Deadeye.....I've done that.........'kinda neat just to watch what they do. We've all seen the 'picture' (feet down, reaching for water), but so many times we don't give the birds a chance to show us what they do when they aren't being shot at.
I was scouting during the split and motored into a roost of geese. I figured there might be some honkers using this chute (and it was honker season), but I decoded not to take a gun.......just binoculars. The fog was thick enough that I got within 60yds of them before I saw'em. And normally, they woulda lifted outa there.......but about the time I realized they were there and shut the motor off, the nose of the boat ran=up on a high spot in the trail and it stopped me. The geese weren't real agitated (which surprised me). So, I just sat still and watched'em until 'fly-out'.
They swam around and kept a watchful eye for the next 30-40 minutes. I counted 18 birds several times, but could hear more farther back in the fog.
When they took-off, the whole bunch came over me at between 30-45 feet up. I didn't look right at'em, but from the way they flew toward me, it appeared every one of them was killable. I estimated about 40.
It was worth sitting there and watching them, for the moment they lifted-off and came right over me. Made my whole day.
I've had that happen one other time when I had a gun. But we blocked the only lane they had to leave the roost spot, so i didn't think it was quite 'fair' to take advantage of that situation. It woulda been different if we'd called them to our spread.
Don't get me wrong........I'm pretty trigger happy right now. 'Got a group of gadwalls that have duped us a couple of times, now........I'm trying to figure how to get to'em so I can even the score. I think we're just going to try to be patient........they'll work us next time......but we just have to get in the 'spot'.
Some folks reach a point in their hunting careers (if it ever happens at all), where you realize that killing is just a matter of pulling the trigger.......and it's really the 'hunt' and getting close to the birds, that thrills you.......almost to the point where you derive as much joy from it, when you have the opportunity to pull the trigger......and 'don't'.
