Hello Old Friend

Ah hunting season, it is like that old friend you haven't seen in a while but it is like you all never left each other. My first taste of the Good Life is the early goose season here in Michigan. I am going to tell ya if you have never tried goose hunting it is a trip.  Even if you don't like the taste of goose you can always donate the meat to a charity or soup kitchen. Early goose season is a great way to start the hunting season. It is still warm out so you don't have to get all of your big bulky camo out, you get to hang out with family and friends, and plus you don't have be quiet until the birds start coming in. So that means you can rekindle friendships and work on new ones. For me it also helps me recharge my batteries. Nothing beats sitting in a blind or laying in a layout blind and hearing the crickets and birds fly over that just makes things better.  This year was no different except for the fact that there were hardly any birds where I was hunting and the weather was not helping. I tried to fight it with every fiber of my being but I ended up saving my vacation day and I went to work instead of hunting opening day. Because it was a balmy 90 degrees on opening day and there were no birds to be found in the areas I was hunting.  There was just a hand full of people that I talk with on the social network sites that had birds but even their numbers were down. So as I was working away at my job kicking myself for not going out on OPENING DAY and dreaming of the flocks of geese that were still in Canada.  It was brought to my attention that I had forgotten about a vacation day that was coming up on the Friday of the first weekend of the season.  After finding that out I was in hunting mode. My brother called me and said he was going to be hunting some state land that Friday and wanted to know if I wanted to go. Well after twisting my arm I said YES.  Well the night before we were to go out it was my youngest sons birthday so the family and I went up to my parents house and had a great time talking hunting with my brother Joe and hanging out with my family.

So my opening morning was finally here. 2:30 am came way to early but it is hunting season so it is worth the trouble.  I headed up to my parents house to meet up with Joe. We piled into his truck and we were North bound and down.  Well we ended up with a spot that has always been good to me and my brother.  As a matter of fact him and one of his buddies hunted it during the week and got 2 geese. So we unloaded all of the stuff into the blind. Joe ran back to the truck for something and I went out and set up the decoys. Just before light I heard a lone honk in the distance so I was already getting excited. The lone goose must have known the shooting hours because 3 minutes before legal shooting hours the goose flew over the blind. I could have been mistaken but it looked like he looked back at me and stuck up a feather to tell me GOOD LUCK.  So my brother made it back to the blind so that meant it was game time for the Duncan boys to lay the smack down. Well things were so fast paste and exciting that I was able to take a quick nap and finish reading a old hunting news paper that I had in my pack. After a couple of hours Joe heard a honk and yelled get down.  He started making sweet music with his Get Em Locked Up goose call. Well I had a chance to see the goose out of the corner of my eye. It was a beautiful sight wings cupped feet down and gliding into the decoys. For a moment I forgot to shoot because I was enjoying the show. Which in hind site might have been a good thing. After emptying my gun and my brother emptying his gun we watched the goose turn and fly off  to enjoy another day in the great outdoors.

Even though that was the closest I got to a goose this early season it was still a good early goose season. Next on my list is small game season that opens up on the 15th. So again I will be in the field with friends and family chasing the bushy tails and maybe a random crow.  So until next time everybody be safe out there and enjoy the Great Outdoors.