We were Conservationist's tonight !

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R.J.
Posts: 4505
Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2002 2:12 pm
Location: Innerkip , Ontario , Canada

We were Conservationist's tonight !

Post by R.J. »

Well , Greylag and I scoped out a good field last night ( or so we thought ) ... there were hundreds of ducks and geese flying ...

Got permission from the farmer today ...

The set up looked good ! ... new farm ... the field we were in was mixed cut grain field with lots of tailings and clover coming up ... the surroundings were right from the nature channel !

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Dieter aligns his sights ... while Kendo Kid practices a few goose tunes as my dog Sally and Greylag look on !

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I check out my shooting station after hiding the truck behind a log pile , and Vern takes up a position at the corner of the corn field . ( can you see him in the corner ? )

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Kendo Kid practices in the pop up chair ...

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We settle in to wait for the geese and the only thing that passes by is a plane up above , then a horse and buggy between the two farms down a farm lane ...

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Then around 6:30 pm .... the ducks start to tease us ! 1st they come in from the North / East in misc sized flocks ...

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Then they tease us further by getting closer and circling above our shooting poistions ...

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Then they really tease us by sailing by low , in pairs ...

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Dieter is in the North / East fence row and keeps getting spooked by the wing beats wistling above him ... ( he is the stump with the gun , left of the last tall tree at the left of the frame :lol: :lol: )

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While every duck in the neighborhood decended on our position .... any goose flock we saw that had any size to it ( and even then there were only 20 to 30 birds to it ), seemed to be off in the distance and heading for some other field ! :lol: :lol:

We did manage to decoy in a smattering of wary geese in less than desirable shooting angles and ranges , but our shooting prowess didn't seem to come thru for us tonight ( maybe we didn't want to show each other up ? :lol: :lol: ) and we only fired a few shots !

I did manage to get some decent shots off with the camera ...

Lets just say , the ducks were a definate distraction !! :lol: :lol: This is what it looked like at the end of the evening ! :shock:

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Watched the sun go down as we picked up the decoys ... another beauty night out watching the nature channel !

And Greylag , always considering the bright side says " well at least we don't have to clean birds tonight !! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Had a great time and never even downed a bird !

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There is always " next time " :lol: :lol: :lol:
Last edited by R.J. on Mon Sep 25, 2006 6:32 am, edited 3 times in total.
See Ya. ... R.J. > " Remember , Trophies are measured by the time and energy expended to get them , not the size or quantity of the quarry "
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splittoe
Posts: 87
Joined: Fri Aug 18, 2006 5:55 pm
Location: wartrace, tn

Post by splittoe »

:shock: if we saw flocks like that in TN i know some boys that would eat up alot of sick days and personal days :D

nice pic's,only one problem though :( you didn;t have a boy from the south with ya...south tennessee that is! :P

tom/tn
what you do for and too others will come back 10 fold.
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BUCKSHOT
Posts: 1040
Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2004 7:40 pm
Location: Port Sydney On.

Looks Great

Post by BUCKSHOT »

That looks like an awesome way to enjoy an evening!
That is a very nice looking area R.J.

We had ducks and geese filling the skies like that on our deer hunting trip in Manitoulan last year, unfortunately, nobody brought a shotgun.
That may change this year! :wink:

Happy Hunting :lol:
Enjoy the Harvest!
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ecoaster
Posts: 2889
Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2004 8:35 pm
Location: Nova Scotia

Post by ecoaster »

On the duck opener you'll probably see flocks of blackbirds :lol: . Nice pics!
I hunt for memories, the meat's a bonus!
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R.J.
Posts: 4505
Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2002 2:12 pm
Location: Innerkip , Ontario , Canada

Post by R.J. »

splitoe wrote :
if we saw flocks like that in TN i know some boys that would eat up alot of sick days and personal days
Yep .... but right now duck season is closed ! :cry:

Buckshot wrote :
That looks like an awesome way to enjoy an evening!
That is a very nice looking area R.J.

We had ducks and geese filling the skies like that on our deer hunting trip in Manitoulan last year, unfortunately, nobody brought a shotgun.
That may change this year!
Yep .... a beauty property ... looks good for deer as well .... got to keep in that farmers " good books " !

.... and Manitoulan , oh yeah .... they got some beauty flocks , for sure !

ecoaster wrote :
On the duck opener you'll probably see flocks of blackbirds
Exactly ! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
See Ya. ... R.J. > " Remember , Trophies are measured by the time and energy expended to get them , not the size or quantity of the quarry "
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leonk
Posts: 173
Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2005 10:06 pm
Location: Toronto, ON

Post by leonk »

great pics, RJ
Looks like you're using digital now...
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chris4570
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Location: stoney creek
Contact:
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Post by chris4570 »

Looks like a fine, enjoyable evening. Geese or no geese. It's worth it to just get out and take in the sights and sounds.
You can take the man out of the woods but you can't take the woods out of the man.

