Geese

The Day after Thanksgiving--

I scouted a couple hundred geese by the big blind Thanksgiving Day. Next day, Dad was heading to Kilmarnock for more fishing. Wellesley and I hunted the bottom, coming in from our side and sitting near the canoe. We ran a butt load of geese out when we came in 45 minutes before legal time; then set out maybe a dozen dekes and hunched up in the weeds. We got some very early geese in but they set up too far around the point for shooting. Finally got a group of ten or so in, outside the decoys and barely in range....we promptly wasted several high dollar shells with nothing to show.

Later, a merganser set in the duck decoys close in. Normally I wouldn't bother with a fish duck, but Flip was getting fidgety, so what the heck. Up I stood, across the water ran the merg and "blam"! I shot two feet behind the dumb ole duck....but I nailed the decoy she ducked behind while trying to get airborne with a pretty good load of #3 steel.

In a bit, I added insult to injury. Telling Wellesley it was time to head to the office, I said, "Stay here and keep loaded. I'll pick up. That's sure to bring in the birds." Sure enough, as I stood in the midst of the decoys a hundred or more geese decided to lock up and come on in, landing, of course, eighty yards beyond shooting range. Wellesley didn't quit chuckling till we got in our trucks and went our separate ways. Oh well. Some days chickens, some days feathers.

jts