Training for an Ironman takes time and dedication, and occasionally some time off. Now most people will say that time off means a light week but I took it to the extreme and took an entire week off and went on my annual goose hunting trip with my family. Our annual trip is in pursuit of snow geese in Canada while they are migrating south for the winter.
If you are opposed to hunting, I would advise against reading this blog entry.
Snow geese numbers have been on an explosive growth since the mid 1970's. The numbers have been increasing at an alarming rate due primarily to the introduction of flooded rice crops in southern United States. These flooded rice crops provide an ideal food source for migratory snow geese in the winter months. The snow geese feed on these crops through the winter and when spring comes are fat and healthy with fewer than normal winter fatalities. By the late 90's the population of snow geese had reached 5 million birds and was growing at a rate of more than 5% per year. The primary problem with such an explosion in the growth rate is that snow geese migrate to the tundra in northern Canada every summer to breed. The increasing populations are putting stress on the tundra and reducing the usable habitat for other migratory species. In response to these growth rates many States and Provinces have allowed liberal limits of snow geese. As an example, in Montana, the daily snow goose limit 5 years ago was 4 snow geese. A few years ago this was increased to 6 snow geese, and in 2012 was increased to 20 snow geese per hunter per day. Montana only sees a small fraction of the migratory population and has lagged many of the other states in applying liberal limits. To further assist in reducing numbers, some states, mostly in the midwest, have installed a spring goose season to further reduce numbers as they begin migrating to the tundra for breeding season.
My brother started making annual trips to Canada around 2000 when he was living in Eastern Montana. At the time he, and the other hunters in the group, had limited knowledge and decoys but were still having reasonably successful hunts. When I moved back to Montana from Colorado I began getting back into hunting and made several trips to Glasgow to hunt ducks and Canada geese with Pat. One year, Pat was unable to go with his group to hunt, but planned a trip for the following week and Dad and I went with him. After that trip we decided to begin growing our own spread of decoys and begin making family trips to hunt snows. It took two years before we had enough equipment (and a trailer) to make a trip but we have hunted every year since then. The second trip to Canada, my brother was living with my college buddy Dave, and we invited him to come with us. That was the beginning of including a "guest" hunter.
Every year we would take turns inviting someone to join us in Canada. This year it was my turn and I invited Tim who is currently living in Texas. Tim and I go way back to highschool when we met in Paris. We eventually attended Carroll College together and have remained good friends since. Tim and I have two long-standing traditions: I always visit him in the winter in Texas, and he always comes to Montana and the boys go on a fishing trip. Two years ago Tim had invited me to join the Moe family tradition of fishing in Alaska as well. Additionally, Tim has had very limited hunting opportunities and a goose trip to Canada was about the most exciting hunting trip I could think to take him on.
Tim flew to Helena on Friday and we made last minute preparations and headed north on Saturday. By Saturday evening we had scouted a field and had plans for hunting on Sunday. The typical hunting day for snow in Canada starts with a wakeup at 3:30 am. Sandwiches and coffee are made, the gear is loaded, and we are out the door by 4:00. We then drive to the field we had marked the birds in the night before and setup our decoys, brush in our blinds, take a short break, park the vehicles and then wait for the birds to arrive. That first morning was pretty slow as there was very little wind and all the birds came in one group. I think we only shot five-ten geese. Pick up the decoys, load the trailer, clean the birds, and scout for the next day. That evening Tim and I scouted out a fairly large group near a pond. Now we generally don't like to hunt near ponds but in this case we were far enough away that we thought it was doable.
Monday morning brought rain, snow, and wind and at first we were thinking it was going to be a bust. The birds stayed on the water until pretty late and it was snowing enough that the ground was getting a slight white color and our decoys were sagging from the moisture. Regardless, we ended up having a fantastic shoot and harvested a four person limit of 80 birds. Fortunately we stopped and counted early so we didn't go over our limit as we got checked in the field by Canada Fish & Game. Cleaning birds took a little longer that afternoon! That evening, Tim and I ended up back on the same field and we pulled a fast one. We were parked out in the field watching the geese and we were getting some scouting pressure from other hunters. We decided to wait them out and see if they would come talk to us. Essentially they parked at the trail leaving the field and were waiting for us. We assumed they were wanting to join us the next morning and so we waited until it was fully dark, then drove cross country through the fields without our lights on and came out on a different road. Passive aggressive conflict resolution right there.
Despite having scouted large numbers in the field, we were leery about the hunt as we have never had great luck hunting the same field two days in a row. With reservations we still decided to hunt the same field which was slower than the previous day, but better than we expected. Dad managed to double on pin tail drakes and one of them was banded!
