2012 Youth deer season

     Our 2012 youth firearm season started the evening before with a little scouting trip. I Picked up Josh and Jamison from their house and we drove over to some public land that we would be hunting for the next two days. It was raining and there was a 10 mph north wind, Perfect conditions for sneaking around the edges to the fields to see what was going on.

      We put on our supposedly water proof and resistant jackets and headed off to a spot that has not only been good to be but Josh 2 years ago as well. That year we were not really even settled in when he shot a deer.

      As we made our way down the road right off we saw deer in the field. A closer look revealed three bucks eating in the cut corn field. One was a BIG one and another anyone would shoot .The other was a so so deer that I would be happy if one of the boys got.   

      We slowly and quietly backed out of there and checked out another area that I had not been to in several years. It didn’t look anything like it did 10-15 years ago when I called it my stompin grounds due to all the brush and what once was small saplings, but the lay of the land was the same and deer were using it just like they always have. We saw a few other deer and knew that we would be in a good area.

      The next morning we were there bright and early. The temperature  was somewhere around 40 with a north, north west  wind somewhere around 15 mph . The weather man said that the highs today would be around 50 so it is a perfect morning.

      Jamison and I left Josh in the spot that he likes to sit, the afore mentioned place that was good to him two years ago, and we made our way out across the field where we would find a pace to hide. We found two willow trees that looked good and was between two heavily used deer trails, but a deer would be right on top of us before we would see it. Not far away from there we found a stand of Russian olive bushes and a quick trim with my Gerber saw and clippers we had a blind that anyone would be proud to sit in.

      We sat in the darkness and watched as the sky went from pitch black to different shades of pink and orange. As the new day was being born the world around us began to wake as well. It was not long till we saw our first deer. A doe that Jamison spotted on the skyline and turned in to a dark shadow as it made its way to where she would lay around for the day. It was still 8 minutes till official shooting time, and with the two big boys we saw in this area the night before it was an easy decision to let her go on her way.

      Not long after our fist deer sighting we saw two more deer slowly making their way to our position. One was a doe and the other had some impressive head gear but was still a bit to far to shoot. A very tense few minutes with me coaching him to keep calm and slow his breathing, Jamison was in position to shoot. As soon as the buck stopped and gave a broad side shot at 75 yards James pulled the trigger. The shot rang out in the silence of the morning but the deer stood there and looked around. He quickly reloaded the H&R Ultra Slug Hunter and steadied the cross hairs on the deer again. This time the deer ran out into the field a little, but they were still unsure of what was going on.  After his third shot the deer disappeared over the hill, untouched by the slugs he was throwing at them.

      Somewhere around 9 o’clock we again had deer moving in our direction. It was a doe and a smaller buck. Jamison said he was not going to shoot the 4 pointer but if the doe offered a shot he was gonna take it. They both moved closer to us and the small buck gave one perfect shot after another the closest being at thirty yards. The doe gave a nice broad side shot at fifty yards and Jamison took it. At the sound of the shot the deer ran. It acted like it was hit but I could not see where. It kind of appeared to me that he hit one of her front legs.

      We climbed out of or hide and looked down the field were Josh was sitting. I could see Josh ,and someone else wearing an orange hat 75 yards in front of Josh in the field. I got on the radio and ask what in the world was going on down there. Josh said he saw the guy and he thought the guy saw him. Josh said the guy was carrying a bag and was bending down and picking stuff up. I told Josh to yell at the guy to let him know he was there and the guy made a quick exit, now back to looking for this deer.

      We went out and found where the deer was standing and started to run, the rain in the last two days really helped us out with that. I found one drop of blood as big as my pinky nail right there and another about half that size a few feet away. It was easy to see where the deer went into the grass field because of the dew on the ground. We then saw a doe standing out in the over grown grass 50 yards away and she made a quick exit. We followed the path the deer ran up until she hit some woods not seeing another speck of blood. From there we spread out and covered every inch of ground and found no  more sign of a good hit . After searching for almost 2 hours we decided the deer had to be hit in the leg and was going to live to see another day.