"Celebrate your harvest with a Bloodtrail Ale(tm)!!"
"It CAN Be Done!"
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globemountain
Posts: 97
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2005 7:38 pm
Location: Northeastern Kentucky

Post by globemountain »

GREAT PICTURES!!!!!
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TPM
Posts: 2102
Joined: Fri Jul 28, 2006 1:48 pm
Location: Kitchener, Ontario

Post by TPM »

Awesome pictures! I assume with the horse and buggy in the one picture that you were north of Waterloo somewhere. A buddy of mine has a spot he hunts east of Elmira just outside of town. I do a few hunts with him there every season and it's always a great spot. There's a body of water just north of there and we catch them coming off the water in the morning when they're heading to the fields. Funny you should mention the ducks as we often have the same experience with huge flocks passing by. Two years ago during early season a whole flock landed in our goose decoys and we weren't even calling them! Two weeks later when duck season was open they were still flying by but we had a very difficult time calling them down, of course.
Haven't been out yet this year but everything is packed and ready to go. We normally hunt a farm between Breslau and Guelph.
BTW, a lesson we learned long ago, your truck may look hidden from the ground but it's not to the geese flying overhead. These days we always park the truck at least 150-200 yards from where are decoys are.
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R.J.
Posts: 4505
Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2002 2:12 pm
Location: Innerkip , Ontario , Canada

Post by R.J. »

leonK wrote :
Looks like you're using digital now...
Yep .... real cool to not have to process film now !

chris4570 wrote :
Geese or no geese. It's worth it to just get out and take in the sights and sounds.
You got that right !

globemountain wrote :
GREAT PICTURES
Use to shoot all 35mm SLR , just got a new Digital that takes my lenses ... haven't even read the manual yet , just been shooting in " Auto " .. but it seems OK so far ... I'm sure it has greater abilities ... will find out this fall !

TPM wrote :
Awesome pictures! I assume with the horse and buggy in the one picture that you were north of Waterloo somewhere. A buddy of mine has a spot he hunts east of Elmira just outside of town. I do a few hunts with him there every season and it's always a great spot. There's a body of water just north of there and we catch them coming off the water in the morning when they're heading to the fields. Funny you should mention the ducks as we often have the same experience with huge flocks passing by. Two years ago during early season a whole flock landed in our goose decoys and we weren't even calling them! Two weeks later when duck season was open they were still flying by but we had a very difficult time calling them down, of course.
Haven't been out yet this year but everything is packed and ready to go. We normally hunt a farm between Breslau and Guelph.
BTW, a lesson we learned long ago, your truck may look hidden from the ground but it's not to the geese flying overhead. These days we always park the truck at least 150-200 yards from where are decoys are.
Yep , just North of Waterloo ...

We are not use to seeing so many ducks together this early ...

As for the truck in the field ... have not had many problems with this ... we have actually had four guys out ... took limits fo geese ( 8 birds each ) and had to pack up early ... had the truck in the middle of the decoys , the dog running around , guys picking up decoys and still had birds trying to set into what was left of the spread !

We usually just pull it far enough out of the field to keep it away from the action .... last night we didn't have any geese really flare off ... just flocks that had another location in mind and nothing was going to turn them !

Sometimes it's feast , sometimes it's famine ..... just nice to get out with the boys !

This shot was from 2005 season early opener ... approx 1 concession over from the farm we were on last night ... the birds just kept coming and coming ...

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Sally didn't get any work last night , but she loves to get at those Canada's ... here are a couple of shots of her from past early and late season's ...

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If I get out of work early enough , I'm going to try another spot tonight ... not sure if the weather will cooperate ?
Last edited by R.J. on Sat Sep 09, 2006 3:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
See Ya. ... R.J. > " Remember , Trophies are measured by the time and energy expended to get them , not the size or quantity of the quarry "
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GaryL
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Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2002 5:00 pm
Location: Ohio fer now!!

Post by GaryL »

WOW!!! R.J. some super pictures.
Always learning!!
Home fer now!
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kendo kid
Posts: 674
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 7:56 pm
Location: Toronto

Post by kendo kid »

R.J.
What a great day. We were transported from the thick of the 401 traffic snarl to the beautiful fields of Ontario. Friendly farmers willing to share with those of us who have other life styles but share the love of nature and the bounty of Creator. It does not get any better than Friends, Family and the Great Outdoors. I wish everyone could have seen what we saw. Thanks to your great photos at least they can see a part of it. What a great hunt. Thank you again. I'm going to work on the stone blinds tomorrow and make sure they are ready when the corn is off.
The only ex who has a piece of my heart is Excalibur
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R.J.
Posts: 4505
Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2002 2:12 pm
Location: Innerkip , Ontario , Canada

Post by R.J. »

GaryL : Thanks ... any waterfowling going on in your area this time of year ?

Kendo Kid : Very well put ! ... you are welcome anytime ...looking forward to the stone blinds !
See Ya. ... R.J. > " Remember , Trophies are measured by the time and energy expended to get them , not the size or quantity of the quarry "
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TPM
Posts: 2102
Joined: Fri Jul 28, 2006 1:48 pm
Location: Kitchener, Ontario

Post by TPM »

I got out tonight but no luck. Had three ducks pass by but the only geese I saw were a pair who flew over head as I was packing out. I can't drive back yet with the crops still in the fields so I had to park at the farm house and haul all my decoys and other gear in in my canoe pack. That reminds me, I was supposed to get in better shape before hunting season. :wink:
Great night to be out though. :D
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Sandman
Posts: 4665
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2004 5:50 pm
Location: Rice Lake, Ontario

Post by Sandman »

Great pics R.J.....LOoks like you lads had a great night out for sure~!

I sure look forward to your seeing your name as the "author" in a post because it means....great times, great friends, and best of all great pics~!

Thanks,
Chester
Wildlife Management & Reduction Specialist
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