Maine Honker Limit

Frosty morning. Pinkish-blue glow in the false dawn.

Got 30+ GHG & Carry Lite goose dekes set in the farm field a few minutes before legal shooting. A pigeon hawk (merlin) came in for a close look.

At 6:45 a.m., a string of as many live Canadas moved south a quarter-mile away, igonoring my calls and the spread. A few minutes later, a mallard pair buzzed by, high up, heading west.

Then, a little after sunrise, a ragged group of eight Canadas appeared, drifting northwest. I called aggressively with clucks, moans, double clucks, and they slowed, paused as if to compare notes, then began to hook and work my way. I double-clucked a couple more times, then went silent as they approached. The group passed over, above the spread and my hide, but just out of range. I s-l-o-w-l-y cut my eyes as they drifted past me, made some pleading calls, worked the soft talk, shut up.

They stalled, then fish-hooked back, and winged down into the spread the way they do when it all comes together. I took my two honker daily Maine limit, and savored the morning as I packed up the dekes.

--Steve Hickoff

(Steve Hickoff photo)

And so it goes . . .

River mallards and wood ducks on the New Hampshire inland waterfowl opener (Oct. 6) after striking out on Maine field geese (Oct. 2; not a single bird moving). Hunted grouse and woodcock this past Saturday (Oct. 10), and saw a number of canoe-going duck hunters out in southern Maine along the way. Ran one of the dogs yesterday at a local farm on our no-hunt Pine Tree State Sunday, and saw a number of ragged honker groups here and there at daybreak. One loner flew in the direction of my other local farm.
--Steve Hickoff

(Ducks Unlimited media photo)