      We had Josh come down and help us with the search so we decided to find another spot to sit for another hour or so before we called it a morning.

      With Josh all set up in a new spot Jamison and I headed off to find us somewhere to sit when we spotted a heard of deer feeding in the corn somewhere around a half mile away from us. We opted to do a stalk and see how close we could get. So we backed off of the field a little bit and headed the direction where we saw the deer.

      As we got closer I occasionally would take a look out in the field and see if we were still on track. Everything about this stalk was going good, a little too good, but with the wind in our favor we pressed on.

      I could see the feeding heard just over the rise and it wouldn’t be long until it was trigger pulling time. I forgot to mention that when we met up with Josh I convinced them to switch guns. Josh has killed several deer with the H&R but James has not so he wanted to use it this morning and against my better judgment I let him. Now he has his Mossburg 500 youth with a rifled barrel and I have much more faith in his shooting abilities with it.

      With James behind me we slowly and carefully pressed on. All at once I spotted 2 deer bedded down  just 20 feet from us. James saw the deer just seconds after I did and as I stepped to the side and covered my ears they stood up. James fired and I saw one deer run off. We stepped out into the field and took just a few steps and saw his deer, a 1 ½ year old 5 pointer piled up.

      After a couple high fives we sat down and watched as the rest of the herd, 9 deer in all walked up within 30 yards of us, I wish we had brought Josh along.

      After a few pictures and text messages we field dressed the deer and I started the mile and three quarter walk across the muddy field to get the deer cart.

      That evening we had Jamison sit up on a hill and radio us information on where the deer were entering the field. Even though we saw several deer one never came close enough for a shot.

     We could not hunt the next morning but were back that evening in a different spot than before. We were at the willow trees and were counting on Jamison’s reports because we couldn’t see very far from our position. My friend Jeff and his son Ryan had joined us this evening as well and they were across the field from us in a spot the deer have always congregated in the past.

      After being spotted by a group of does not once but twice due to me not being as careful as I should have the end of the day was drawing near. All at once I heard something move behind us and turned to see a deer just a few feet away. Before I could let Josh know, the deer saw me and jumped and ran back into the overgrown field. Then the area exploded with deer. They seemed to be everywhere but the one that was going to make the fatal mistake was 30 yards behind us . The only thing we could see clearly was its head ears and neck. Josh steadied the gun against the tree but said he didn’t feel comfortable with the shot so he didn’t take it.

      We ended our 2012 youth deer season with only one deer but memories and lessons that will hopefully last a life time.

Another try. Didnt get the first one right.

GoPro video try

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5LOhv0U-BE&feature=youtu.be

From One River ti the Other

         From One River to the Other

    Well after 12 months of anticipation its finally here, 2011 gun deer season. I myself don’t get excited about gun deer hunting as I once did but two of my boys Josh 13 and Jamison 11 rate it higher on the list than Christmas.

    Not really liking to hunt public land that is over crowded with half drunk, two weekend a year, hunters from the suburbs and beyond, I like to find us private land to hunt. A friend from work helped out this year. His mother-in-law owns a fair amount of land in Hardin county, near the town of Rosiclare .

    With the truck packed up with hunting clothes, guns, and snacks we went to bed early anticipating the next days hunt. The next morning the alarm seemed to go of way to early at 0230 but we needed the extra time to make the two plus hour drive . In the darkness the boys slept while I sipped coffee and driving ,wondering why in the world we were not hunting closer to home. See I can drive 15 minutes from my drive way and be looking at the Mississippi River ,this morning I was driving to the far east side of the state to hunt on the banks of the Ohio River.

