Last Weeks Hunting Report

 This last week  found us out  in the fields chasing our web-footed friends. Last weeks  strong northwest winds seem to have brought in a few fresh geese but we lost some of our ducks that have been hanging around Rochester.  The only drawback with hunting right now is the unseasonably  warm temperatures and bright sunny skies. This seems to have pushed the geese into a late afternoon feeding cycle which only lasts for about 45 minutes to an hour.  The winds of change are on their horizon as Friday a cold front is going to sweep through our area and with it bring cooler air!  Hold onto your hats because things are about ready to get real spicy around Rochester! This is the time of year that we all wait for... Big slob geese, and cool crisp mornings with hopefully an inch or two of snow! 

 This last Sunday I had the privilege to be hunting with Bryce and Skylar (Bryce's 10 yr old daughter) when Skylar shot her first goose!  Words cannot begin to describe the enjoyment that we all had when she dirt rolled that single at 15 yards. And I wasn't sure who had a bigger smile, Bryce or  Skylar!  There were a ton of pictures taken and even more high-fives given to Skylar. It is always nice to see a young person introduced to the wonderful world of waterfowling.  Congratulations Skylar on your first goose! 

Skylar and Bryce with her first goose!

MANY photos were taken of this proud moment

A pair that did it perfectly!

 

This flock got crushed!

 

Yes we shoot ducks in Rochester!

 

The "Windmill" produces again

 

Hunting Has Started

I know, I know.... I've been slacking on putting out posts on the Blog! Well I'm happy to announce that we'll be updating this Blog often now that hunting has started to kick into high gear. 

Its amazing how fast 2 months of hunting can roll past. It seems like we were just swatting mosquitoes in the early season and then I blinked and it was the beginning of November! We had a pretty low key early goose season with a lot of hunts taking place with family and friends.  We spent quite a bit of time in the field with our 4 year old boys, Kelton and Brady. This years early goose season was warmer than usual with temps in the high 80's and even some low 90's.  Needless to say hunts only lasted a couple hours and were mornings only!

Then we moved right into the duck opener.  We decided to hunt a secluded little wood duck honey hole and did very well, even though we couldn't see more than 30 yards in front of us because of the thick fog. It was a fun opener with enough woodys decoying to keep the gun barrels hot and the shooters humbled!

The month of October had us getting our fields ready and fitting in some hunting where ever we could. We had a couple work weekends in order to get the pits looking great and getting them all cleaned up and ready to hunt. We've also spent a lot of time getting decoys and trailers ready for the upcoming grind that will start soon. There is a ton of work that goes in to getting our fields ready and what we consider huntable.  A special thanks to all our guys that show up and bust their butts getting the pits ready. Jeremy, Charlie, Dave and Bob always show up and get the job done.  I say it every year, but if it weren't for these guys helping get the fields looking perfect, our hunters wouldn't have such great hunts. Thanks fellas for the hard work! 

These two pics were of different flocks of geese coming into the decoys during a couple early season hunts.

Hawk retrieving the first goose harvested in the "Verizon" field

We were able to take 3 kids out on a goose hunt in October. The pile wasn't huge but the smiles were!

Kelton helping out calling on a flock of geese on an afternoon hunt

His calling must have been good enough because he helped me get my limit that day!

All hands on deck for getting the pits ready... Even if the hands are that of 4 year olds!

The early bird gets the worm. We work at all times of the day, even at 4:00 am!

And this is the finished product

There's an old saying "Every dogs got its day" and this year at Last Pass we are living this saying out hunt after hunt. Little Miss Josie has started to come into her own and is starting to become an excellent retriever.  She's a machine when it comes to retrieving ducks. Geese are still giving her a challenge but she is stepping up and starting to show those big slobs who's boss!

Hawk and Josie on duck opener

Hawk with a drake woody

Josie with her first duck retrieve!

