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)