    We arrive at out hunting area right on time. I have high hopes for the day because I was here just a few days ago and there was a lot of deer sign and several deer sightings on the trip. My hopes were soon greatly diminished when we heard several deer blow and run AWAY from out hunting area. I did have reservations about parking here but it was really the only place on the one lane road we could pull off.

    The hunting area consisted of a hardwood ridge and a thick valley, the Ohio River on one end and the edge of town on the other. As we made our way along the ridge I knew exactly where we wanted to be. I did not set up stands, it is rare that we use them during gun season; we would just sit with our backs against a big tree to break up our outline.

     This way of hunting has both advantages and disadvantages. The biggest advantage, in my opinion, is mobility. With ladder stands that are easy for younger hunters to use they are much harder to move, if a move is in order. How many times have you been sitting in a stand and either the wind changes, or the deer activity is 200 yards from where your stand is? Now disadvantages. You cannot see as far and you have to sit still, and you have to be ready for a close encounter if needs be.

    Both James and Josh have both learned this art of hunting. The two things to keep in mind is , sit as still as you can , and when you have to move, move as slow as you can. I know Josh has killed at least one deer out of a tree stand, but Jamison never has big, bulky, two man stands are hard to put up, and hanging two stands is twice the work especially by yourself.

    This year Josh will be sitting by himself. So equipped with our H&R 20 ga Ultra Slug Hunter and a Motorola 2 way radio Jamison and I leave him in the darkness beside a huge oak with the instructions, DON’T SHOOT THIS WAY.

   Jamison and I slowly make our way down the ridge 200 yards or more from Josh and begin our morning vigil. We have a commanding view of the holler below. We sit quietly and watch the new day come alive. We are only 200 yards from the river and can hear ducks and geese flying south, various birds  ,and a few squirrels entertain us as we wait for a deer.

    Josh has reported a deer sighting but it was in the brush before he could get a shot off. Jamison and I had seen nothing. I was content with just being in the woods with my boys. Jamison had nodded off for a bit while I kept watch over the holler we were watching. My mind drifting here and there, while I was scanning the woods, when a shot rang out 200 yards to our right.  I gave him a good minute before I called him, on the radio, but I didn’t have to. I hear a very excited voice saying,” DAD! it was a BUCK ! I’m not sure if I got him or not. HE WAS CLOSE!”  With it being close to eleven we headed toward where we left Josh this morning. He did move up the ridge just a little, to give him a better view.

    We stood there and listened to a very excited story of how when he saw the deer it was only yards away from where he was sitting. He told us how he was looking the woods over and all the sudden out of nowhere there it was right beside him. Josh said he brought the gun to his shoulder very slow, and when he got the deer in the scope all he could see was brown. He backed the variable power scope from 4x to 1.5x and the second that he pulled the trigger the deer ran up the hill.

    Josh pointed out where the deer was standing when he shot and it was confirmed by the deep running tracks on the ground, but there was no sign of a hit. We followed the tracks up the hill until they were not obvious anymore without a speck of blood being seen.

    Since we had made some noise looking for our possibly dead deer we decided to head to the truck for some lunch. We ran down the road to Elizabethtown or E Town as it is called for a few greasy burgers and a bag of chips from the grocery, bait, gas, and all night video rental store. We went back out to the river front to eat out lunch and grab a nap before we made it back to the woods.

    After our lunch we discussed hunting closer to home the rest of the season. After a quick look at the IDNR web site to find out they did in fact have some Jackson county either sex tags left we ran up the road to Golconda. A small Southern Illinois river town made famous in the 1998 movie U.S. Marshalls. When we got there I bought the last two either sex tags for Jackson county or rushed back to Rosiclare to hunt the evening here.

    Josh elected to hunt the spot where he sat that morning so me and James headed back to our river outlook spot for the last 4 hours of the day.

    Josh spotted deer all evening while James and I weren’t even getting a sniff. The ones Josh was seeing were coming from our direction but must have been coming off the opposite ridge cause they were not walking past us.

