Saturday Sept 1,2007 (Opening Day)
This morning found us (Dave, Darv, Tom, Justen, Adam and Curtis) somewhere in Lancaster County, PA. We were set up in a pasture next to a farm pond that geese have been frequenting quite regularly. Having arrived before daylight we had everything set up just as the first hint of light was coming up from the horizon. All the cameras were checked and set to record the day’s events so we climbed into our layouts to await the geese.
The farmer told us that on some mornings the geese would arrive around 6:30 AM. As we were lying there in our Exterminator layout blinds, provided by Otter Outdoors, waiting for the geese we had several mallards come into the pond and check things out. Of course as nice as they came into the goose deeks they would not be in season.
Tom stepped out to double check the camera we had hidden beside a decoy and from out of nowhere a flock of Blue Winged Teal came in and sat down no more than 20 yards from him on the pond. The brilliant flash from the blue on the wing patch in the morning sun was amazing.
Staying as still as he could he slowly turned the camera around to record them while sitting out in the open with the goose decoys. They stuck around for a little while as we admired them and they ate from the bottom of the pond. Then in an instant they were gone.
It wasn't until 8 am that the geese decided to get up and start flying. The first group came flying in from our right. They swung out wide and ended up coming straight into the pond from directly in front of us. Six geese came in locked up, some of them flipping wildly as they came through the gap in the trees along the fencerow. They never stopped until they were almost on the water. The six of us popped out of our layouts and in an instant six geese lay on the water or along the pond bank.
Next we had a single come in. He made more noise than then all the geese in the previous flock combined. Unfortunately for him we were on our “A” game today and he stayed for good too.
Next we spotted three far out to our back right. After some enticing calls they circled wide and swung into the decoys. We had 3 more birds on the water.
The farmer told us the pond wasn't more than 2 feet deep so no one brought along their chest waders. He forgot to tell us there was also a foot of mud under the water. We had 2 geese floating belly down heads straight out and one belly up that we couldn't get to.
Unfortunately the next flock that came in saw the one belly up and never committed to the pond. They circled several times and never presented a passing shot.
After working our way out to the belly up bird someone spotted another flock of birds. Six more were coming in from our front left. Everyone ran back and jumped into the layout blinds.
Once again the birds came in and were doing their airborne acrobatics flipping sometimes completely upside down. They came into the pond from the left and circled around the pond and came right in. Exploding out of our layouts once again the last flock of the day lay in front of us.
The final result for the day was 16 birds. You couldn't ask for a much better opening day of early goose season in Pennsylvania. Just to be able to see the flock of Blue Winged Teal made the day extra special. A lot of them are gone by the time the early duck season gets here in Oct. You can still see some Green Winged Teal but the Blues usually head south early.
After taking the birds back to Dave's house and getting them cleaned we headed out for an afternoon of dove hunting. There we were set back into reality with our shooting or lack of. Several boxes of shells later we were cleaning 24 doves.
Hopefully this will be the beginning of a great season to come.
Tags: Goose Waterfowl Decoys Pond Water Dogs Hunting
