Scattershooting

Geese are finally flying

Sun, January 01, 2012

Thank goodness for the change in weather. While the cold wasn’t here yet this morning, the wind was.

I didn’t even need an alarm to wake me this morning. The howling west wind did the trick.

And the wind did the trick during our hunt, as Brad Crisco and I hunted a Peoria County water blind and shot our four in time for me to make it to church.

That’s always a good thing on a Sunday, particularly when you skip deer hunting to chase the big birds.

We made the most of two flocks, one of which locked up and was ready to land in the decoys before we dispatched three.

That was a gratifying flock. When I first built my duck blind on this particular lake, I built it to take advantage of a west or northwest wind. That means it’s often in the wrong place early in the season. But my plan was that the blind would work well in winter when the weather turns nasty and the birds are here.

Today that worked out well. The wind was vicious. But it was to our side or at our back. Perfect.

And the same should be true for Monday morning. If anything, the colder weather should only improve goose hunting in the next two days. Birds are going to have to leave the grass once it gets cold. And freezing ponds will move them around and concentrate them in deeper water refuges. There are a few of those near my blind, making the next few days look promising.

All of which means I probably won’t get much work done in the morning!

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