    Late in the evening the 10-15 mph wind died down to dead calm,just like it always does at that time of day. As we were scanning the area I thought I heard something behind us. I turned around and looked ,but saw nothing. A few minutes later , I heard it again. I peeked around the tree again ,and this time saw what was making the noise , a deer eating acorns and moving in our direction.

    I looked again and saw that the deer was a buck. He did not have huge head gear ,but would make a fine first buck for Jamison. I didn’t want James to look around the tree too and spook the deer so I was doing all the looking. It was hard to tell which side of the tree he was gonna come out on. The one thing I was sure of was he was gonna be CLOSE when he offered the shot.

    When the deer was at 30 yards he turned broad side and seemed to have noticed that I stuck my head out and looked at him. He didn’t seem nervous at all , he really seemed curious . I told Jamison to turn around , get up on his knees ,  ease around the tree slowly , and shoot the deer.

    Even though he was under a little pressure he pulled it off great . Jamison got moved around and we both eased around the tree at the same time. I ask him if he had a good shot , he said yes. I told him to shoot whenever he was ready. A few seconds later he pulled the trigger of his 20 ga Mossburg 500 and the deer dropped in its tracks . We immediately hear over the radio  “ Was that one of you guys?”

    We get up and make it over to his deer a fine 6 pointer. I snapped a few pictures with my phone and sent them to a few family and friends. Jamison tagged and field dressed his with a little help from dad. It was now dark enough that we needed our head lamps.

    We drug the deer 200 or so yards before Josh began to help us. As soon as Josh saw the deer he said it was the one that he had shot at earlier that day . He could tell by one of the points being a little crooked.

    Once we hit the road I walked back to get the truck. We snapped a few more pictures ,loaded him up , and headed toward home.

    It was another great day in the woods with my boys. I don’t know who was more proud Jamison because he had his first antlered buck , because it was the first time he had killed a deer the first day , or me because they are both shaping up to be great hunters and woodsmen.

