With opening day only a couple days away, we were scouting and planning with great optimism. We had a slough with hundreds of ducks and there were piles of geese in the neighborhood.
Thursday morning saw one target field plastered with at least a thousand lesser Canadas, a few snows and a bunch of ducks. The second target field (preferred because we had the only access) held a couple hundred big canadas, a couple of snows and some lessers. It was looking good.
The Farmer chased the big canadas in his field and while some left to a nearby field we were also permissioned on, some just moved to the back of the field. I spoke with him and told him that we would deal with them on Saturday, and got a thumbs up.
But he also told me that they were going to disc and seed down the field with all the lessers in it on Friday because the weather window allowed it.
Ok, that will just move them to the second field or somewhere else, and we were still good.
Friday morning, the tractor heads off about sunrise. One to two thousand lessers have to find a new feeding location, so they join the big canadas at the other field. Twenty acres of 3 inch high cover crop is black with geese but the season doesn't open til the next day.
The farmer chases them out and being mostly lessers, they bugger off, and except for about 20 in the afternoon, nothing comes back.
So with no patterned geese, we fall back to a slough duck hunt for opening day. There have been ducks piling into the slough all week.
Still looking good.
Saturday morning, we get in before daylight, two dozen floaters and 2 mojos set up. We are good to go.
Unfortunately the ducks didn't show and the few that came over, were not really interested.
We managed two drakes that came in as singles.
There were lesser canadas flying by the whole time we were there. In all directions. They were still looking for a new feeding spot.
We did get one big canada when ten or a dozen came over the slough lower than they should have. My son and I both let fly at the lead goose and down he came.
After being really optimistic earlier in the week, with all the birds around, the day was disappointing, but that is hunting.
We will find the geese again, and there are still a couple of unharvested corn fields and fields with patches that were left, that will provide opportunities for good hunting, especially when more ducks arrive.