A Superb Canadian Goose Hunt Part II
By Tom Kenny

As advertised, when our morning hunt slowed down, our guide assistant, Garret, was
around with the van and trailer shortly after 10:00 am. We picked up the blinds, decoys
and harvested birds and headed back to the lodge for a welcomed and wonderful home
cooked hot meal, some socializing and story telling and maybe a short nap before the
afternoon hunt at around 3:30pm. When the clock brought us to that afternoon departure
time, we again rode to our hunting spot, again 15 to 45 minutes away, and set-up in the
field or at a water spot and prepared for the afternoon flights of the various water birds
that could be primarily Canadian and Speckled belly geese, and Mallard or Pintail (sprig)
ducks. You will also find in various numbers Snow geese, Ross geese, the occasional
Teal or if hunting close by water, Wood-ducks and several other puddle-duck species.
The afternoon hunt brought us to a broad wide open barley field and we set up
overlooking a slight wash area with some high grass cover. At about 5:00pm or so, we
started to see ducks flying in pairs, fours and finally flocks of varying numbers and again
the geese were up as well. Without any trouble we were able to bag our last goose for
the day and the rest of the afternoon was spent on taking the duck limit. Roger, Ken,
Darold and I even had pass shots at flocks where we each took at least two birds and
with in about two hours we all had nearly filled our individual bird limits; 8 geese and 8
ducks for a total of 58 birds for that day. The waterfowl response to the robo-duck, Roger’
s goose flag and Darold’s duck calling was all just “Sports and Field” perfect. The
experience we had, was phenomenal compared to what many of us are used to in
California, no comparison and surely a waterfowl hunt to remember for a lifetime; and
that was just the first day! This full day ended at sunset and again we rode back to the
lodge with a fantastic hunt under our belt, to an evening meal and a quick rest for the next
day’s activities.
Our second hunting day was even more successful in the morning and afternoon, as we
filled out our total bird limit of 64 for the four of us. The last full day hunt, however; was
one of our most memorable experiences because of how the birds were flying into our
blind and decoy set-ups. In the morning we began the day in another grain field facing
east and overlooking a river basin a short distance away, dawn broke and the birds
began to come from the river area. Around sunrise, some ducks came in where Ken
picked off the first bird with his “pattern-master” guided shot and a couple for me,
shooting left handed, were taken early. We experienced the wind shifting and the groups
of birds wanting to come in behind us so we quickly repositioned to face west, to better
face the bird’s behavior patterns.  Shortly we began to see couples, and some single
ducks come over and a few geese, we seemed to be just “off” the birds intended flying
paths. We did, however, manage to take a pintail sprig in some of our pass shots and it
surprised us as being a “Banded” bird. Since we weren’t sure who took this sprig, I was
granted the privilege of being able to have this as my “first ever” banded bird. This band
was called in to the U. S. Geological Survey and the Canadian Wildlife Services and a
certificate was returned with the banding information. This “Northern Pintail” was taken in
the Two Hills area in Alberta Canada on September 4, 2007 and was banded as a chick
at 24 NNE Ft. Norman, Northwest Territories, where it was hatched in 2006. This young
bird was just over a year old when she was taken. About 58 million birds have been
banded in North America since 1904 and to date 3.1 million bands have been recovered
and reported. Data from the band reporting is used to monitor populations, set hunting
regulations, study effects of environmental contaminants and restoring endangered
species. This morning’s shoot though still good, was not as productive as the previous
mornings but we had our afternoon to make up our limits.
The final afternoon hunt again found us in a barley field and we setup facing east to
match the prevailing wind. Off to our left was a small lake basin and some wooded area
behind us and to the right was another wooded area. Our front was open to the road in
the distance and the birds were to head into the wind and into the decoy pocket in front of
us. The four of us had to be aware of our targets because we had taken 6 speckled
geese that morning and the limit for us was 12 (3 per person) and we also had near our
limit of pintail so we had to be careful of what we took (4 per person). So caution of our
targets was our “marching orders”. As the afternoon wore on the birds began moving
around 5 pm and to our surprise, huge flocks of Speckled and some Snow geese were
the first to fly. The Specks are cautious birds and do not always come readily to the
decoys. As the third flock was passing, the birds responded to the set up and they turned
and headed into us like a textbook description and within 20 yards, feet down, flaps
extended and closing we heard Darold’s shout of “Take’m” and with that first volley we
dropped 6 speckled geese, quickly fulfilling that species limit with one pass. Wow, the
adrenaline was pumping on that volley! More Specks and some ducks continued to fly
over and at this time we could only watch and some even approached to land, but none
of the birds coming in were eligible targets. At this point I could only “shoot” photos of the
Specks as more flocks made the approach into our set up. Soon we began to hear the
familiar “honk” of Canadians and off to my right was a flock about 25 yards coming into
us fast, and I’m still taking “photos”, as Darold said; “Don’t’ shoot!” thinking this flock
was Specks.  Ken, being the furthest away, happened to be the first to recognize that they
were Canadians as they came closer and he yelled “ they are Canadas” and “he” was
able to get off one shot. Well, the rest of us have great “pictures” of that group of birds,
right Darold? Sadly, the day was coming to a close and we still had some Canadian
goose and some duck limits to fill. We were able to pick up a few Mallards and another
Canadian, but dark was approaching. As we waited the last half hour or so of daylight,
Roger spotted four Canadians off in the distance in front of us, so out came that “flag”.
Sure enough those four geese turned and headed straight into us at about 30 feet off the
deck. Closer and closer they came and were directly ahead about 15 feet off the deck
and closing fast.  Probably at 25 yards and if by instinct we all rose to meet them, fired
one shot each and dropped all four birds at nearly the same moment. Our reaction was
like we practiced this move for hours. As the birds fell, the sound was like four
Volkswagens hitting the ground, though they were to be our last four geese for the day
that volley will be in my memory forever! There could be no greater way to close a hunt for
the day then the taking of those last four “huge” Canadian geese, Wow!   


Finally, darkness set in and Chris arrived to pick us up. We loaded our gear and near
limit of birds and headed back to the lodge for our last night before heading home that
next day. Early that final morning of our trip, Chris took out those who took the option for a
last hunt before heading to the airport that afternoon. Our trip had reached its eventful
end and memories were made for storytelling. The great work of Chris’s team and
Garret, Barrie, Casey and others, with their waterfowl knowledge and spotting skills
made each of our morning and afternoon hunts a unique experience and made for a
hunting trip that one would not ever forget. At midday we shared a great grilled rib-eye
steak luncheon, packed our last bags and gear, said our good-byes to the “Wingshot”
crew and of course the dogs too and boarded the van for our ride back to Edmonton.
As we left the “Wingshot” lodge and Two Hills, Alberta faded behind us, I could only
reflect on “What a Superb Canada_Goose Hunt” this was!
Superb Canadian Goose Hun Part 2
Nice flock of Canadas
Click to enlarge
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