2012 First Season Turkey

Matthew 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, . . . . . . . . .
　
I had just stepped into a field that just looks like it was made for killing turkeys, but so had every place I have been the last 3 days. Even though its 10:00 I have very high hopes for this set because I have actually physically seen more turkeys between 10:30 and noon than I have at any other time of day.
　
It has been a rough three mornings. I thought hunting was supposed to be relaxing ,but the only word that sums up this years turkey season so far would be frustrating. Youth season was a bust even though we hunted hard from daylight till quitting time we had nothing but memories to show for our efforts.
　
April 9 th ,the first day of season started out with high hopes. First off there was no one else in the parking lot but me when I arrived so that almost gave me free range of this area. Second the forecast was for cooler temperatures than we have had the last few weeks.
　
In the darkness I made my way to my favorite place to start off the turkey season. I set out my Hunter’s Specialties hen and jake decoys and tucked myself back into the woods and waited for daylight. I absolutely love sitting in the woods and watching a new day come alive. The sights, and sounds of the woods waking up is something that will never get old to me.
　
A turkey gobble across the field from me brought me back to what I came here to do , fill a long beard with # 5’s. I started talking back to him on my Knight and Hale Glass Hammer ,but with no response. I tried soft calling, loud calling ,and medium calling but could hear him going the opposite direction than I wanted him to go so I broke out the big gun. I hit him with a VERY raspy split “V” diaphragm call, and he cut me off. A little more on the pot call and I hit him again with the mouth call, he cut me off again.
　
Now he is heading my way ,fast . Every time I hit the mouth call he cuts me off, and now there is another bird gobbling ,on my side of the field, and closer than the other bird. Now my heart rate increases and I start to anticipate the shot ,or which shot I’m gonna take.
　
The one across the field from me is sounding like he is going to be the first one to the party because he is closing the distance fast . He lets out a thundering gobble and I shift my attention to him ,but he never stepped out where I could see him. The foliage is much thicker than it should be at this time of year ,but I can hear him drumming so he is VERY close. Then silence. I hit the mouth call again and he is walking the opposite side of the field away from me. It sounds like the other gobbler is heading that way as well. Then all was quiet.
　
Several more sets throughout the morning results in nothing. The plan is to head back to where I started the day. Around 11:00 a hen with a long beard in tow came into the field 60 or so yards away ,but neither one had any interest or intention of coming any closer to me. I watched them for 20 minutes or so and they left the field.
　
The next morning I’m back in the same area ,but with a different game plan. Today I’m gonna get aggressive. Instead of sitting and trying to call the birds to me I’m going to be aggressive and go after them run and gun so to speak.
The first bird of the day heads away fast and though he is gobbling his head off , I can’t get in front of him. I chased him as far as I felt I could and gave up when I heard another bird gobble. I got as close to him as I dared and set out my hen decoy. Once again he got close enough for me to smell him, but never showed himself. These thick woods are killing me.
　
The next day as I ’m driving to my hunting area I decide to stay at the truck until daybreak and start hunting from there instead of going to the back side and hunting to the front.
　
To my surprise there is another truck in the parking lot when I pulled up. Two older guys were getting ready as I got out of the truck. They told me where they were planning in going and it worked out great because it was the exact opposite way that I was heading. I wouldn’t have to change my plans.
　
I head out across the field wondering why I have been passing up this great looking place for the last two days. I plan to listen for a gobble and then head out after him. I round the corner to find the two guys I spoke to earlier VERY far away from where they told me they were going to be . I chalk it up to them not knowing the area, so I back off.
　
I hear one bird gobble on the adjoining property and as soon as he flies down the woods go quiet. I sat for about an hour not really expecting to see or hear a turkey ,but more trying to come up with a plan ,and I think I have one. It may not be a good one ,but it’s a plan none the less.
　
I’m going to head back to the house, have some coffee , and get into the woods around 9:30. For one , turkeys that fly down and find a hen are usually looking for a new one by then and two I have been seeing them at this time of day.
　
I’m at a farm that I have kinda sorta scouted this year. Read that I walked across one field and saw a few tracks and that’s about it.
　
The farther back onto the property the better it is looking. This area is made up of winter wheat and CRP fields on the ridge tops sloping of to steep ,deep, hollers , and a few stands of pine. The fields are anywhere from 50 to 80 yards wide and 100 to 300 yards long. I had been trying to get one to gobble without any luck at all
　
When I stepped into this field I just knew this was the place. I quickly deploy my decoys and look for a place to disappear for the next few hours. I tucked back into the brush and started calling softly on my Knight and Hale Lonesome Hen push pull call.
　
I had been there calling less that 5 minutes and I heard something behind me , then I heard it again. I SLOWLY turn my head and see a red head and a fan 10 feet behind me heading to my right ,out to the edge of the field.
　
He went behind a honey suckle bush so I turn , and point my gun where I expect him to come out. The next thing I know he is right THERE ! Several thoughts are going thru my head. I need to make a decision and fast. I cant decide whether to shoot , club him with my gun barrel , or just grab him !
　
I aim my 870 Super Mag(in Big Muddy Buckbrush camo) right at his head and then aim up just a little bit. At this range with my HS Undertaker choke and 3 ½” shell if I aim right at him Ill blow a giant hole in him. When I pull the trigger he goes out of sight. I was not sure if I blew him to smithereens or missed completely .
　
　
I jumped up and ran the whole 8 feet to were I saw him last and there he was dead. I roll him over and am VERY disappointed when I see that I just shot a jake ! I had been so frustrated , and this all happened so fast I never really sized him up ,but it’s a little to late now.
　
I take a few pics , send a few texts and off to the truck I head. I’m really bummed out that it was a Jake but as a friend of mine pointed out , it’s a turkey ,it’s dead , and I killed it so it’s all good.
　
April 11, 2012 Jackson county
4” beard
½ “ spurs
16 pounds
　
　
　

　

Rice,Tornados and Snow Flurries

My buddy Billy shot me a text stating that he wanted to make
a trip to Northeast Arkansas almost two weeks earlier than I really like to go.
I usually like to go down there somewhere around the week of or just right
after Valentines day. I have been making
at least one trip to Arkansas to chase snows since 1999 and in the last 13
years I have learned that the peak
migration is somewhere around
this week in mid February.


