Canada day 2

[Dave at kelton]

 

Stepped outside at 4.45 this morning to absolute silence broken only by the calls of the snow geese passing through. It was calm and cool but still positive temperatures but with small flurries of snow reminding us that this is autumn in Canada.

 

We had a snow goose hunt planned with a fifty minute drive to the stubble field near the roost. We stepped out into the predawn cold but warmed up putting out just over one thousand decoys over about 3/4 hour. Shooting is from deck chairs laying amongst the decoys with us dressed in white decorators overalls. Shooting light is 08.00 and the first snows moved not long after.

 

Whilst thousands were leaving the roost they were crossing the decoy pattern showing little interest, clearly with feeding planned elsewhere. Every now and then a small group would take a look and be drawn into the spread the first landing in the pattern amongst us whilst we awaited the rest before taking our shots. Whilst used to shooting from awkward positions wildfowling there is something about trying to sit up and shoot from these beds that is just unnatural making shooting challenging. Well that’s my excuse for missing a couple of sitters.

 

It was one of those flights when the geese just wouldn’t come in so we packed up with 21 snow geese a greater Canada and a white front. The latter had come in as a single and the Canada part of a bunch that passed just a little too close behind us. Would have been good to shoot more but that’s a good start for our five guns.

 

A quick turn around for lunch and back in the truck for a 45 min trip to another stubble field for a mixed flight, ducks and geese. Set up was an upright blind with a mix of decoys, snows, canadas and white fronts (specs). Hide building here is very different starting with a metal frame and huge bundles of birch willow and spruce which you would think the birds would avoid but it’s so much part of the landscape it is largely ignored. A lot less decoys than this morning at only about 600 but warm work in the afternoon sun.

 

Our flight began about 4.45 with a few mallard and then mixed groups of geese and ducks over about an hour. One moment we had a couple of geese over the pattern and the next fifty or sixty duck and equivalent numbers of geese but which to choose? In the end you wait for the geese but they decide to flair and you have missed a chance at the ducks! It was good fun though and we finished with 25 duck, 15 snow geese and five whitefront. We packed everything away about 6.00 pm and does that temperature drop with the sun, only the effort of collecting everything and loading the trailer keeping you warm.

 

it was a long day so it’s back for dinner at the lodge and grab some sleep before we begin again tomorrow, apparently on ducks.

DAY 2

A cooler morning when we stepped outside but not massively cold just a light breeze. We were booked in for a duck flight locally so an lie in until 6.00 with a 20 minute drive to a small pond in the centre of a stubble field. It was an easy set up using the big blind that just needed dressing with grass and bullrush. This was carried down to the edge of the pond and set into the rush beds.about five metres from the edge of the water.

Our Guide had put the decoys another five to ten metres out into the water an we settled back to wait with shooting light at 8.00. A few single duck cam in before that and settled before flying on. Hides were perfect sitting on bucket seats and looking up through the grass screen you could make out the birds and when in range drop the front of the hide for the shot.

The flight itself lasted about an hour and a quarter and was largely two or threes of mallard dropping in and flaring as the hide opened. It was good shooting but not as easy as it seemed and whilst I hit my share I certainly missed a few almost certainly behind as the pattern on the water attested. Without dogs we were instructed to kill anything that wasn’t dead on the water to avoid losing diving ducks. By the end we had 38 mallard and two pintail.

Another quick turnaround and out at 1.30 for snow geese as they were expected to jump from the roost to feed with a cold front coming in. Forty five minutes driving and we were out on another stubble field about a mile and a half from the roost. Even as we were setting out the thousand decoys there were snows wheeling around above us. It was the same set up a large comma about a hundred and fifty yards long with a hole about fifteen to twenty yards in front of our chairs to pull the geese into. At the front of the hole and sides three bouncers and a couple of electric whirlies. The e callers sit to the sides and are on full so lying out for a couple of hours they are ringing in your ears so you almost hear them in your sleep.

No sooner than we lay down and the guide left to take the truck away we had geese dropping in. We let them circle a couple of times before setting. Taking our shots as they flared we had eight down so it was looking good for the flight. From then on it was only twos and singles as the big groups, now shot at for several weeks on their migration were wary. They would circle a couple of times for a good look before drifting away. Three times we had lesser canadas through but they just stayed out of gun shot intent on another feeding ground.

As we lay out the snow started, small icy crystals that froze on your face, the only part of our bodies not covered. By 5.30 the flight had dried up and we were getting pretty cold so called it a day. Twenty three snows in the bag was okay although we had hoped for twice that. We were just glad to get back to the warmth of the Lodge with a cold weather front coming in. Tomorrow might be interesting.

[jall25]

Very interesting thread

Thanks Dave 

[welsh1]

Oh look someone has moved this to the wildfowling section where it should have been posted in the first place.

[07tric]

What an excellent read, think this needs to go on the bucket list. 

[Dave at kelton]

5 hours ago, welsh1 said:

Oh look someone has moved this to the wildfowling section where it should have been posted in the first place.

Wildfowling is on the foreshore. Goose hunting over stubbles in Canada is not wildfowling in my book. But then what difference does it make?

Edited November 3, 2022 by Dave at kelton
Addition

[welsh1]

38 minutes ago, Dave at kelton said:

Wildfowling is on the foreshore. Goose hunting over stubbles in Canada is not wildfowling in my book. But then what difference does it make?

So this site has many catagories for lots of different things, from how to bake the best bread to how to get your night vision working.They are there to enable people to easily find things that interest them in an efficient way.

If you post how to bake bread in the motoring section, you will annoy the foodies, you will annoy the mechanics and no one will find your post.I will get numerous messages from the said people all saying that your post is in the wrong place and it should be moved ,some tell me what to say to you, i tend not to repeat this to people as even though i can bypass the swear filter it's not polite.

The first sentence on BASC's web site about wildfowling goes "Wildfowling is the pursuit of geese and ducks,"

Please think where you post content, it helps me and keeps others happy.

[Penelope]

Be interested to know what Outfitter you have used, please?

I have watched all of the Claudio Ongaro 'Hired to Hunt' video's on YouTube

[Dave at kelton]

2 hours ago, Penelope said:

Be interested to know what Outfitter you have used, please?

I have watched all of the Claudio Ongaro 'Hired to Hunt' video's on YouTube

We used Claudio Ongaro

2 hours ago, welsh1 said:

So this site has many catagories for lots of different things, from how to bake the best bread to how to get your night vision working.They are there to enable people to easily find things that interest them in an efficient way.

If you post how to bake bread in the motoring section, you will annoy the foodies, you will annoy the mechanics and no one will find your post.I will get numerous messages from the said people all saying that your post is in the wrong place and it should be moved ,some tell me what to say to you, i tend not to repeat this to people as even though i can bypass the swear filter it's not polite.

The first sentence on BASC's web site about wildfowling goes "Wildfowling is the pursuit of geese and ducks,"

Please think where you post content, it helps me and keeps others happy.

Thank you for explaining. My next post will go in Wildfowling for those who may be offended.

[redfish77]

Thanks for posting! Sounds an amazing experience. 

[Penelope]

15 hours ago, Dave at kelton said:

We used Claudio Ongaro

Thank you Dave; interesting.

May I PM you?

[Dave at kelton]

1 hour ago, Penelope said:

Thank you Dave; interesting.

May I PM you?

Feel free just travelling back