My good buddy Freddy McGuire sent me a note Friday asking if I wanted to tag along the next morning on a goose hunt with him and Dale Harless (pictured above) on the New River. When I said "yes," his next note included this line:
"We saw a ton of geese last time and really should kill them pretty good."
He had the sense to add this note after that sentence: "(Warning: kiss of death.)"
And that wasn't the only one.
It's a pretty well-known fact that if you want to ruin a hunt or fishing trip, you just have to invite an outdoor writer.
Making matters worse, both Freddy and I were bringing video cameras.
So, Dale noted, we had the triple kiss of death working against us.
We were on the river before 6 a.m. (which required a 3:15 a.m. wake-up for me, which is about as bad as it gets).
Things started getting worrisome early. The previous weekend Freddy and Dale had bumped a bunch of geese while floating down to their hunting area. Saturday, we bumped two.
About 7:30 a pair of geese came in to our spread. They were crossing overhead and maybe we should have let them go in hopes of getting them to come back in. But they offered me a decent shot so I took it. And missed. Twice.
We had pairs -- possibly the same geese -- come back a couple more times, but couldn't get shots.
That was it.
It could have been worse. The weather was actually pretty decent (which certainly didn't help the hunting). And at least when you're sitting in a blind (or blinded boat) you can talk, drink hot coffee or cocoa and eat.
We saw a few geese on the river on the drive home so they haven't all headed south. But I'm guessing it will be pretty slow for the final days of the season, which ends Feb. 15.
Comments
[February 5, 2008 4:29 PM]
Mr. PFor those who can remember when there was only one "doe day" per season...
Seeing those gals on the Friday before...in droves....that was the kiss of death.
Felt like not even getting out of bed Saturday morning...you just knew you were in for a day of grey squirrels and woodpeckers!