Fur but no Feather today ....

[R.J.]

Original plan was to scout a goose field for the last day of the regular season , so Kendo Kid , John and myself could try a repeat of our last goose hunt together ....

http://www.excaliburcrossbow.com/phpBB2 ... light=john

One morning this week the sun came up and for a couple of minuets , it looked like it was setting the tree's ablaze !



Well .... the geese didn't cooperate and were not using any fields I had permission on ... I even had Court P. and his Dad scouting as well , but could not secure anything that looked real positive , so I PM'd the guys and gave them the bad news ... We will have to keep scouting , asking permission and trying to secure a field for the extended season ... that's hunting !

Did find some beauty flocks heading into the local Golf Course but forget about permission





Man they were everywhere on the course ! .... I estimated approx 300 geese feeding on grass patches throughout the course ...





So we switched up the itinerary .... Court P. invited me to hunt some cottontails at one of his spots ...

Sally is always up for a morning walk !



Court P. circles around some of the cover around the ponds ...



We eventually had Sally busting some brush piles and we both got a rabbit before we headed out for breakfast ...

Sally retrieves cottontail # 1 out of the tangled cover after a load of standard # 5 shot from my Hatsun Escourt semi stopped him along the escape route...





Sally retrieves cottontail # 2 out of the thick cat tail cover after a load of # 4 shot from Court's Remington 870 pump , put an end to that rabbits sneak out routine ... Court was perched on a nice elevated dead fall which gave him a good vanatge point to snipe the escape routes ..





At one point this a.m. we noticed a huge increase in deer trail and turkey trail activity at one side of the bush ....



Didn't take long to figure out what the attraction was !



Man that would have been an easy spot to set up the routine " between bedding area , food source ambush " in the late days of the season !

We headed home early to get some " brownie points " ... we were just happy to have 2 rabbits for the pot !

Improvise / Adapt / Overcome ! When one variety of game won't cooperate with the " The Plan " .... switch to " Plan B " !

[Doe Master]

If it makes you feel any better RJ the geese were in the field before us today .No pictures sorry.We had geese come into our setup but there was just something they didn`t like about us.But we did at least get one ,I hit another but it had its bullet proof vest on .

[R.J.]

Doe Master : Yep the change in weather has changed some of the birds flight paths for us ...

Glad you guys got some action ! .... just great to get out ! ... Was Jimmy C. with ya ?

[Doe Master]

No it was just Jay and me .It was a kind of inprompt thing on account he had a funeral to go to before .Will probably see Jimmy C. tomorrow .

[wabi]

Nice pics!!!!!!!!!
Sally doesn't look to disappointed at retrieving rabbits instead of geese.

[kendo kid]

Congratulations on the fur.

The warm weather that is arriving this week will clear the snow and make some corn and hay fields open, especial on the wind swept knolls. Sooner or later we are going to get some honkers.

Is anyone seeing any Snow Geese?

Cashed in on the sale on ammo Friday at Bass so I am ready. After reading a couple of articles on Heavy Shot I was going to buy some as they are suppose to perform like lead. WOW the prices were huge over regular #2's. After taxes they were $3.50 a shell for Heavy Shot vs $0.56 for regular. NFW I'm payying that much. I would have to shoot 7 birds with one shell of Heavy Shot to get the same cost benefit ratio. R. J. has seen me knock down two with one shot but "7 in one blow" is like the children story by the same name. Looks like I be in steel for awhile.

[Skeeter]

Nice pics R.J. Thanks!!

[Sandman]

Great pics R.J.~!

[GREY OWL]

Nice pictures R.J. Can't believe how many rabbits you guys have down there. There use to be lots of rabbits here when I was young, that's because every second farm kid trapped foxes and coyotes, for some income. Now hardly no body traps and the yote and fox population is out of control, bringing down the rabbits. Also lots of land clearing.

One day when we retire R.J., we'll swap hunts in our provinces.

Grey Owl

[rutman]

Awesome pics again!
That old orchard will work every year. Why not set up on it now when you can see everything they do?.

[bbbwb]

R.J.
Apple orchards are interesting to hunt. My experience this year witnessed deer adjusting in their time of coming to them in the afternoon. Having not knowingly nor outwardly spooked any deer by way of human detection scenario, 4 deer were shot individually, 3 in the same location and yet they were coming to the orchard later and later as the season progressed. It was interesting to observe their change in time but not their paths of entry. Earlier in the season they were coming at 3:30 - 4:00 p.m. At end of season they were coming to within shooting range with 5 minutes of legal shooting time remaining.
In the mornings, they were leaving the orchard for the day by around 6:00 a.m.
It was exciting hunting though with great results.
bbbwb

[huntman]

Is anyone seeing any Snow Geese?

We saw and had some come into our decoys in Mid Nov. havent been out for geese since!

[LondonDave]

I bet come spring the golf course owner will have wished he given you permission with the damage those beasts are doing. That's if it's in a legal shooting are.

Myself, Black Coyote, my neighbour Vince (soon to be registered on the site) and Riley went out for some bunnies at a spot was very productive last year. We only saw three, I had a shot at one but missed so we came home empty handed.

Dave

[ecoaster]

Great pics RJ. You must have a hundred pics of Sally by now with that same look on her face . The one that says "Come on, put the camera away and give me something to chase down ."

[R.J.]

Thanks all ! ...

wabi wrote :

Sally doesn't look to disappointed at retrieving rabbits instead of geese.

She just loves to get out ! I really enjoy her company , wether she is hiking , hunting , or just lounging around my feet at home .... sad to think I'll only have a few more years with her ..

Kendo Kid wrote :

After taxes they were $3.50 a shell for Heavy Shot vs $0.56 for regular.

Yikes !

Grey Owl wrote :

One day when we retire R.J., we'll swap hunts in our provinces.

If I'm not already living in your province by then !

rutman wrote :

That old orchard will work every year. Why not set up on it now when you can see everything they do?.

Yep .... may get some cool " post season " pictures !

bbbwb wrote :

It was exciting hunting though with great results.

Sounds like a great spot ! .... Yep , apples are a great draw for whitetails !

LondonDave wrote :

I bet come spring the golf course owner will have wished he given you permission with the damage those beasts are doing. That's if it's in a legal shooting are.

Myself, Black Coyote, my neighbour Vince (soon to be registered on the site) and Riley went out for some bunnies at a spot was very productive last year. We only saw three, I had a shot at one but missed so we came home empty handed.

That golf course is a little too close to town ...

Sounds like you guys had fun chasing the cottontails !