Our fourth day of hunting was also relatively slow. We were set up pretty close to a lake and at last minute the wind switched on us. What was really interesting was how the birds in the area were relatively smart and would easily flare away from our decoys, yet a couple migrating groups from a mile-high came all the way down into our spread. It was really awesome watching them commit to our decoys from so far up. After a couple slower days based on scouting by Pete and Tim, Pat made the decision to hunt a different group of geese that he had scouted out.
On Thursday morning we made a set in some rolling hills in a pea field. The weather was perfect, with some fog and wind and we sure thought it should be a good shoot but the birds flared early and hard and we only put six on the ground. The funny story here is that we were fairly close to train tracks that I didn't see in the dark. While laying in the field a train came along which made me jump and see if someone was driving through the field and planning to mow us down. The really memorable event for the day was when a single goose came down in front of a group and landed on Pat's blind. The goose stood on his blind for at least two or three minutes. Pat was trying to sneak a hand out to grab its legs, but it had one foot on each door. Pat just had to lay there and stair the goose in the face. Unfortunately the other geese behind him didn't fall for our decoys and they flew off. Our single walked around in our decoys for another 5-10 minutes before finally flying off. Friday was our last hunt and Tim and I were scouting an area with several ponds and several groups of geese. We found a field we really liked and were sitting on it when a guy from Saskatchewan ran us off. We had about 10 minutes before dark to find a new group. We found a group that was scattered across an entire field but we didn't think the numbers were there or they were all that content. While we were sitting there another guy who had been sitting on the field out of site rolled up and offered to share the field with us. He was the friendliest guy and didn't mind sharing the field. Back at headquarters Pat said he had a group he really wanted to hunt but couldn't get landowner permission. Thus, we were sharing a field the next morning.
Friday morning was windy and clear skies. While we were setting decoys, coyotes were howling all around us. Over the years we have had good luck on days we heard or saw coyotes from the spread, so we had high hopes for the day. We needed about 60 birds to fill our 3-day limit so we would have to have a good shoot. Before shooting light birds were already coming in, and if Tim had a tennis racket I think he could have knocked one out of the air. Finally shooting light came and the birds came in groups of 10-20, which was perfect. The shooting was hot and in our face, the kind of shooting you remember for years. It didn't take long before we had our 60 birds and our 3-day limit, so it was time to pack it up. With such an early finish to our day we decided to hurry up and get the birds cleaned, packed up, and checked out and headed to our parents house. By 10 pm we were at there house. Per usual, we spent most of the next day doing the final processing of birds and then headed home. Overall it was an awesome trip and one of only a few years that we brought back a full 3-day limit of snow geese.
If you are opposed to hunting, I would advise against reading this blog entry.
Snow geese numbers have been on an explosive growth since the mid 1970's. The numbers have been increasing at an alarming rate due primarily to the introduction of flooded rice crops in southern United States. These flooded rice crops provide an ideal food source for migratory snow geese in the winter months. The snow geese feed on these crops through the winter and when spring comes are fat and healthy with fewer than normal winter fatalities. By the late 90's the population of snow geese had reached 5 million birds and was growing at a rate of more than 5% per year. The primary problem with such an explosion in the growth rate is that snow geese migrate to the tundra in northern Canada every summer to breed. The increasing populations are putting stress on the tundra and reducing the usable habitat for other migratory species. In response to these growth rates many States and Provinces have allowed liberal limits of snow geese. As an example, in Montana, the daily snow goose limit 5 years ago was 4 snow geese. A few years ago this was increased to 6 snow geese, and in 2012 was increased to 20 snow geese per hunter per day. Montana only sees a small fraction of the migratory population and has lagged many of the other states in applying liberal limits. To further assist in reducing numbers, some states, mostly in the midwest, have installed a spring goose season to further reduce numbers as they begin migrating to the tundra for breeding season.
My brother started making annual trips to Canada around 2000 when he was living in Eastern Montana. At the time he, and the other hunters in the group, had limited knowledge and decoys but were still having reasonably successful hunts. When I moved back to Montana from Colorado I began getting back into hunting and made several trips to Glasgow to hunt ducks and Canada geese with Pat. One year, Pat was unable to go with his group to hunt, but planned a trip for the following week and Dad and I went with him. After that trip we decided to begin growing our own spread of decoys and begin making family trips to hunt snows. It took two years before we had enough equipment (and a trailer) to make a trip but we have hunted every year since then. The second trip to Canada, my brother was living with my college buddy Dave, and we invited him to come with us. That was the beginning of including a "guest" hunter.
Every year we would take turns inviting someone to join us in Canada. This year it was my turn and I invited Tim who is currently living in Texas. Tim and I go way back to highschool when we met in Paris. We eventually attended Carroll College together and have remained good friends since. Tim and I have two long-standing traditions: I always visit him in the winter in Texas, and he always comes to Montana and the boys go on a fishing trip. Two years ago Tim had invited me to join the Moe family tradition of fishing in Alaska as well. Additionally, Tim has had very limited hunting opportunities and a goose trip to Canada was about the most exciting hunting trip I could think to take him on.
