Since Moosie feels like Sunday's Hunt report should start with Saturday Morning.....
The wind and the rain blew against the outside of the Double Wide all night long, with Saturday morning bringing even more rain to the Valley. I woke up to a great day to go Goose hunting, but knew I had to pass, as this was the last day of the Girls Youth Basketball Season for our Schools. Other than one day of Elk hunting, there had been no Saturday Hunts for the Gunner since October.
For some reason (probably because I love my daughters), I had a greed to coach two basketball teams this fall. One for the 5th-6th graders that has the GirlGunner playing, and then another for 3rd-4th graders that has the LittlestGunner playing. Of all the sports I have coached or helped coach, basketball at these ages is the best, as we have twice as many practices as games, so we get to do plenty of teaching.
We didn't have a 5th-6th game last week, so it resulted in me having 4 practices to prepare the girls for our final game of the year, against the Teal team, starring the best player in the league. I had seen Teal play parts of several games, including one game where the star scored 22 points in the first half, to lead another team 22-2. I was determined my Green team would not suffer that embarrasment, as the girl assigned to guard her was about in tears in the previously mentioned game.
Our league rules state we must play man-to-man, and the star for the Teal team could break any 6th grade girl down with a quick drive to the right for a lay-up, or a cross-over move back to the left for a stroll down the key to the hoop for a lay-up. I never saw her pass, nor did they even bother to screen for her.
So, for 4 practices, I coached my girls to play the "saggiest" man-to-man ever seen. This was a big change to my girls, as I had previously taught them to play the tightest man-up defense possible, and then foul from behind, before the shot, if beaten and no help was coming. I then taught my defender on the Star to slide under all the other defenders and traffic, and just stay home around the key.
Well, the plan worked to perfection. The Teal team, that had only lost one game all year had never seen a defense like Green's. The Star was frustrated, and kept jacking up 12 foot shots, going O-fer the first half. The other parents were screaming at the referee, complaining about the defense. The head ref finally had to tell the other parents to shut up, or leave the gym. We went to half-time with a 12-8 lead.
Note: My Green team only won a single game all year, primarily due to my coaching. I refuse to isolate or run screens for my best players, at the expense of the other 9 girls on my team. I expect every girl on my team to get a shot, every game, and every one of them is told to shoot the ball, if they can get it close to the rim. It is a whole team of Gunners.
I have reservations about other coaches at this age, that run isolations for their best players.
Well, the second half started, and the other team came out in their version of a 4-Corners offense, the likes of which I had not seens since the early 80's in College ball. My girls, being coached to "stay home", and "remain 1/2 way between your player and the ball" were now exposed for not being anywhere near the player they were guarding. We were now being called for Illegal Defense. I pleaded my case, but it was falling on deaf ears, as the Ref had too much headache in this game, and he still had 3 more games to do.
The ref then told my girls, during the game, to move out on the player they were guarding, and I would tell them not to, during breaks. Well, the Star then took over, and our 4 point lead soon turned into a 5 point deficit by the final buzzer. My girls may have lost the game, but I honestly believe they each felt important to the team, and each had fun. I always measure my success coaching the next year, when I see how many continue on playing. The other team won, but the looks on the 4 kids who were told to stand in the corners just seemed a bit hollow to me.
So, after Game 1, I had 40 minutes until the 3rd-4th grader's game (Team Orange), so I jumped into the SuperDuty, and went to check on the Corn field for geese. I drove past the field at 10:30, and 200-300 geese were in the field, with more landing. Sunday would be awesome!!!
Game 2 was a bit more relaxing, as the girls played hard, they had fun, and we ended up blowing a lead, and losing by a single point. Our Orange team was better than .500 for the year, and the girls seemed to have fun. I have coached a couple of girls for 2 years, and some for 3, and it is fun to watch them grow up as hoopsters.
Our End of Season pizza party was interrupted when my Cell phone rang. But luckily the Caller ID showed it was Moosie, so I hit the "No" button, rejecting him to voice mail.