I know February and March seems very far away but its actually right around the corner and that means SPRING SNOWS!!! Just a reminder that we are currently taking bookings for the 2016 season. Dates are filling up so get ahold of me or Bryce to get you and your group in the books for the greatest show in waterfowling!

Offseason Fun!

The spring months have cruised by and now transferred into the summer. Bryce and myself have been taking advantage of some family time out on the water catching walleyes and crappies.  I've even taken Kelton  trout fishing a few times this year but our success has been limited since trout don't bite well when there's a 3 year old throwing rocks into the water where we were fishing! 

Aubrey and Kelton both did well catching crappies this spring. It's easy fishing for Kelton since he can watch his bobber and I love hearing him get super excited about when a fish takes it under. Aubrey  is turning out to be my little walleye fisherlady! We went on the river a handful of times this year and she is picking up how to feel for bites while using Lindy Rigs.  In fact the last time we went out she out fished me! 

 Bryce has been smashing walleyes all spring long.  Bryce says there is getting to be quite the competition between Skyler and Brady as to who can catch more and bigger fish. Both kids have caught some really nice walleyes this year so far. I'm not sure who has caught the biggest but if you were to ask them, I guarantee both would say they had!  Bryce has been fishing tournaments again this year and has placed in every one he's fished so far. Even winning top prize at one of them on the river in May. 

Bryce and myself are hoping you and your family are having as fun of a summer as we are with our families! Check back for more posts throughout the summer. And members remember, memberships are due August 15 otherwise there will be a late fee added on.

Bryce and a slob Walleye

Brent and Bryce With the 1st place Fish

Kelton with a boat full of crappies

 

Two of the crappies Kelton Caught

 

Aubrey Outfishing Me On Walleyes!

 

Kelton Fishing For Walleyes

 

Brady With A Nice Walleye

 

 

 

 

Mushroom Madness!

Spring is in the air and its one of the most enjoyable times for me and my family.  We took full advantage of hitting all our secret moral mushroom honey holes!  This spring was a good one for us mushroom hunters with wet and cool temps keeping our spongy friends around for well over three weeks.  Besides eating the scrumptious mushrooms, the best part of the season for me is being able to take Kelton and Aubrey out with me.  This year Kelton was a mushroom machine with any spare time we had he wanted to be out in the woods looking for the next motherload! 

 

This summer I plan on putting out more blogs with the other outdoor activities we take part in during the long off season.  Keep checking back and we will have some up soon about fishing and our turkey seasons!

 

Also just an FYI for all our hunters...  Memberships will be due by August 15th this year.  Any questions on them feel free to call me or Bryce.  After last years unbelievable hunting, we have a lot of interest in memberships but last years guys have the first dibs on them.  If they decide to forfeit the membership it will be offered to the first person on the waiting list.

 

Also its never to early to get your snow goose dates down in the book for the 2016 spring season.  We've already had numerous groups book their weekends so hurry and get ahold of me or Bryce to reserve your spots for "the greatest waterfowl show on earth"!

 

Have a great summer and before we know it, it'll be that wonderful time of year when we wake up to a cool crisp morning with a stiff NW wind and canadas back peddling in the decoys! 

 

Kelton Picking A Good Cluster

 

 

We Picked 72 Mushrooms Around This Tree!

 

Kelton With His Find Of Perfect Morals

 

His First Harvested Mushroom.  He Found It And Picked It All On His Own!

 

A Beautiful Sight To A Mushroom Hunter

Missouri Snows

The spring snow goose season could be described as challenging this year in Missouri.  Once again we were reminded that mother nature has the last say in how our hunting goes.  Our "typical" start up date for Missouri had to be postponed a couple weeks because of a late snow and cold front that came through the Midwest.  We weren't affected with much snow but just south of us got blasted a couple different times and that put a halt on the migration for a couple weeks.  Once the weather changed for the better and we had warm temps, the birds pushed hard and we had 2 weeks of good hunting.  The temps were phenomenal after week one with everyday in the 70's and sunny with a good wind.  Everything we ever want and hope for when we are chasing snows!  The only problem with the temps that warm was the geese were able to keep pushing north with no snow line to hold them back.  I was amazed at how stretched out the migration was this year.  We thought it was spread out last year but that was nothing compared to what we saw this spring.  I had good friends killing geese in southern Arkansas and other friends killing geese in northern North Dakota all on the same weekend! 

