I was lost in reflection of the brief season that seemed to be coming to a close just as quick as the truck ride to Carl's house and then it was back on the road where old friends exchanged stories and Carl filled me in on the plan. The birds appeared to be staying on the pond, and we were going to have to take a chance of bumping them off with the truck in the dark prior to the hunt...and hope they would come back and not find a neighbors pond to loaf on.
We picked up Dan and headed to the pond, pulling into the corn stubble bordering the pond, the headlights illuminated several "white butts" on the pond and it was now certain we would have to bump some birds to get set up. Carl parked the truck and we quickly went to work unloading gear as the birds became restless, tormenting Carl's lab "Brew" as we continued quickly putting out decoys. Approximately 10 minutes in the birds decided they had enough and began an eruption of wings and feet hitting water and honking of all kinds as approximately 200 Canada geese poured off the pond into the faint dawn breaking to the east. Soon after a group of 8 swans started their take off, sounding more like a herd of wild horses than a group of waterfowl.
We finished our decoy set up, hid the truck as the many random groups of honkers faded into the distant darkness in several different directions. We slid into the blind and began the that dialogue that is so common in every blind I have ever enjoyed a sunrise in. In the back of all of our minds I know it was stewing...would the birds come back, would they cooperate. A few small bunches made appearances but they did not seem interested in coming back, and the anxiety rose slightly with the rising sun. Finally at around 7:45 A.M. a single came to play. The bird was no spring chicken and he spent several minutes looking over the spread, locking up and gliding by ever so close...tantalizingly close to being in range. After circling several times, gliding directly over the blind and "rubber necking" our hide out, he made one last turn behind the blind and Carl made the call for Dan to kill him on the next pass. Just like he read the script the bird cruised over the back of the blind and Dan made short work of him with one shot folding him to the water's edge. Brew was happy to make a retrieve and the "skunk" was off.
We did not have much time to celebrate as another single came from the north and began a similar routine as the first one. He was a little less leary and as he locked up and headed for the spread, Carl made the call for me to take him. I peered through the willows on the side of the blind as he cupped his wings, and I tried to control my breathing as I knew it was about to happen, and then the shot was called, I stood up to a bird that had no idea we were there, swung through and folded him to the water with one shot....as the boys celebrated, I caught something on my swing and realized...there were five honkers we had not seen directly above the bird I shot that were on the way in when I shot. They flared and headed to the west and we got on them aggressively with the calls. Turning the flock they came back to investigate and began teasing us with pass after pass before breaking into a group of three and a pair. We lost track of the pair as we worked on the three, which eventually faded off. Carl sent Brew for my bird and just as he hit the water, Dan saw the pair returning once again. As Carl worked on getting Brew back to the blind the birds seemed oblivious to the dog and came to the calls, working and working before eventually doing it right and falling to the guns once again...four down, two to go.
Only minutes later, again with Brew cleaning up birds, we were alerted to honking...and suddenly we were covered up in birds from all directions. A pair to the North, 11 to the west, five more above us. Carl wrangled Brew who was shaking uncontrollably from excitement as Dan and I tried to work on the birds. Knowing we only needed two birds we tried to communicate to make sure we could get two and be done, as a pair worked down the bankline from the North and split we were unable to call the shot and one landed in the decoys in front of the blind. I felt like I was twisted up like a pretzel in the blind as I attempted to keep a bead on the many different bunches surrounding us. A short time later, still working birds, the single on the water thought better of it and bailed out to join his friends in the air. For what seemed like 15 minutes straight Dan and I called and called and called, aggressively turning small flocks back then subtly trying to finish them as they sailed over the blind peering down at the decoys and the blind checking for imposters, at one point another group came with a pair that seemed promising, but at the last moment just as we were about to stand and shoot they veered behind the blind and landed in the decoys. Finally, as I was about to pass out from lack of air, I spotted a pair off my end of the blind and called them out, they cupped up and with geese flying, honking, flapping in all directions, I put the blinders on and concentrated on those two birds, as they sailed over the back corner of the blind, the shot was called and both birds hit the ground!!! The standard war hoots and high fives followed and I pulled my phone out to check the time....8:32 A.M. How's that for fast and furious 6 bird limit in less than an hour!
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| Carl, Dan, and Brew with our 6 bird limit |
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