Tim flew to Helena on Friday and we made last minute preparations and headed north on Saturday. By Saturday evening we had scouted a field and had plans for hunting on Sunday. The typical hunting day for snow in Canada starts with a wakeup at 3:30 am. Sandwiches and coffee are made, the gear is loaded, and we are out the door by 4:00. We then drive to the field we had marked the birds in the night before and setup our decoys, brush in our blinds, take a short break, park the vehicles and then wait for the birds to arrive. That first morning was pretty slow as there was very little wind and all the birds came in one group. I think we only shot five-ten geese. Pick up the decoys, load the trailer, clean the birds, and scout for the next day. That evening Tim and I scouted out a fairly large group near a pond. Now we generally don't like to hunt near ponds but in this case we were far enough away that we thought it was doable.
Monday morning brought rain, snow, and wind and at first we were thinking it was going to be a bust. The birds stayed on the water until pretty late and it was snowing enough that the ground was getting a slight white color and our decoys were sagging from the moisture. Regardless, we ended up having a fantastic shoot and harvested a four person limit of 80 birds. Fortunately we stopped and counted early so we didn't go over our limit as we got checked in the field by Canada Fish & Game. Cleaning birds took a little longer that afternoon! That evening, Tim and I ended up back on the same field and we pulled a fast one. We were parked out in the field watching the geese and we were getting some scouting pressure from other hunters. We decided to wait them out and see if they would come talk to us. Essentially they parked at the trail leaving the field and were waiting for us. We assumed they were wanting to join us the next morning and so we waited until it was fully dark, then drove cross country through the fields without our lights on and came out on a different road. Passive aggressive conflict resolution right there.
Despite having scouted large numbers in the field, we were leery about the hunt as we have never had great luck hunting the same field two days in a row. With reservations we still decided to hunt the same field which was slower than the previous day, but better than we expected. Dad managed to double on pin tail drakes and one of them was banded!
Our fourth day of hunting was also relatively slow. We were set up pretty close to a lake and at last minute the wind switched on us. What was really interesting was how the birds in the area were relatively smart and would easily flare away from our decoys, yet a couple migrating groups from a mile-high came all the way down into our spread. It was really awesome watching them commit to our decoys from so far up. After a couple slower days based on scouting by Pete and Tim, Pat made the decision to hunt a different group of geese that he had scouted out.
On Thursday morning we made a set in some rolling hills in a pea field. The weather was perfect, with some fog and wind and we sure thought it should be a good shoot but the birds flared early and hard and we only put six on the ground. The funny story here is that we were fairly close to train tracks that I didn't see in the dark. While laying in the field a train came along which made me jump and see if someone was driving through the field and planning to mow us down. The really memorable event for the day was when a single goose came down in front of a group and landed on Pat's blind. The goose stood on his blind for at least two or three minutes. Pat was trying to sneak a hand out to grab its legs, but it had one foot on each door. Pat just had to lay there and stair the goose in the face. Unfortunately the other geese behind him didn't fall for our decoys and they flew off. Our single walked around in our decoys for another 5-10 minutes before finally flying off. Friday was our last hunt and Tim and I were scouting an area with several ponds and several groups of geese. We found a field we really liked and were sitting on it when a guy from Saskatchewan ran us off. We had about 10 minutes before dark to find a new group. We found a group that was scattered across an entire field but we didn't think the numbers were there or they were all that content. While we were sitting there another guy who had been sitting on the field out of site rolled up and offered to share the field with us. He was the friendliest guy and didn't mind sharing the field. Back at headquarters Pat said he had a group he really wanted to hunt but couldn't get landowner permission. Thus, we were sharing a field the next morning.
Friday morning was windy and clear skies. While we were setting decoys, coyotes were howling all around us. Over the years we have had good luck on days we heard or saw coyotes from the spread, so we had high hopes for the day. We needed about 60 birds to fill our 3-day limit so we would have to have a good shoot. Before shooting light birds were already coming in, and if Tim had a tennis racket I think he could have knocked one out of the air. Finally shooting light came and the birds came in groups of 10-20, which was perfect. The shooting was hot and in our face, the kind of shooting you remember for years. It didn't take long before we had our 60 birds and our 3-day limit, so it was time to pack it up. With such an early finish to our day we decided to hurry up and get the birds cleaned, packed up, and checked out and headed to our parents house. By 10 pm we were at there house. Per usual, we spent most of the next day doing the final processing of birds and then headed home. Overall it was an awesome trip and one of only a few years that we brought back a full 3-day limit of snow geese.