The last few weeks of
January back here in Southern Illinois we were seeing major migration of snows.
We had enough snows around , and our duck season was so poor , we had been chasing after white geese for
the last two weeks. We are seeing so many geese here I started
making phone calls to check on the status of the geese in Arkansas. The fist
week of February all of the reports were the same , GET HERE NOW ! There was
only one problem with that , Arkansas late youth season. Regardless
we make plans to head off to the land of rice fields and hopefully snow
geese.

As February 9 th gets closer and closer my goose reports
change daily. Some are coming back good others bad. Most are telling me geese
are here one day gone the next. With the sunny days with temps. In the high 50’s
and a stiff south wind I don’t wonder why ,The geese are on their way back
home. Ready or not here we come !

Now that plans are set in stone finally the day rolls
around ! My brother Josh and a friend
Jeff and I meet at my house to load our gear into Josh’s truck and head off for
4 days of goose killin. After a little more work and several cuss words we
got the 50 dozen Sill socks ,layout
blinds , and other gear into the truck and we are on the way 2 hours later than
we wanted. The plan was to put in some miles do some scouting for the morning and just maybe kill a goose
or two today. My friend Billy and 3 other guys will meet us in Jonesboro
sometime that evening .

With 3 hours and a few hundred miles behind us we are in goose country looking for a good
concentration of light geese for us to
hunt over the next several days. We had seen several groups when in Illinois but
only one small flock since we hit the Arkansas state line. I was not saying it
but was worried that we should have went north instead of south. Any snow goose
hunter knows to consistently kill snows and blues you have to go where they are
period. There are several documented cases of geese getting up one day in South
Texas and two days latter be in Saskatchewan . I was starting to seriously
doubt this whole trip when we saw a
large group of geese in the air.

We start seeing more and more flocks of geese in the air so
we start to follow them to where ever it is they are wanting to feed today. A
short ride later finds us looking at
several fields that are holding SEVERAL
thousand snow blue and speckle belly geese .

After we knock on a few doors we have a name and a phone
number of the farmer that owns the field .His workers tell us that since we are hunting “them white geese” that
he wouldn’t care if we hunted ,but call him in case he leased it out, just
leave the deer alone.

We drive down the
road a few miles to check on some old hunting areas that always hold geese and
have been good to us in the past and we find just what we wanted , even more
geese . We re secure permission to hunt a farm that we have hunted in the past
. Even though we have permission to hunt and know where some geese are I want
to have a back up plan for our back up plan.
It is always best to be on the X when hunting snows but my plan for
tomorrow was to set up our spread in between the two large flocks of geese and catch them going back and fourth .


Just about an hour
before dark while on the way back to town we stopped to watch a field of geese
fill up for the evening. They seemed to be milling closer and closer to a levee
at the other side of the field. Closer inspection reveled the geese were not
only close to the levee , they were on it ! With cover in the form of an abandoned fish pond
converted to rice field we could get close to the unsuspecting geese to kill
several. Josh was not for he plan at all. These geese are the ones we are
counting on being in the very near area in the morning and jumping them now may
risk blowing them to another county. The sheer number of geese in the field is
impressive , 20,000 conservatively . Jeff don’t seem to want to jump them up
either. I plead my case to the two of them, but neither are wanting to go , but
I do.

