On Saturday, I just got back from my first ever trip to Canada. A friend and I drove up last weekend. It was a long, tiring trip, but it was worth it, because as we neared the end of the journey, we were treated to a wonderful display of the Northern Lights! I almost creamed a deer that jumped out in front of the truck while I was admiring the light show- that sure woke me up! No pics of that, but wow, what a beautiful sight.
We ran into a hitch or two along the way. First, we stopped to get our licenses at Wally World, only to learn that the computerized system was down, apparently all over the state. Second, the next day was Thanksgiving in Canada, so all the post offices were closed, and we couldn't get the federal duck stamps. Thankfully, NBK had told me that we could purchase our licenses online, and a friend up there let us use his computer and printer to order and print out our licenses. We couldn't get the stamps until the next day, so we scouted all day on Monday, and prepared our gear. We found some decent flocks working, but then hit the mother lode! A roosting pond that looked like the closed zone at Wister, multiplied 5 times! The water was covered with snows, specks, lessers, mallards, and pintails. My companion knows the farmer in the adjoining property, and we got permission to hunt his nearby fields. As we talked to the farmer, the geese went to feed in the field just behind his house. Here's a bit of video of a small portion of those birds.
Monday evening, we were joined by two friends. The next morning, we got all the licenses and stamps squared away, and that afternoon, we did a duck hunt next to a pond in the middle of a field where we had seen thousands of ducks and geese working. We ended up getting about 15 birds- mallards and pintails, with a single greenwing teal.
The next morning, the clouds were low, with a decent breeze, and a little drizzle. Conditions were fantastic, and we had a terrific duck hunt witl limits for all of us, along with a single specklebelly.
We went back in the afternoon. It went from raining to snowing. The geese were flying, but wouldn't come in to the decoys. We ended up getting a single snow.
The next morning was very cold- I was told it was -8 until 10 AM. It wasn't until later that I realized that was Celsius, not Fahrenheit (which equates to 18 degrees). Still, the condensation was freezing on my barrel as it protruded from the layout blind, and my poor dog was shivering in spite of wearing a vest and being in a doggy blind. The potholes had frozen over the night before, and it was comical when a duck flew in and tried to land on the pothole we had set up next to, with a THUD!!! There was no wind that morning, so we only picked a couple birds that wandered by. Around noon, we moved a bit, and then the wind picked up, and birds started coming in! We ended up with about 24 geese and 2 ducks that day.
The next morning, for our final hunt, we set up near that same area, but with no wind, it was difficult. The birds that did come in seemed to flare at the last moment, and we were never really to figure out exactly why. We ended up with 6 geese and 2 ducks.
I'll never forget this first, amazing experience in Canada. The hospitality was unbelievable, and the rolling prairie and aspen was beautiful.
I learned a lot just sitting under that many birds in such a short period of time. I've got a lot more to learn though! I don't know when I'll be able to return, but I definitely will!
We ran into a hitch or two along the way. First, we stopped to get our licenses at Wally World, only to learn that the computerized system was down, apparently all over the state. Second, the next day was Thanksgiving in Canada, so all the post offices were closed, and we couldn't get the federal duck stamps. Thankfully, NBK had told me that we could purchase our licenses online, and a friend up there let us use his computer and printer to order and print out our licenses. We couldn't get the stamps until the next day, so we scouted all day on Monday, and prepared our gear. We found some decent flocks working, but then hit the mother lode! A roosting pond that looked like the closed zone at Wister, multiplied 5 times! The water was covered with snows, specks, lessers, mallards, and pintails. My companion knows the farmer in the adjoining property, and we got permission to hunt his nearby fields. As we talked to the farmer, the geese went to feed in the field just behind his house. Here's a bit of video of a small portion of those birds.
Monday evening, we were joined by two friends. The next morning, we got all the licenses and stamps squared away, and that afternoon, we did a duck hunt next to a pond in the middle of a field where we had seen thousands of ducks and geese working. We ended up getting about 15 birds- mallards and pintails, with a single greenwing teal.
The next morning, the clouds were low, with a decent breeze, and a little drizzle. Conditions were fantastic, and we had a terrific duck hunt witl limits for all of us, along with a single specklebelly.
We went back in the afternoon. It went from raining to snowing. The geese were flying, but wouldn't come in to the decoys. We ended up getting a single snow.
The next morning was very cold- I was told it was -8 until 10 AM. It wasn't until later that I realized that was Celsius, not Fahrenheit (which equates to 18 degrees). Still, the condensation was freezing on my barrel as it protruded from the layout blind, and my poor dog was shivering in spite of wearing a vest and being in a doggy blind. The potholes had frozen over the night before, and it was comical when a duck flew in and tried to land on the pothole we had set up next to, with a THUD!!! There was no wind that morning, so we only picked a couple birds that wandered by. Around noon, we moved a bit, and then the wind picked up, and birds started coming in! We ended up with about 24 geese and 2 ducks that day.
The next morning, for our final hunt, we set up near that same area, but with no wind, it was difficult. The birds that did come in seemed to flare at the last moment, and we were never really to figure out exactly why. We ended up with 6 geese and 2 ducks.
I'll never forget this first, amazing experience in Canada. The hospitality was unbelievable, and the rolling prairie and aspen was beautiful.
I learned a lot just sitting under that many birds in such a short period of time. I've got a lot more to learn though! I don't know when I'll be able to return, but I definitely will!