 

The beginning of the season for us is always exciting and is always a grind to get decoy stakes in the ground and blinds stubbled.  This spring was tougher than normal since we had to use a drill bit to help us get through the frozen ground.  It was brutal setting up our first 4 decoy spreads!  Bryce and I are lucky enough to have some guys that really bust their butts to get the job done.  Bob, Mike and Charlie worked their tails off and we can't thank them enough!  Even when the huntings tough, and the weather sucks, these guys just have the attitude to get the job done and we appreciate that. 

 

Obviously with us hunting as much as we do in the spring, we see some pretty cool things.  I'm trying to remember some of the neat things we saw or experienced this spring.  I'd have to say that this year we dealt with more coyotes than in any other spring that I can remember.  Every field lost geese to coyotes and there were some days we lost multiple birds.  On one hunt Hawk couldn't retrieve the glided birds fast enough and we lost 5 snows to yotes!  It's very frustrating when you rain a flock of geese and one glides 300 yards and you watch a coyote come out of a tree line or waterway and grab it and race back into the brush.  Last Pass did get even a couple times with the coyotes.  The first run in happened when Charlie was guiding and his group glided 3 birds besides the ones they dropped in the decoys.  Charlie was walking along a little brush line on his way to the first downed bird when he startled a coyote out of the brush.  To bad for the coyote, Charlie has fast reflexes and was able to halt the dog in his tracks!  The other "getting even" story was with me and my dog Hawk.  We also were out picking up geese throughout the field when one of the snows took flight and flew into a thick waterway about 70 yards away.  Hawk was on it and me and one of the hunters from that day walked towards where we saw the bird go into the waterway.  We were standing there talking when we saw a white dot bouncing through the weeds.  We figured it was Hawk with the snow but then we saw a coyote come out of the waterway with the goose!  Then it dropped the bird because Hawk was a mere 5 feet behind and was chasing the coyote and nipping at its heals!  I'm glad I had another hunter there to see this otherwise no one would ever believe this story!  Hawk chased the yote for about 100 yards and then turned around and returned to the snow, grabbed it and brought it back to me!   

 

Bryce and I would like to thank all our hunters that decided to come and hunt with us this last spring.  It was fun seeing all our old friends and meeting a bunch of new ones!  We know you have many choices on who you can hunt with and we feel privileged that you choose us.  Thank you to everyone and we look forward to hunting with you all again this next spring!

 

 

 

 

The Boys Getting Gear Out On Another Field.  Lots Of Drilling Decoys In The Ground.  Notice The Generator In The Pic?  That Thing Is A Life Saver And A Time Saver!

 

 

Hours And Hours Of Drilling!  Bryce Runs The Drill And Mike Sets The Decoys.

 

 

A Good Afternoon Shoot With A Fun Group Of Guys

 

Tim and Matt With 23 Birds Shot In The Last Hour Of The Day

 

 

All These Geese Were Harvested Within 25 Yards!  The Wind Was Whipping At 20+ MPH So We Had To Let The Geese Get In Tight. 

 

One Of Many Flocks This Spring That Worked Down Into The Boot Bags!

 

 

This Hunt Was Amazing To Say The Least!  We Had One Of The Biggest Spins I've See In A Long Time.  There Were Geese Coming Into The Tornado From Miles And Miles Away

 

Charlie With The Mornings Take.  It Might Not Be The 100 Bird Shoot That Everyone Wants But These Guys Were Having The Time Of Their Lives And That's What Its All About.  Even When Hunting Was Tough These Guys Enjoyed Themselves!

 

Hello Juvies!  Welcome To Mound City!  Unfortunately Your Flight North Has Been Cancelled!!! 