After all my pleading the others don’t want to sneak on
these geese so I’m gonna go after them alone.
I grab my SX2 and a shell belt and I’m off down the deep ditch. A quick
assessment finds that if I crossed over the levee to my right I could almost
run along the rice field and get on these birds fast and unseen .

I quickly make my way to the end of the first compartment in
the old fish ponds and I’m still a good 100 yards from a major concentration of
geese . So I slowly and carefully belly crawl up the side of the levee and down
the other. I take a quick look and could shoot now and kill birds ,but I want
to see how many I can get. With the geese feeding comfortably ,and the fact
that I’m alone I press on to a area of
the field that has more birds. I push on with my goal a dark bush that I can
easily see without looking up to much.


I arrive at my spot and
get into position for my shot. I slowly make my way to the top of the
levee and there are geese less than 20 yards away and unaware of my presence .
If you have never heard he sound 20,000 plus snow geese feeding I cant explain
it to you ,if you do it’s a sound you don’t soon forget. The low roar combined
with the squawks and “honks” is unreal. I get up on my knees with my upper
body still very close to the ground so I
can get a good head rake with the first shot and then raise to shoot at the
ones leaving when it happened, I was
busted. I immediately point my gun at the leaving hoard and emptied it into the leaving flock.

Geese fall dead onto the ground and several fall out of the
flock as the leave.I take off after the ones that are up and running ,looking
back hoping that Josh and Jeff are coming to help but they are by the truck
JUST WATTCHING ! ! I chased4 or 5 waaaaayyyyyyyyy across the field only to see
there are others getting away. After it was all said and done I had 17 geese in
the back of the truck. I have now shed blood ,now I can relax and enjoy myself
!


0430 the next morning came all to early but the rest of our
crew was there and we were off . Billy brought 3 guys with him. I had hunted
with 2 of them Camren and Jimmy and then a friend of his ,Mike. The forecast
was for less than snow goose whether. Clouds , rain , wind and cold .

We arrived at the field I had picked to hunt and started
setting decoys. The down wind side was a bare rolled mud field and the one we
were actually in was tall rice stubble. We formulated a plan to make a “Y”
shaped spread with the open mouth pointed down wind. The cold wet wind at our
backs as we set up made it plain miserable . The shape of the decoy spread
slowly formed and then fell apart as 7 guys all “thought” they knew the plan.
,but anyway at the end of it all we had 50 dozen Sillosocks and 15 dozen SoftShell decoys that Jimmy had got
a real good deal on.

The first few flocks of the day did exactly what I thought
they would do , look at us ,get 50
yards down wind and slide off to the
right side of the spread. In my experience snow geese, especially small flocks
, will NOT fly over decoys.


After several flocks doing the same thing it was
obvious they didn’t like the spread not “just
being snows” We made some adjustments to the spread and they seemed to work in
a little closer but not fully committed.
We had one or two down when around 0900 the other guys
couldn’t sit anymore. They went out to find an easy jump shoot while we stayed
put. Although we saw several thousand geese flying around that morning a few things were against us . The main thing
was the weather. The other was we were just not where they wanted to be.
Around noon we picked up the spread and went our separate
ways to scout and formulate a game plan for the next day. We ended up finding
several more geese and one easy sneak where I killed 25 while the other guys
looked on. The other group ended up with 20 in a jump.

The next morning brought more favorable weather for snows it
was much colder highs in the 30’s and
20 mph wind with 35 mph gusts. We were
setting up in a field that Billy had gained permission the day before. The plan
was to set only the Sillosocks in a “boomerang” shape and set the blinds in the
middle, slightly to the left.

We could hear geese roosting across the road from us as we
were setting up. As the day gets closer
we work faster . Just as we finish up and Josh and Billy go park the trucks, we
got busted. The geese across from us get
up and head off to where ever they are going as we are finishing up brushing
our blinds. We should have shot at several of them but lay there in awe of 1000’s
of geese climb higher and head off in the distance.