That night, I went to the High School boy's basketball game to watch, and was sitting up near the Ref from Game 1. After one extremely effective defensive stop by the home team, using a 1-1-3 Zone, I commented that they play a Zone as good as my girls. Unfortunately, my comment came just as the Ref was drinking soda, and he sprayed his mouthful all over.
And then called me a SOB...
Sunday morning came, and the rain had finally stopped, but the streets were still wet, and I was sure it would be muddy out in the Corn field. It is kind of difficult to not get up early to go waterfowl hunting. It just doesn't seem right. But, the geese have not been flying until 9am, and I am now an advocate of using fewer decoys, so the set-up time is not as great. We agreed to meet at 8am, and I was even ready early, so it was just kind of hanging around, daylight already upon us.
Ovis and I went to get the Decoy Trailer, while Moosie and Larry started running gear across the field, for some reason. I tried to pull down the ditch road, between Larry's rig and a ditch, but as greasy as the Mud was, I dropped the front tire into the ditch. Our careful schedule to the 9am geese was now in doubt. We jumped out, and pushed the trailer off the ball of the pick-up, and I crossed my fingers and said a prayer to the V-10, and thankfully, the Ford popped out of the ditch, once again reminding me why Fords are superior to Dodges.
We hooked back onto the trailer, Larry scooted his lil' rig out of the way, and off we went, down a muddy, greasy road heading out to the back side of the field. There was no way I was going to stop, and risk not starting, as we had geese soon to arrive.
Now at this point, and I don't understand why, but Moosie ran from the pits in the middle of the field to the moving pick-up, and while I continued to pour fuel to the V-10. With Mud flying up from all 4 wheels, Moosie then vaulted into the back of the pick-up, in a move that would make any male gymnast proud.
We got to the closest point on the ditch road to the pits, and began carrying decoys. My guess is we only put up 5 dozen, but maybe a bit less. I am now of the opinion this late in the year that less is more with decoys. Additionally, I think we have one of the best fields in the County, as it is not getting overhunted, and 200-300 geese are using it daily. I am of the mind that a quality hunt each week is better than 4 poor hunts. My time is just to busy to have bad days Goose hunting, when if you leave a field alone, you will have awesome hunting.
Well, the Geese were due in about 5 minutes, so we got the rest of the crap out of the rig (Dozen doughnuts, Camcorder that doesn't work, 4 shotguns, 100 shells, thermos, tarps, extra clothes, cell phones, etc.. etc.. etc...
I threw my stuff over by a ditch that I would sit in, and got the pick-up moved. AS I get the pick-up parked, Moosie is running across the field toward me. I continue walking toward him and notice he is carrying a gun. I raise my arms over my head in surrender, as I am un-armed, and I now realize I am about to be relieved of the $12 I have in my wallet.
After I find out I am not going to be a victim of Armed Robbery, Moosie explains that Ovis' gun is not working right. So I take the offending gun, tell Moosie how to work my gun, and ask for Larry's keys so I can take his pick-up to the Double Wide, to get another gun. Well, it turns out that Larry doesn't want anyone stealing his pick-up, so he has the keys in his pocket, in the blind. Moosie then makes another sprint across the field to courier the keys. I meet him half way, as I can tell Moosie is running out of gas. The field we hunt has a soil with high clay content, and one's boots become very heavy after all the rain we had.
As I leave for the Double Wide, I can see that Geese are on the way, right on schedule. The only problem being, I am still in my pajamas (or so they called them..) and driving AWAY from the field. On my way back, I can see geese in the sky in all directions, heading out from the Lake, toward the field. When I am within a mile, I see one flight leaving the field and heading back to the Lake. Two of the geese were missing a single tail feather, so I knew Moosie must have shot.
I get back to the field and park Larry's pick-up. It is some little pick-up, maybe Toyota or something, and I comment to myself how fun it is to drive, but I didn't understand why it had all those gears, as I only used about 1/2 of them. I start walking down a ditch to get closer to the pits, without leaving the hiding cover of the ditch, as I am not wearing camo, and their are geese coming. As flights of geese would come, I would drop down in the ditch, and watch the geese fly over me. We had a 25mph wind this morning, and for I was downwind of the decoys, so the geese would come over me very low and very slow. I had one flight almost hovering over me as they fought the wind toward the decoys. It was with great self control that I allowed them to fly on toward the decoys. They locked their wings, and proceeded to approach the decoys. Hunting has lots of favorite images for me, and locked-up geese is one of them. I just sat and watched these geese locked into the decoys. Soon there was gunfire from the pits, and the geese flew away, un-harmed, much to my amazement.
