Duck Opener

The duck/goose season opened September 27th and it found us hunting one of our wood duck holes on the mighty Mississippi River backwaters. When scouting the area we noticed it was holding a fair amount of geese along with some mallards and of course good amounts of woodies. Of course Bryce and myself were excited to shoot some geese on our duck hunt! We had a good wind and our hide was perfect as shooting time neared. Pretty soon shooting time came and went without a duck being seen! It was the longest 10 minutes of legal shooting time before we saw our first ducks of the 2014 season. A flock of 5 woodies dumped in and we shot 3. We had good bird activity from that point on and we finished the opener with 13 woodies and 4 geese for 5 guys. We should've had our limit of woodies with the 2 remaining guys getting more than their fair chances at ducks!

Sunday was a lot tougher with not as many ducks being seen. We ended the day with 3 guys shooting 5 woodies and 2 geese. Not huge numbers but a good time for sure!

We were still open Monday so I decided to take Kelton out for a quick morning goose hunt. We were able to shoot 3 geese quick and get out of the field before the main push came out. And the best part was the third bird was banded! With Kelton only being three he doesn't understand daily limits so he was upset that we had to leave the field so early when geese were still flying! He wanted to stay out and shoot more!

This weekend, Oct. 11th, we open back up and it's looking to be pretty decent. We've had great waterfowl weather with cold winds and a hard North wind blowing for 3 days straight. I know Rochester has picked up a pile of new geese and from the reports I'm getting from my friends up north birds have been pushing south all weekend. 

Nothing Prettier than a Drake Wood Duck

Hawk at Our Woodie Hole on Opener

Backwater Beauty

 

Hawk on Another Goose Retrieve

 

The Middle Decoy Took On A Few (20+) BB's And Doesn't Float So Well Anymore! But The Guy "Was Sorry!"

 

Kelton And Hawk

 

And I'd like to announce a new member to the Last Pass family... Meet Josie! She's a little yellow lab pup that you'll see out in the fields starting next spring in Missouri.  Bryce and his family got the pup Sunday of opening weekend when it was 8 weeks old.  She's a great looking pup and we are all excited to see her in the field in the upcoming years!



 

On to the Regular Season!

Unfortunately the Early goose season is over and along with that so is the five bird limit. But with the end of that early goose season brings on the regular season and also the chance to shoot ducks! We closed out the early goose season with a bang. We were able to take advantage of some naïve geese using one of our fields. It was a lot of fun but now I am ready to bring on some new birds with hopefully a little push coming in the next couple of weeks of some new geese.

 I am amazed at how much the leaves have changed color in the last week! It's a true sign that fall is officially here! And with the changing of the season it's time to get everybody's mind on hunting and getting out and bagging some geese! We have a field holding 2 to 300 geese in it daily. Give us a call and we will line you up on a hunt.

 This weekends duck hunting opener looks to be something special. There is a pile of wood ducks around the area with some sprinkling of teal and a handful of mallards. I'm hoping the group that we have going on Saturday throws up a dirty pile!

Another Big Bunch Working Into the Honey Hole

Bryce and Jeremy After the Hunt

Everyone Loves Bands!

I Couldn't Make It Through The Early Season Without Showing One Of Our Many Good September Hunts! 

Good luck to everyone that is going out chasing ducks and geese this weekend! Please be safe shoot straight and enjoy time in the great outdoors with family and friends! 

Week 1 recap

The first week of the season is over with and in the books! What a fun and great week it was. We always save the opener for friends and family and this year was no different. We enjoyed a wonderful sunrise and a great flight of geese! Opener brings an excitement like no other. Dogs are full of energy ready to grab the first feathers of the new season, guys are ready to pull the trigger, decoys are finally back out in the field and we are even excited to stubble blinds! It's the best time of the year!!!

Opening weekend was super fun for us because Saturday Bryce was able to take his daughter Skyler out hunting with us. She had a great time and is starting to become a seasoned veteran at decoy setting and picking up! In a few years hopefully she can start guiding for us!!!

Sunday morning of opening weekend I was able to take my three-year-old son Kelton out hunting with me. I had more enjoyment watching him pick up birds then I've had in quite some time! There is nothing like seeing the face of a young child out hunting for the first time! He was so excited to see the geese coming in that even if I told the whole story on this blog page it wouldn't do it justice. It was hilarious having him tell me to shoot them when they were at 100 yards and me having to stop and tell him to let the geese come a little closer! Bryce and I are very fortunate to have children who love the Hunt like Aubrey Kelton Skyler and Brady do!

This early season we have been taking a bunch of photos of the hunts. Every year we take "hero" shots of all the geese we harvested but this year we are trying to show all parts of the hunt.

