunting bring out in people. The excitement of the Geese flying in is short, but the feelings will last with me forever. Thanks again Mike, Lane and Brett you don’t know how special this day really was for me!

The New Duck Blind
This years Duck opener was pretty different to say the least. I was so excited and pumped to see a lot of birds and use the new blind. (Like we did on the youth opener) One of the two went great, but the part about bagging a lot of birds didn’t. We saw a few birds and missed a lot of them. We should have downed at least 5 others. Everyone in the group got shots off and seemed to be having a good time regardless of the slower action. The other big factor was the constant rain that soaked all of us to the very bones it rained all day for the first time in months. I thought the storm would move the birds a little more, but it seemed to keep them put without much wind. The bright spot of the day for me was my 50 yard shot on a Teal the was flying a way. I knocked him down and Cash finished him off. It was his first diving Duck retrieve…meaning it dove down when he tried to get it, but he found it a minute later. Good dog!

That was the only Duck we bagged that morning, but we all had a great time with a couple first time hunters Tanner and Taylor… Then Gunner and Sean. Tanner is a little shy about shoot a Shotgun since it almost blew him off the blind and gave him a nice bruise on his cheek. Another bright spot was the new duck blind that worked great and was so nice to sit and wait for the birds. To finish off the day we were greeted by Mom’s huge warm breakfast that totally hit the spot.