Dave McCracken
Moderator In Memoriam
I headed down to the Shore with a light heart and high expectations. I've done little goosing as an adult, the best part of the Shore's goose hunting was over by the time I was in the military. Pop had shifted to upland hunting completely by the time I finished high school, and these days a goose lease is even more expensive than college tuition. So, I didn't do that much goosing in the last 30 years. I took a vacation day, and felt a little wicked, like playing hookey.
The wing of geese that flew over my house as I left seemed an omen.
Best Buddy,yclept Rupe on this board and I have been good friends since 93. He has some deer leases, and one he's had the longest has goose rights with it. Being he's a dedicated big buck fanatic, he's not gone after the honkers, but this year he decided to try it.
With another friend, he had hunted last week, and done very well. This farm is near to the old Remington Farms, and some of the best goose hunting in the US is done in that Zip Code. We've marvelled in times past on how many geese we'd see rise at one time, it was a return to the days of yore when I was young.
Naturally, as I drove the highways, my mind returned to the past.
Pop grinned as he piloted the 57 Ford down Route 50 westbound. "We crushed them, Tiger". I agreed with a nod. The back of the wagon was full of waders, shotguns and dressed goose carcasses. Limits were more than generous. I'd done well, knocking down some with my little 16 gauge single, while Pop and Mr Offut slew them by twos.
This was as much a pilgrimage as a hunting trip. It wasn't meat I wanted as much as a return to those days, when things like work, school, and drudgery faded down to minutae, and seeing the shine of a goose's eye as I swung the H&R was much more important.
Old men like to visit the past. I'm old.
" Swing past the eye and hit the trigger as you pass" said Pop.
I had little trouble hitting geese, especially after dove season. The lessons I learned there stood me in good stead. Little birds like dove are hard to hit but easy to kill when we do hit them, big birds like a late season Canada with four migrations behind them are easier to hit as they settle into the decoys, but take more killing.
I was near the place when the cell phone went off. It was Best Buddy with bad news. Our friend was sick, and he not only was the only one who knew how to call geese, he was the only one with a call.
I never learned. Back then, Pop always hunted with Eastern Shore natives, who could call birds before they could walk, it seemed. Many used homemade goose bugles, handed down from ancestors who spoke fluent Goose.
Best Buddy didn't know how either. So, a detour was in order. I drove up to Vonnie's in Kennedyville, a hunting and fishing emporium. The lady I spoke to on the phone said they had goose calls. On the way, I saw people putting out goose decoys,twice.
You'd like Vonnie's. The deer head over the cash register has a 20" inside spread. The nice lady who I talked to on the phone not only showed me some good but inexpensive goose calls, but gave an impromptu lesson. Shore native....
So, I tootled and honked all the way back, hoping these geese were used to dealing with fellow geese with speech impedimenta. I also frowned at the weather.
Pop liked to hunt the storm fronts, catching the geese riding the Alberta Clippers on down. Most of the hunting we did occurred in bad weather. Sleet,snow and rain were our backdrop then.
This day was brittle clear, and cold as heck. The 18F temperature didn't need augmentation from any wind to feel cold, but the gusts to 25 MPH cared not a whit. It was brutal. We wore all the wool and Polypro we had and wished for more.
We didn't suffer long. 10 minutes into the hunt,a wedge lowered into the dekes, came into range, and two Hevi Shot loads reduced two honkers to possession. Limited out in 10 minutes. Damn.
Now, after a dinner of goose breast that came seasoned with memories as much as salt and pepper, the rest of the goose simmers in the crockpot. The guns will be cleaned, the gear put away. My season ended hours after it started. But, while quantity was limited, quality was unexcelled.
And the feelings aren't aged. When I saw those geese swing around and come upwind with their wings set,spilling air and lowering into the set, I was young again. Maybe that was what I'm looking for....
The wing of geese that flew over my house as I left seemed an omen.
Best Buddy,yclept Rupe on this board and I have been good friends since 93. He has some deer leases, and one he's had the longest has goose rights with it. Being he's a dedicated big buck fanatic, he's not gone after the honkers, but this year he decided to try it.
With another friend, he had hunted last week, and done very well. This farm is near to the old Remington Farms, and some of the best goose hunting in the US is done in that Zip Code. We've marvelled in times past on how many geese we'd see rise at one time, it was a return to the days of yore when I was young.
Naturally, as I drove the highways, my mind returned to the past.
Pop grinned as he piloted the 57 Ford down Route 50 westbound. "We crushed them, Tiger". I agreed with a nod. The back of the wagon was full of waders, shotguns and dressed goose carcasses. Limits were more than generous. I'd done well, knocking down some with my little 16 gauge single, while Pop and Mr Offut slew them by twos.
This was as much a pilgrimage as a hunting trip. It wasn't meat I wanted as much as a return to those days, when things like work, school, and drudgery faded down to minutae, and seeing the shine of a goose's eye as I swung the H&R was much more important.
Old men like to visit the past. I'm old.
" Swing past the eye and hit the trigger as you pass" said Pop.
I had little trouble hitting geese, especially after dove season. The lessons I learned there stood me in good stead. Little birds like dove are hard to hit but easy to kill when we do hit them, big birds like a late season Canada with four migrations behind them are easier to hit as they settle into the decoys, but take more killing.
I was near the place when the cell phone went off. It was Best Buddy with bad news. Our friend was sick, and he not only was the only one who knew how to call geese, he was the only one with a call.
I never learned. Back then, Pop always hunted with Eastern Shore natives, who could call birds before they could walk, it seemed. Many used homemade goose bugles, handed down from ancestors who spoke fluent Goose.
Best Buddy didn't know how either. So, a detour was in order. I drove up to Vonnie's in Kennedyville, a hunting and fishing emporium. The lady I spoke to on the phone said they had goose calls. On the way, I saw people putting out goose decoys,twice.
You'd like Vonnie's. The deer head over the cash register has a 20" inside spread. The nice lady who I talked to on the phone not only showed me some good but inexpensive goose calls, but gave an impromptu lesson. Shore native....
So, I tootled and honked all the way back, hoping these geese were used to dealing with fellow geese with speech impedimenta. I also frowned at the weather.
Pop liked to hunt the storm fronts, catching the geese riding the Alberta Clippers on down. Most of the hunting we did occurred in bad weather. Sleet,snow and rain were our backdrop then.
This day was brittle clear, and cold as heck. The 18F temperature didn't need augmentation from any wind to feel cold, but the gusts to 25 MPH cared not a whit. It was brutal. We wore all the wool and Polypro we had and wished for more.
We didn't suffer long. 10 minutes into the hunt,a wedge lowered into the dekes, came into range, and two Hevi Shot loads reduced two honkers to possession. Limited out in 10 minutes. Damn.
Now, after a dinner of goose breast that came seasoned with memories as much as salt and pepper, the rest of the goose simmers in the crockpot. The guns will be cleaned, the gear put away. My season ended hours after it started. But, while quantity was limited, quality was unexcelled.
And the feelings aren't aged. When I saw those geese swing around and come upwind with their wings set,spilling air and lowering into the set, I was young again. Maybe that was what I'm looking for....
