Bring on the Waterfowl

The boat blind on opening day,Blackwater Swamp, Va

The Virginia Waterfowl season opened a little over two weeks ago without a bang,pun intended.Very few local birds were moving and the resident geese didn't want to play.So what's a waterfowler to do?Enjoy the sunrise and catch up with a hunting buddy I haven't seen since last year.We set out early,minus a certain brother that didn't show up,and went through the motions.Then the crickets started talking,yes crickets I know it's wrong to hear crickets while duck hunting but we did.We told stories,watched the deer follow each others scents through the swamp and enjoyed the calm weather and sea smoke.It was a good drill,end of story.

Goose down!

That was the opening day and no hunting on Sunday brings us to Monday.My new found hunting buddy down the road is addicted to goose hunting.He is a big time deer hunter and just recently retired,so he took up goose hunting.He had only killed one goose and wanted a chance to go out in the duck boat.Easy choice because he owns fields and swamps in some key areas I would love a chance to hunt.I informed him that 48 hours earlier the geese didn't cooperate but we could try again.The geese for the most part didn't cooperate but I did manage to turn a group of six.They got close enough to take a shot and a nice dose of Hevi-Shot brought the goose down through the trees into the swamp.That was the end of the trip,yay Virginia duck hunting.My job was done,he killed a goose and invited me to hunt his property around Christmas.The weather is starting to turn now and the birds are slowly moving South.I have another two weeks of work and then I'm off for the Holidays.I can't wait to get out there again.