Expect the unexpected...

Note: This is the first part in an interesting day, part two will be posted shortly

On Friday night I called my buddy Jab to see if he'd be interested in gunning on his property which has tidal estuary waterfront. He felt that we wouldn't see anything since our cold snap and also proclaimed he had a list of things to accomplish before the weekend ended. Since I had decided not to go sea duck hunting due to some forecasted wind, I found myself weighing out a few options. After thinking about sneaking down below the shore after a black duck or setting up for a few buffleheads, I placed a call to my old friend Rod to see if he'd be interested in getting together for some shooting.

Rod answered the phone with enthusiasm and shared some excitement in the potential of a hunt. A little over ten years ago we became great friends, but as his kids left home for college and mine entered the world we found ourselves sort of losing touch. However, we have never missed a beat in terms of our friendship as we have caught up every so often. After some discussion, a few phone calls, and a final decision; the plan required me to be at his house no later than 8 a.m. where our group would then drive to the gunning locale. I'll be serious, I was eager to hunt with Rod and excited to know that I would be able to hunt with my wife's blessing as her quilting class had been cancelled. That means no morning curfew!

Everything was operating according to plan until 7:10 as I was on my way out of town. My buddy, Jab, had called my cell phone at 7:04 and left a message. After checking it, I knew I had to return this call. Apparently, a massive flock of Canadian geese had arrived below his house and were in his words, "Everywhere".

Now this is what I call a problem, I called Rod to inform him of my plans and gained his full support. Just as soon as I pressed END, I was redialing Jab to let him know that, "Help was on the way, give me 8 minutes".

I met Jab in his driveway and quickly we moved to foster a strategy for success. Personally, I wanted the chance at a goose since I have never taken one in my entire life, but wanted to do this quickly enough to not impede with my original plans. After quickly scolding Jab about why we should have been down there this morning, a plan was formulated to rush down to the where the tidal grass meets the woods. With quick implementation and fast firing, three geese were dispatched and the retrieval process began. We tipped over a skiff full of water (and ice) and dragged the water logged vessel towards the incoming tide.



In just a few minutes, our quarry had been collected, several photos snapped, a quick thank you, and then I was back on the road. After calling Rod, we decided to meet at a known location and then proceed from there. My detour had set me back about one half hour, and I still had another entire hunt coming up.