| A Superb Canadian Goose Hunt Part I By Tom Kenny The last day of August was an early air travel day, Friday, of our total six-day event and hunting experience in Canada. Our travel brought us through Calgary where we cleared customs and then on to Edmonton and from that city by van, to our hunting lodge destination at “Wingshot Guiding Services” in the farm community of Two Hills, Alberta. Two Hills is located in the vast green rolling plains, lake and river area about 85 kilometers west of Edmonton. The area is rich in wildlife both feathered and furred and is home to huge farms where barley, peas and silage are the main crops grown in the fields where most of our hunting was to take place. We arrived at the “Wingshot” lodge around 8:30 PM that evening and met Chris Dumbelton, our professional guide; and his family, who are all so much a part of this family business. After we selected our cabins for the duration, we continued into the lodge for further greetings and introductions and began to discuss the plans for the next day. Two groups of four hunters, all of us from California, and most who are Foster City Rod and Gun Club members consisting of the first group of four, Darold Givens, Roger Hatin, Ken Bertelsen, Tom Kenny and the second group with Bob Kruger and Bob brought three of his buddies Al Piccinini, Harold Whitmore and Nathan Chandler to fill out the crew. This article will cover primarily what I experienced being a part of the first group. As we discussed the next day’s plan, we also met the rest of Chris’s family, Cindy his wife, Chris’s mum, Barbara, sons Cody, Jacob and daughters Ashley and Amy. Why a Goose hunt in Canada; especially here in Alberta and some distance North, food is plentiful and the environment is favorable for the many species of waterfowl that summer here and raise their chicks and prepare for life’s cycle of the bird’s “Winged Migration”. The Canadian waterfowl hunting season is short compared to our U.S. season, as their first hunting day is September 1st and runs until October 19th, by then with the Canadian winter chill fast approaching, many birds are on the start of their migration south. Now, down to the business of planning the next day’s Goose hunt. The routine was to wake-up around 4:00 am, have a continental breakfast, some snacks and a beverage for the field and hot coffee to open your eyes. The next step for the two groups of four hunters, was about a 15 to 45 minute drive to your morning hunting spot, set up your blinds and decoys and be ready for the birds when they start flying at sunrise. Since most of our hunting was to take place in harvested pea and grain fields, we were going to use the flat folding field blind where you are hidden by lying in the blind on your back. Each blind has a backrest which props you up so that you are not completely flat and a “door-flap’ is pulled over to cover most of your body and shotgun with just your head and part of your shoulders exposed. This technique keeps you close to the ground and the use of an appropriate camouflage jacket, hat, and face mask is important as is the “stuffing” the various fabric loops on the blinds with straw and grasses to further blend in with the surrounding field. With luck at sunrise, your birds start making noise, flying overhead and coming in to your decoys. You also have a robo-duck for ducks and of course the use of goose and duck calls to help the birds come in. Roger Hatin had brought a crazy “Goose” flag (basically a dark fabric silhouette on a stick!) that he would wave when we would spot geese off in the distance and to my surprise they would respond from a long way, turn and head toward us; an amazing sight to see; all those geese responding to that flag! When closer, the decoys and calling would bring them the rest of the way into your set-up. A point of caution though was when bringing geese in, you had to remember to keep the robo-duck off, as the geese did not like the robo-duck motion. After all of the set-up was ready for the first day, Saturday morning, and Roger’s flag waiting, as if on schedule, at sunrise, we began to hear the Geese honking and some groups flying in our direction. With Darold’s “talented” calling and Roger’s flag, we turned the first flight of geese our direction and within minutes we had the first flock of about 70 over our head. Darold yelled “Take’m” when they were close, maybe 25 yards and closing to our blinds and with the first volley we dropped three greater Canadian geese and within minutes we had another flight of Canadian and again dropped four from the second flock. Once the birds were up, the amount of Geese that were moving was staggering to see, especially for this first timer, and they were all the large Canadian variety with only a few of the “lesser Canadians” or “cacklers” flying. This first morning’s activity was all about “Honkers” and we had a steady opportunity for some great shots with only one cripple which we were able to dispatch quickly which brought our first morning total to 31 geese between the four of us, not a bad morning for some “old” guys lying on their backs! Ken was successful with his new “pattern-master” choke and I improved my shooting technique once I learned the process of how to use these “new to me” field blinds. As we experienced on that morning hunt, the birds usually cease flying around 10:00am as they are usually at their feeding or daylight resting areas by then. Later in the day you will see large groups of birds begin to fly again and move about in the late afternoon as they move from daylight resting, water or feeding areas and head for their night time bedding locations before darkness sets in. Next Month Part 2 |
| Canadian Duck and Goose Hunt |
| Nice limit boys!! Click on the photo to enlarge |
| A nice sunrise with anticipation Click on photo to enlarge |
| Foster City Rod and Gun Club |
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