After the weekend we'll have a bunch more photos!

Stubbling Blinds

The Sun Rises On Another Season!

Bryce and Skylar

Kelton's First Sunrise In A Goose Spread (a Proud Dad!)

Kelton With A Big Goose

Kelton and His Buddy Hawk

Countdown is 1 day!

Less than 24 hours until the goose season FINALLY kicks off!!! A nice cold front came through last night bringing temps back down in the upper 60's and lower 70's with bearable humidity. We have a field all ready and we are just hoping the geese cooperate! For all you that are going out tomorrow, be safe, remember to aim and have fun!

Only 10 Days!...

With the humid hot weather as of late I'm really missing scenes like this!  There is nothing like a morning of fresh snow and a 10 mph NW wind.  But for now we get to enjoy shooting "summer geese".  Go time starts in 10 days and we are starting to get pretty excited around here.  The Labor Day weekend this year will be spent scouting and getting a game plan for the opener on Sept 6th.  A lot of people don't like hunting geese in Septembers early season because of the heat and bugs.  To tell you the truth I love it!  Hunts are usually done by 8:00 and we usually have our hashbrowns and eggs at the café by 10:00.  As for the bugs, its nothing a little bug dope can't take care of!  

 

Just an FYI to all our snow goose guys...  September 1st is when all remaining unbooked dates are open game.  If you want a certain weekend make sure you get ahold of me or Bryce so you don't lose your spot!

Dog Days of Summer

 

Wow where has the time gone?!  We have had a great summer but now its time to shift our attention away from catching walleyes and start focusing on killing geese.  I've been out the last 2 weeks checking roosts and loafing areas and all I can say is this year looks to be a good one!  I received an email in the middle of July from a friend that helps out the DNR with the banding projects and he told me that there was no shortage of goslings this year and now I believe him.  I hate to wish away the easy hunts of October and the migrator hunts of November but I'm really excited about he late season hunts of December!  I love the snow and cold and big slob geese bowed up coming into the kill hole!!!  Until then I guess I'll have to settle for swatting mosquitoes and shooting geese in September. 

 

The next few weeks will go by fast as usual and before we know it we'll be hunting geese again! 

 

Just a reminder to all our members...  Memberships are due by August 15th!  After the 15th they are open to the public so don't miss out on one of the best deals available!!!  For those that don't know what a membership is, its a pass that alloys you to come hunting whenever we are out in the field.  We have a couple guys that hunt 20+ days a year from that pass!  If you are interested in one please contact me or Bryce ASAP.

 

Last Pass Guide Service, L.L.C.

Chad Foster

 

 

My Son Kelton Helping Me Work With Hawk During the "Dog" Days of Summer

 

 

Hawk Enjoying Some Cool Water Retrieves On A Hot Day

Springtime FUN!

I sometimes wonder which is a better time of the year...fall or the spring?  I'd still lean towards the fall but spring would come in a close second.  I mean really close!  All of here at Last Pass have been very busy enjoying mushroom hunting, turkey hunting and walleye and crappie fishing. 

 

Turkey hunting is one of my favorite things to do in the outdoors.  I love how its usually a one on one game between you and the tom.  I love having a 30 pack of slob honkers back peddling in the decoys and 500+ snows screaming down in a major tornado but there is nothing like a big tom choking himself gobbling as he struts his way towards you!  And this year Bryce and I shot very nice toms.  I was lucky enough to shoot my bird only feet away from a good patch of morel mushrooms!  Nothing better than frying up turkey fingers and fresh mushrooms.

 

I've been seeing a lot of little fuzz balls swimming around with their parents.  I've received mixed answers on how the nesting was for Canada geese in Minnesota.  I've been told that the cold weather didn't effect the nesting success but the high water took out a good amount of nests.  In the next 3 weeks the banding reports will come out and we'll see how the hatch was for canadas.  I know I've been seeing a lot of large flocks flying which tells us the molt migration is in full force.  Whatever the hatch report says I'm not going to be overly worried since last year was a horrible hatch and we had our best year since 2005!

 

This week is also the time when the snow geese have to be on their nests to have a good and healthy hatch.  From all the articles I've read it will hopefully be another great hatch.  Its been warm enough for them to get down to business so keep your fingers crossed for a pile of juvies for next spring!!!

 

We had a couple cancelations by previous members on their memberships for this year.  If anyone is interested give Me or Bryce a call ASAP to get yours today.  Its a great deal for the person who wants to hunt great fields a ton of times each year!

 

The Fall is right around the corner!  I can't wait until the cool crisp nights start and we can get back out in the fields chasing geese!  

 

Anything Better Than Morels In The Spring?

 

 

That's What I Call A Paintbrush!