Missouri 2020

[jolle]

Thanks all, it was as good as could be asked for this time of year. Modakr will have more to share about how special it was for his son who claimed his first bird and was an excellent cripple killer. They stayed to see what the evening feed will bring, I went on a hike scouting turkeys then had to get back, and believe my season has ended on a good note.

We got 10 out of three volleys, 6 ross 4 snows. The wind was exactly opposite of the direction the birds were roosted, so we gambled and went with the wind and of course the first 100 came low straight behind us at 10 yards and pulled off and went back into the water. We were waiting for them to get out front for his son to shoot which didnt happen. So we quickly spun the blinds around. Another wave of 100 came right up the hill to us and we laid into them. Should have dropped more probably, but no worries. The shooting got the whole group up, which we estimated at 2000 or so, and they gave us a 30 yard pass so we shot again and got a few more. They circled the pond a few more times and left and we knew we had a cripple there, so we went down there. Ends up 5 had landed in addition to one that had expired, and 3 of those didnt make it out. And that was it, over in a flash as we expected but hard to beat. Nice to find a few remaining. Heard turkeys gobbling, had ducks of all flavors buzzing all around us, and got to kill a few to a beautiful sunrise. All while practicing social distancing and avoiding the quarantine!

So theres a little hope left for you guys up north, good luck.

[Decoyin Drake]

Well done and congratulations. Beautiful blue and glad to see the dog in the program.

[Qac]

Congrats, thanks for sharing the experience.

Qac

[Sarge]

I’ll bet the “ Cripple Killer” had a day he won’t forget. What an experience for him. Thanks for sharing it .

[Geez n Quackers]

Always great to get that one last hunt in after you think it's over. Sure hard to hang it up for the year. Congrats!

[jolle]

Thanks guys, Yes it was nice. Our season started slow in feb and got much better in march. And there will be more of the story shared as they had a great evening feed and added another 5 birds to the bag.

Hope more of the guys up north get a chance before everyone is locked inside.

[MODAKR]

Follow up to jolle's report of our saturday hunt... as we all know you just never know what is going to happen on a snow goose trip... I really didn't think we would find any birds to begin with. All i found friday night was the same bunch of specks and 3 snows that i had seen 2 weeks earlier, in the exact same spot! Jolle hit the jackpot though which was so lucky as you only have about 15 min to catch them in the air and they are down again. And then on top of it he got permission.. so we were set.

So on top of not really expecting to find much i sure didn't think my son would have as many shooting opp's as he did. He got a single shot .410 for Christmas and honestly hasn't shot it that much which is my responsibility but I figured we go for it and see what happens on this trip. And sometimes maybe being thrown into a situation is better than planning for it!

We had a single ross in the decoys prior to shooting time and that dang thing just about wouldn't leave. eventually he did but he came right back and landed and now we are like 5 min into shooting time and my son is thinking 'gee this is way better than the crappy duck hunts dad has taken me on!'. and here is what is great about hunting with good people. jolle says if you want him to shoot at him go for it; don't think it will screw up the other birds. so i had him shoot and unfortunately he didn't connect; but hey it was all good. the morning went on and we had birds work pretty good and jolle and i got a couple volleys into them and had several on the ground. we broke for lunch and then my son and i came back mid afternoon to see what would happen. no birds were around, not surprisingly and we got some good napping in along with chasing the dog around and my son telling me ' dad those geese aren't coming back today!'. LOL.

we decided to check out a pond on the property that mallards were dumping into all morning. and we found a crippled ross on the pond so we got the .410 and after several attempts and a bit more instruction, the boy was proudly holding his own bird. apparently that instruction i gave was better than what i had done previously cause in the evening when the birds returned we had a juvie snow land behind us right in the decoys. i explained to my son to sit up slowly and carefully and turn around and when he was ready take a shot at that goose.... his pattern was squared up on it and he has his own 100% solo bird! the first one ever! hard to say who was more happy at that point!

i did get a couple volley's into other birds and took 4 more and some of the birds actually sat down on the same nearby pond that they roosted on the previous night. We were elated and started picking up decoys before it got totally dark.

I got some great video of him recounting the stories of the day and all in all it was an absolutely incredible day. As an avid hunter, like many others, when you bring home that baby boy from the hospital i think its fairly normal to have visions and hopes that some day your son will be able to harvest his first bird with you. So to have that come to reality, is really something... hard to put into words! and all i kept hearing while picking up decoys is 'dad when can we do this again??? ' :)

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[jolle]

Hard to beat, glad I was there to witness most of it and his excitement for his first shots.

Hope next year brings us more good times with the kids.

[Cornstalks]

Great story! Many years from now this day has what matters most for both you and your son. You can't have enough of special days like that and hope you have many more like it.

[MODAKR]

i think it left a mark on hiim.... he's been talking about it and just this morning he was writing in his 3rd grade journal a 'hunting tutorial' :-) and he likes the nickname CK !!!