Amazing, unbelievable, outstanding, to fast, incredible, awesome, and simply WOW! That is a few of the words to describe the last 2 weekends of hunting. In all the years of guiding goose hunters Bryce and I have never seen hunting this good and this consistent. For it only being the end of October we usually don't have this consistent of hunting. We always say that October is the easiest month of hunting. If you see a flock of geese we'll kill them usually. The problem is we usually don't see hundreds or thousands but this year is a lot different! We're always truthful with our hunters and we always tell them that there is never a guarantee when it comes to goose hunting but these hunts have been as close as it comes to a guarantee! We have around 500 geese and 100 mallards feeding in one of our leases everyday. At Last Pass we are managing this hot field the way it needs to be, by not burning it out. We are hunting a total of 5 hunters plus 2 guides and that's it! These are layout blind hunts only since the lack of corn being harvested is hurting us with our pitted fields.
Like I said earlier, this field is LOADED with birds! The hunting has been a ton of fun and I have to thank all our hunters for the good times. The key to keeping the great hunting is to get our limit quick and then leave the decoys so the remaining geese can come out and feed without being disturbed. And trust me, the plan has worked perfectly!
The first hunters we had were a father/son named Mike and Sam. It was Sam's 13th birthday and what a present his dad gave him! The hunt lasted a whopping 17 minutes. You know hunting is good when it takes longer to set decoys than it does to shoot the limit of geese! We were able to shoot into 2 flocks to get the 12 geese so that helped preserve the field for future hunters. It always helps when the first flock of 6 for the day comes out and the guys shoot 5 outta 6...which I'd like to give props to Sam for shooting a triple on that flock! This kid is a really good shot and as you can see in this pick, his smile was brighter than the rising sun this day!
Our next hunt took place this last Saturday and it was also a great hunt. It was cloudy and that hurt the goose flight but it didn't dampen the hunt! We had numerous flocks in tight and it took the guys a couple flocks to warm up but unfortunately for the geese the guys got into a good rhythm and it didn't take to long for them to shoot their limit of geese. We still were able to get out early enough to let a few flocks of geese come in and feed. Once again we sat at the trucks and got to watch birds belly into the decoys and feed right next to our blinds!
Sunday mornings weather was opposite of Saturdays cloud cover. It was sunny, good 10-15 mph south wind and we had waterfowl that didn't even circle but bellied right in! The action was fast and the hunt was short! The first flock to come out was a nice flock of 11 mallards and when the smoke cleared we harvested 7 or them! A flock of 8 geese decided that our decoys looked good and they glided in to 15 yards and we put a hurt on them. Another 5 ducks worked beautifully and we knocked them all down. We were 2 hen mallards away from the limit on hens so the group decided to hold off on shooting anymore ducks which was a great idea even though we had 2 other bunches come right in. The flock of 3 hens and 2 drakes actually hovered over our blinds at 5 yards! Apparently our spread was the place to be because the next few flocks of geese played copycat to the first one and before we knew it we were all done! This hunt lasted just under 60 minutes and then we were able to sit at the trucks and talk smart while the remaining geese rolled out to our field to have some breakfast.
These hunts are booking up fast, I mean really fast! If you are wanting a fun morning hunt give me or Bryce a call. Remember that these hunts are out of layout blinds and not pits and we are only hunting mornings. This is as good as it gets when it comes to hunting! Don't be fooled because its not cold and snowy, this is goose hunting at its finest!
Mike and Sam with a 17 minute limit of 12
Me and Bryce Hauling Geese Out of the Field Quickly
Saturday's Limit with a Bonus Mallard
Sunday's Slaughter, Limit of Geese and 11 Mallards
This is the look that a dog gives when it can't go hunting with us!