 

I Had The Privilege Of Hunting With These 2 Well Behaved Retrievers.  They Were A Joy To Hunt With (And Their Owners Were Well Behaved Too!)  A Good Dog Is Always A Treat To Hunt With.

 

Do You Think Missouri Is A Flyover State For Planes?  I Loved This Pic Because Of The Sun Setting, The Planes And The Geese Flying Through

 

Hawk Enjoying A Water Retrieve On A 75 Degree Day

 

The Chad With A Morning Haul.  Chad Has Been Hunting With Us Since The Spring Of 2010 And He Is A Blast To Have In The Field.  He Just Loves Being In The Field, Taking All The Sights And Sounds Of The Spring In.  Plus When We Have A Good Rainout Its Awesome To See How Jacked Up He Gets!!!

 

Hawk With A Banded Snow

 

Get Ready Boys, Here They Come!!!

 

That's A Wrap!  Time To Head North And Call It A Season.  Thanks For The Memories...

 

 

 

That's a Wrap!

 

 

The 2014 Canada Goose season has officially come to an end for us guys at Last Pass Guide Service!  Like I say every year, its a bitter sweet feeling.  It's nice to have a break from the grind of hunting hard for the last 4 months but after having a month off I really start to miss being out in the cold and wind with big slob geese backpedaling in the decoys! Lucky for us the Canada season might be done but that just means the snow season is right around the corner! Its like the old saying says, when one door closes another door opens.

Before we move onto snow geese I'll discuss the fall hunting we had.  This Canada season was the best I've seen since 2005.  We had a lot of memorable hunts this year and two hunts where we zeroed and we'd like to forget!  There were 11 hunts where we harvested 30 geese or more and a pile of hunts where 20+ geese were taken.  The good hunting started on the early goose season in September and went all the way till the very last day of the season.  We did have two weeks in December where the hunting got tough with the warm temps, rain and fog.  October this year had us having some of the best hunts.  The best part about our October hunts is they were usually a mixed bag of geese and mallards. This year we harvested more mallards than I ever remember!  In fact I think we shot more ducks during this season than we have the last 5 seasons combined!  November brought us our big push of geese into Rochester when the rest of the state all froze up.  Unfortunately we lost a lot of our ducks but the goose hunting was phenomenal.  Like most years, we had a pile of ducks still decoying after the duck season ended.  Like I said, this season was described with one word... Memorable!

The last couple weeks of the goose season had us putting a hurt on the birds.  When we should've been struggling with stale birds we were harvesting big piles!  Bryce and I hated to see the season end with how great the hunting was.  We had 2 amazing hunts to finish the year off.

When You See This While Setting Decoys, It's A Good Sign!

 



 A Great Hunt With Lots Of Close Geese 

 

My 2 Boys... Kelton On The Left and Hawk With a Goose

 

Start Them Young!

 

A Great 24 Goose Shoot

 

 

Hawk With The First Goose Of 2015

 

 

The Last Day...30 Geese By 11:00!

 

 

We Had 1 Goose Sail To The North of Us So Hawk and I Made The Long Walk To Retrieve It. When We Came Over The Hill There Were 2 Eagles Picking It And This Is What It Looked Like!   

 

 

One Of Our Guides, Charlie, Was Hunting When He Had A Visitor Come And Try To Eat One Of His Decoys.  After the Coyote Pounced On A Decoy Charlie Let Him Have It!

 

 

 

As you read this we are working our tails off getting ready for the grind of the snow goose season.  It is looking to be a great season with a huge hatch of juvies this last spring.  If you still want to go give us a call ASAP!  We want to give a big thanks to the team members at Last Pass.  You guys are a huge help to us and we really appreciate it.  Also we would like to thank all the people that came to hunt with us this last season.  We have so much fun hunting with everyone and all of our hunters are good people.  Bryce and I know you have a lot of options who you can hunt with and we are thankful that you choose us.  We hope to see everyone again next year!