On the X ; December 26th 2010

Twas the day after Christmas and stuffed throughout the truck,
were shotgun shells, blind bags, and essential goose hunting muck.
I was behind the wheel with Timber perched in the back,
looking onward toward the field where the geese would get wacked.

Weather Conditions: N winds blowing from between 10 - 15mph, with gusts upward of 30+ mph. Snow flurries, overcast skies, and temperatures starting off in the upper teens in the morning.

The scouting for this hunt started on the 23rd of December, where I watched about a hundred or so geese feeding along the northern portions of the property. With the Christmas holiday, and family obligations to come first, the actual hunting portion of the hunt didn't take place until a few days later. With no drastic changes in the weather, and no other hunting pressure on this spot, I was hopeful that the birds would keep to their feeding and flight patterns.

So, with that being the case we actually slept in a bit, and didn't wake up at 0' dark thirty in the morning to set decoys in the dark. Our trucks were driving into the cut corn field by about 8:00am, with some quick work we had the layout blinds, and decoy spread set up and ready to go in under an hour.

Mike & Timber waiting on the flights of geese

It wasn't much after that we were standing around BS'ing like usual. I had no sooner poured a cup of coffee, and raised the steaming thermos lid to my lips, when over the treetops the first flight of birds were spotted. Oh shit, GEESE!!! Everybody dove into their blinds, covered up, and readied themselves.

These birds were committed to landing in this field from the time they first opened their eye lids and took flight from their roost. A few clucks was all the calling that was done, and their wings were set. In just a matter of minutes there were already birds on the ground, with our tally being only one bird short of our daily limit. 5 birds down, only 1 to go. It wasn't much longer before more birds were on their way in, however it would be a little bit longer before we finally finished. Apparently the next flight of birds were either bullet proof, or the shells I was shooting weren't properly packed with shot because nothing fell from the sky after my next attempt. I mean, what fun would it be if we finished that quickly anyways. Might as well make it a little dramatic for all the work we did setting up the decoys. Not much later through, I was presented with another opportunity and made good.

They're locked in on us now boys!!!

Wait for it, wait for it....

TAKE 'EM!!!!

We all agreed to stick it out for about another hour, hoping that one of the future flights of geese would have some greenheads in tow. That never turned out to be the case, but we did get to enjoy the spectacle of what it's like to be on the "X" for that hunt. Geese flew in steadily from just before 9:00am that morning until we were driving out of the field with our trucks once again loaded down with decoys at around 11:30am.

I'll let the field rest for a few days and then hit it hard again later in the week. Hopefully we can put together another hunt like this one again!!

Eric, Me, and Mike after a great hunt.