Early on we got a few to decoy on close and had
a few on the ground ,but we were missing some chip shots. With the wind
at a steady 20-25 mph we decided the wind was blowing our shot off its mark she
we adjusted accordingly and gees began to fall
when we shot.

Somewhere around 10 Billy and the others were getting edgy
,they wanted to go jump shoot so they were up and gone leaving Jeff ,Josh and I
to defend the decoys. Not long after we had action again. With or kill pile
growing we were having a good time killing pairs and singles coming to our
decoys ,but they were acting just like snows circle and circle and give an
opportunity that needs to be taken when offered . Several times at the “next
low pass” call the geese would go on to greener pastures. At one point Josh and
I were both out gathering up cripples and got caught hiding by a fuel tank
while a rather large group started to work the spread. We were watching with
anticipation while the tornado formed above our decoys. Then with no way of
knowing what was taking place Jeff sat up and shot a goose that got closer than
he should have.

At one point during the morning I was hungry and needed my
snacks and lunch out of the truck. On my way back to my blind, right behind my
blind in fact I tried my best to hide while the fist tornado of the trip
formed I was helpless laying behind the
blinds with nothing but some chips and PB&J sandwiches ! I moved a decoy or
two to help cover me and grabbed a flag. laying there we had geese from 10 feet off the ground to as far up as
you could see. There were flipping and circling us before we had geese walking
in the decoys I did manage to work my gun out of my blind and not get busted.
Then the shot was called and several geese out of the cloud hit the ground.
After some hooping and hollering we were gathering up geese when another flock
came. And then another. At one point Josh got caught out in the decoys and had
to just watch the show. For a good 5 minutes I could not keep my gun loaded.
Several times the greed was more than I could stand and should have called the
shot sooner than I did but its hard when while yes we do have birds landing in
the decoys but also a mile high and coming in fast.

In an hour we were in
the vortex of 4 tornados of snow geese. It was simply amazing stuff dreams are
made of and what snow goose hunters crave. I did get a minute to text the other
guys and tell them what they were missing. I got a text back that simply said “We
Know”. It seems while they were out and about they saw the cloud of geese in
the sky and followed it straight to our spread. I don’t really know how many
the 3 of us killed ,but I do know if the other guys were there we would have
killed a ton.

Over the next few hours we shot geese. We drew a few smaller
groups and of course the pairs and a few
singles. The number of specks that jus came right in was amazing . At one point
I saw one of the guys in the group that was very sure of his marksmanship
skills raise up and shoot a single snow out of a group of 6 specks ! There were
many times the shot should have been called sooner ,there were many times that
we should have NOT waited for that next pass ,but a good time was had by all.
At the end of the day we had more than 40 (exactly I don’t remember) that we
decoyed in . Not all of them were juvies, actually most of the ones we killed
were adult birds.

The next day brought colder temps but not as much wind. We
had lost 3 members of our group so we had a little more work to do that the
previous days. While we were seeing birds ,and got to watch them get up off the
roost as we did the day before they were not close enough to decoy. Yesterday
afternoon we should have got out and scouted a new field or two. While we had
several in the area we could have hunted we were back in the same one . I personally
don’t like to hunt a field more than 2 days in a row we all thought we could
pull it off.

With our sore bodies from the last three days and a three
hour drive in front of us we decided to call it a day around 10 with only 2
dead geese. We started the almost hour and a half chore of picking up decoys .
When we were all packed up there were no regrets in picking up early. Thus
ended our snow goose season in Arkansas.

We had some good times with old friends and new. We got
schooled a few times , a few more times we should have shot , a time or two we
should have held off from shooting but over all it was a very successful trip. Over a hundred geese killed
in 2 full days and a few ours out of 2 more days was not bad. Yes there have
been many trips were we killed more ,but we accomplished what we came to do ,
decoy some of the wariest waterfowl in North America.