Relatively speaking, it was a late start today. It was planned that way, though. Since geese don't fly as early as ducks, it was almost like sleeping in when I was told what time to meet Eric at his house. I arrived at Eric's house at 4:45 this morning. We were meeting Jake and some other friends of Eric's at the gas station. We got out to the field about 5:30, but we were too late for the spot that had been picked out. There was a group who arrived earlier than we did. This was a huge group. There had to be at least 10 shooters. We set out the decoys and the layout blinds and waited. As I laid and listened to the others calling to the geese, I watched the geese fly overhead. What a sight! Much like yesterday, the sight of so many birds in the air was awe inspiring. However, these geese headed straight to the other guys' decoys initially. This continued all morning. Eric finally broke the ice by bringing down a honker passing overhead. That was it until the other hunters picked up and left. Then, after a bit of decoy rearrangement, it was game on. The callers got the geese to work into the decoys and we starting getting some shots. Devon sytarted us off with a fine shot on a goose, bringing it to the ground. After a bit more waiting, more geese were worked into our decoys. This volley, we all opened up. The geese were not close...at all. With the Patternmaster attached to the end of my Benelli, I managed to bring one down. Several others fell at the same time, one of which I am fairly certain I brought down. It was hard to effectively state which birds I shot since there were seven guns openeing up at once. After running all over the pasture to collect up the dead birds and finishing the cripples, we laid back down in our blinds. A little more time passed and we laid still again. We all raised up and shot again. Birds hit the deck, but I am sure I did not anything on that round. After about another 1/2 hour or so, we decided to pick up and head out. No other birds were in sight. We packed out 15 geese total.
All in all, this was a good day. However, I think my preference is in duck hunting. Admitedly, I have done a lot more duck hunting than goose hunting so my perception of both may be a bit skewed. I just didn't get as excited after bringing a goose down. Don't get me wrong, it was still a blast (no pun intended). Would I do it again? Absolutely. Guaranteed I will do it again next February in Missouri. Snow goose hunting should be a lot of fun, for sure.
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