Its Goose Time!

Its November 16th today but to all of us die hard waterfowlers it feels a lot like Christmas Eve! The Midwest has a huge snow storm barring down on us for Friday/Saturday with 6-10 inches of snow getting dumped to the north of us! Anyone that hunts Rochester with us knows that means MIGRATORS moving in.  I find myself checking the weather channel every 15 minutes just to make sure they haven't changed the forecast or that the storm isn't sliding south.  I don't want everyone to think that this will be the big push but the way its looking, this will be a great way to push some numbers of geese into our area. The temps will finally get down to where they should be and that will help freeze up some ponds and shallow lakes up north. 

Before I get to excited about our upcoming storm system moving into the area, lets relive some of October and the good hunting we had. We spent most of the month beating up on wood ducks and a few other puddle ducks.  September gave us more rain than I can ever remember and that created new hiding places for the ducks.  Unfortunately for them the boys at Last Pass are great at playing hide and seek and we were able to find the little nooks and cranny's that the ducks have been trying to hide out in!

The goose hunting that we did in October was pretty good. We mostly hunted geese towards the end of the month when all our fields were harvested. We lucked out and had a good push of new birds into Rochester about the same time our fields were harvested.  For three weeks now we've been picking on these big swamp donkeys and they keep coming back for more! We ran hunts last weekend Fri-Sun and all three days our guys had a blast shooting good numbers of geese. I love this time of year because the geese are new and really dumb and the hunts are usually done by 10:00 so we can still make breakfast at the café! 

This year we had more field work than we've ever had with multiple fields needing upgrades. I say it every year, but without our team of guys, getting fields ready would take Bryce and me forever to get done. I would like to thank Charlie, Dave, Jack, Tyler and Reed for helping us out. The fields look great and I'm basing that off the dozens and dozens of geese that decoyed last weekend!

Below are some of the pics we've taken so far this year. I'm hoping its just the tip of the iceberg and this year keeps rolling with terrific hunts. If you want to get in on the action give me or Bryce a call and we'll hook you up!

Hawk with a giant

One of the many bunches that worked into our decoys so far this year

The Alaska boys getting in on some Minnesota Giants

Upgrading the Northfield

Hawk with another banded early season goose.

Early season means great chances at bands and they come in flocks!

Great sign in your field when you set up and see tracks and droppings all over the place

Olivia with her first goose! I love seeing kids get their first birds! What a great feeling

Bruce, Dean, Egon and Mark on a great morning hunt. These guys have hunted with us for years and it was great to see them have a good hunt. Egon flew all the way from Denmark to visit with friends and to hunt with Last Pass! Thanks guys!

Jack, Ryan and Kyle on a quick 35 minute hunt

Josie doing what she loves. 

You gotta love when the first flock of the day looks like this!

Spring/Summer Catchup

Wow where has the time gone?  Can you believe its already the beginning of October???  We as you can see from the pics below we had a great summer and spring.  There were some amazing turkey hunts and a ton of walleyes and crappies caught.  This spring also gave us a bumper crop of tasty morel mushrooms which goes well with some fresh caught walleyes!

Bryce and I both had good turkey hunts this spring in MN.  I was able to take an average 3 yr old MN bird with a 10" beard but his weight was really low.  Every bird harvested has a good story behind it and this one is probably my favorite out of all the turkeys I've shot!  When it came to Bryce's turkey season it came down to if it could go wrong, it did!  I think the final straw that broke the camels back was when he had a tom fired up and coming in on a string and a guy decided to take a ride on his 4 wheeler down the logging trail that the tom was coming up!  The bird ran the other way and Bryce could only sit there and shake his head at the trespasser!

The highlight of the spring had to be Bryce's 10 yr old daughter Skylar harvesting her first tom.  It was an amazing hunt with 3 nice toms strutting around the decoys for quite a few minutes before Skylar decided which one she wanted to bring home.  For her first turkey hunt she got to witness an awesome show from the 3 toms.  The only problem is Skylar was spoiled thinking that you sit for 30 minutes and then have 3 birds come straight in! 

I'll get some more pics from early season up on the Blog this week.  Not all the hunts will be posted because some of the pics show backgrounds that would give away where we hunted.  It seems dumb but we actually had a group of guys thank us for showing them exactly where to hunt with some of the pics we've posted in the past.  So now we are a little more hesitant on showing early season hunts because spots are harder to come by in our early season. 

Skylar and Her Beautiful 1st Tom

The 3 Toms Putting On A Show

Chad's Bird Out Strutting

Chad and His MN Bird

Morel Mushrooms!

Snows Update 2-23-2016

We are hunting in NW Missouri as of right now. We have gotten a lot of calls about birds pushing up into South Dakota and if we plan on jumping with them. Those geese in SoDak are the leading edge adults that we refer to as egg layers. They are brutal to hunt unless you have a good mix of juvies in with them. We have friends down in the bootheel of Missouri that are beating up on the juvies. With that being said and a good amount of birds on Squaw Creek NWR, we are staying put for now. This warm weather has birds strung out from the North Dakota border down to southern Arkansas. The problem with gambling and jumping north to SoDak is its only Feb 23! A lot of snow chances are still out there. We would rather beat up on these happy go lucky juvies than to head north and fight with the adults!

Snows Here We Come!

On your marks... Get set... GO!!!  All of us here at Last Pass are ready to point our compasses south and head down to Missouri for some fun in the sun!  We are only days away from starting our "mud and blood tour 2016" and we couldn't be more excited.  With Squaw Creek picking up more and more geese everyday and temps climbing into the 50's and 60's this week, we are excited to get to Mound City and put some stakes in the ground.  It also is a good feeling when a few of our farmers are sending us pictures of their fields that we hunt and they are plum full with geese.  It also makes sitting at home a long and nerve wracking wait.  We are hoping that good things come to those who wait!  

This spring we have so many exciting and new things going on.  Here are just a few.

This spring we have added another set of decoys to our arsenal.  After field testing multiple decoys and trying them last spring we decided to go with FeatherTek Decoys by our good friend Chris Holste.  I can't wait to put these out and watch the geese dump in all the way to the bootbags!

 Also Charlie has been building his latest and greatest rotary machines and we can't wait to add these into our spreads.  From what we saw of them last year, they are durable and easy to set up so that always is welcomed into a sleep deprived snow goose camp!

There will be a rookie dog in camp this year and I think she'll do a good job.  Bryce's dog Josie was with last year but she was still a pup and she was in the way more than she helped!  This year that will change as she transforms from a nagging puppy to a full fledged retrieving machine!  

We've also locked down some new fields that should put up some good hunts this spring.  We still have all our other fields and we are excited to get down there and find a few more for "hot setting".  

This spring is looking to be a nice drawn out season with the egg layers already sitting on squaw and birds strung out down to southern Arkansas.  There should be consistent hunting with birds leaving everyday but then being replaced by new and younger birds migrating in.  Like every year, weather is the number one factor in snow goose hunting.  

We are pretty well booked up but if you are looking to get out of the house because you have cabin fever, give us a call.  We might have an opening for when you can hunt.  

The New FeatherTek Decoy Spread and Blinds

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