We get golden eyes around here on occasion... Not been lucky enough to get one.. Still going on 20+ years without a band and even then I was only 11 or 12 when I got my first and only banded duck. Father has gotten a bunch lately...
Well we shot 3 man limits on honkers all weekend. Bad news is on Friday We left our blinds when it slowed down so we could warm up in the truck. Some geese got up and instead of doing what my head told me and telling the 19 year olds I was with to go ahead, Ill get in on the next group I decided to sprint across a snow covered, chiseled corn field. Cracked ribs and a busted up knee later.... I still had a great time! Im getting old
Picked up a lot of birds with the freeze. For me hunting big water it works in my favor and we were pretty mean to 'em for several days. Now that its warming up and the skinny water is thawing they are scattering out.
Our late geese season opens on Sunday. It cant come quick enough. The freezing weather has frozen up all the standing water so they're roosting in the rivers. This is perfect as they are going to nearby fields to feed... I went out this evening after work and had about 1000 geese through 3 properties I have permission for. The weather is supposed to stay freezing throughout most of this week and still at night so hopefully their pattern doesn't change by then. Even then, typically once they get in a field they stay in it for a while.
Sounds like some good hunting. All the geese around here are hitting fields in the evening and not until about 5-15min after legal shooting time.
The geese around here have been feeding at night also. however, with the season being on again, off again, and most of the focus on ducks before the season ended, it has really lightened the pressure up. 2 of the 3 fields I haven't hunted at all. The birds just haven't been in them. I knew they would eventually due to their location, but it took the ponds and small lakes being flooded to put them in the right spot.
We are getting warmer weather and water is starting to unfreeze. Hope we get some more cold weather before season comes to a end. But another cold snap may push all out birds out of here an we won't have anything left to shoot. Not sure what guys up north are seeing if any birds are left..
Same here, warmer weather and water unfreezing. All the ducks that I had bunched up on the big water will scatter and my happy fun time is over. We put up our first zero of the year today.
Thanks. It is going to take a while to start feeling better. Im getting along better than I did this past weekend as Ive learned what I can and cant do, plus the pain meds...... Official diagnosis is hairline fracture of two ribs and a torn muscle, should take two weeks before I see improvement and 6 to completely heal. Geese are still hanging around, even though a lot of the water is froze up. Big warm up this weekend, but I hope to get out again whenever I feel like I could handle it.
We're still well below freezing here in Central Indiana. That's only going to last through tomorrow. After that it's going to warm back up during the day. Hopefully the big water stays frozen. Right now the geese are staying on the water in the rivers (in which i have permission) and feeding in the fields next to the rivers (which I have permission). I think if the big water does unfreeze they should still feed in the same place, hopefully. Either way, Sunday is shaping up to sound like a hail storm on a farm pond.
From what my father has seen this week... Not many birds around. Still not finding any geese hitting fields early enough to do a evening hunt.
Hope they find them. I'm leaving tomorrow, and extremely pumped. Me and 2 buddies road tripping to another buddies house.
We are the opposite... The more ice the better. We run deicers at our two spots so when all the other ponds/small lakes in the area freeze up, its a gold mine.