I kept walking down the ditch, ducking down with each passing flight, and resuming my walk after each volley of missed shots. I then had a final 150 yard run to my camo and gun, and no geese in the air, so off I sprinted. Moosie ran to meet me, and we changed guns, and I got in my camo, and jumped in the ditch where I was to lay.
After laying down in ditch, I then realized how much it had rained the past 36 hours, as I was laying in standing water.
There are different kinds of days goose hunting. Somedays you see 6 geese all day long, kill 5, and call it good. Other days you see 300 geese, kill a couple, and call it great. Other days you see 1, kill it, and that is it. This day was to be one of the days where the numbers of Geese was as good as it gets. It is probably without exaggeration that we had 30+ flights of geese, maybe more. From singles to flights of 40, all the geese wanted into the field.
I was at a bit of a disadvantage for perspective, as I was about 75 yards from the decoys and the pits, so I was unable to figure out what exactly was going on. I do know that the Shotgun Shell retailers will be seeing a serious spike in business on Monday morning, as anybody that wants to collect empty shells would be in fat-city. I also know that when I walked over for a doughnut, the selection had been reduced by quite a bit. And all of their camo was covered by powdered sugar, sprinkles, and maple frosting.
Despite what Moosie has read on the Internet, there are no "Rules" about goose hunting, or at least none the Geese agree to follow. I seem to have to hunt Geese by "feel", and it is only through "feel" that I can decide to "take 'em" or let them circle for a closer pass. And even then, I am often kicking myself for the wrong choice. If I do err, it is usally on the side of not shooting, in hopes of a better pass. My favorite part of Goose hunting is actually watching the Geese land in the decoys, and even better, when the decoys are right near the pits.
Soon the geese were landing in the field next to me, about 75 yards away. And they kept coming.... and coming.... Soone I had 200 on the field behind me. Even shooting in front of me was not flushing the geese behind me. A certain amount of live geese in a field near a set of decoys can help, but this soon became to large a mass, and was not helping. Finally a set of three came by me, in almost close enough range, so I fired three shots at the closest goose. I could hear the bb's smacking the goose, but he never missed a flap. My shooting did flush the rest of the geese up, so we were back in business.
We had geese from the South, we had geese from the East, and we had Geese from the North, and it was these North geese that came in fast and low. More shooting, and we had two geese on the ground, finally. One of the geese landed wrong, out in the field, with wings spread un-naturally, so we had many flights flare off, until Moosie finally remembered the Gunner's Running Man decoy, and went and fixed the dead goose. It is always funny to watch Moosie approach a dead goose. A couple of weeks ago, he flung himself through the air, landing on the dead goose, resulting in a muffled "harrrrmmmmphhhh" from the goose. This time, while more geese were coming, he runs out, and turns the goose over, looking for metal bands. Finding none, he then brings the goose back in toward the decoys.
By not being "in the middle of the action", I had an interesting view point, and spend most of the time calling and watching. We had one flight come over about 1000 feet up, and lock their wings, and just spiral down for about 3 minutes, and still remained 500 feet in the air. I had a single work about 6 passes, talking back to me with each call. I was sure someone would shoot at him, but he finally left without any steel being sent his direction.
Well, finally the Dozen doughnuts and Diet Dr. Pepper were starting to wear off the other three out in the pits, and Moosie got a craving for the Sunday Fried Chicken dinner at the local greasy spoon. So, we picked up the decoys, and called it a day.
I always feel responsible for the success of others when I take people hunting. And I always worry if we won't see game, or not enough game. I have been blessed with some great days hunting and am fortunate enough right now to have one of the best Goose fields anyone could imagine. I think the Geese were abundant enough that there was plenty of opportunity, so hopefully everybody had fun flinging steel in the air.
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