Rusty Hallock
01-05-2005, 10:01 AM
DATE: January 3, 2005
LOCATION: Galesville, Maryland
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 07:27 A.M. / 04:56 P.M.
WEATHER: Warm and Sunny
TEMPERATURE: Low 49° F / High 65° F
WIND: Variable
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear® Full Body Canada Goose Decoys (Active, Feeders, and Looker Styles) Greenhead Gear® Over-Sized Canada Goose Shell Decoys, Greenhead Gear® Universal Motion Stakes, Greenhead Gear® Bullet Bottle, Avery® Floating Blind Bag, Avery® Mud Case with Flag Sleeve, Avery® Neoprene PowerBelt, Avery® 6-Slot Full Body Decoy Bag, and Zink SR-1 and LM-1
HUNTERS: Jimmy Seibert and Avery® Pro-Staffer Rusty Hallock
JOURNAL NOTES: This was another classic bluebird day that we have become accustomed to of late here in Maryland. During the last week and a half, it has remained above freezing, even at night.
Our morning started out by rigging some new GHG Over-Sized Shells with Universal Motion Stakes. Once we rigged the new shells, we quickly set out six dozen GHG Full Bodies. We arranged our spread in loose small family groups. Since the arrival of warm weather, the geese have been sitting in small family groups. We were not hunting on the “X” today. We were going to be gunning “traffic”, so everything had to be perfect.
We got set up in a newly dug pit in a cornfield. The pit had all the comforts of home, but I was missing the visibility that my Power Hunter affords me. This would be very important later in our hunt.
The geese flew sporadically this morning. With the warm weather and calm winds, the geese did not feel the need to move to the fields. They were comfortable loafing on the West River. Finally, a few small flocks took flight. We had several groups circle our spread, but they would not make that final commitment. Luckily, one of the last flocks would cooperate.
One of the final flocks of the morning took flight and they flew south of our set-up. They were not coming in our direction until I started flagging. The flag quickly changed their minds. They began setting up for our spread. I put the flag down and we began calling. The geese circled our spread once and went to the rear of our spread. This is when we lost sight of the birds. The light and variable wind would not allow us to concentrate on one large landing area. We had several landing areas around our spread. The pit did not allow for us to follow the birds to the rear of our decoy spread. As we continued to cluck and moan, we were surprised by the sound of wings back peddling. When we stood, the birds were literally close enough to touch. We had to wait for the birds to put some distance between us before we shot our limits. Hunting out of the pit was nice. I missed the view that the Avery Layout Blinds provide. It would have been truly awesome to see the birds dumping in from behind and nearly landing us.
http://img87.exs.cx/img87/9013/dsc006038hc.jpg
Greenhead Gear Aggressive Feeder Style Full Body on a Universal Motion Stake
http://img87.exs.cx/img87/9736/dsc006065im.jpg
Avery Pro-Staffer Rusty Hallock and Jimmy Seibert
LOCATION: Galesville, Maryland
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 07:27 A.M. / 04:56 P.M.
WEATHER: Warm and Sunny
TEMPERATURE: Low 49° F / High 65° F
WIND: Variable
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear® Full Body Canada Goose Decoys (Active, Feeders, and Looker Styles) Greenhead Gear® Over-Sized Canada Goose Shell Decoys, Greenhead Gear® Universal Motion Stakes, Greenhead Gear® Bullet Bottle, Avery® Floating Blind Bag, Avery® Mud Case with Flag Sleeve, Avery® Neoprene PowerBelt, Avery® 6-Slot Full Body Decoy Bag, and Zink SR-1 and LM-1
HUNTERS: Jimmy Seibert and Avery® Pro-Staffer Rusty Hallock
JOURNAL NOTES: This was another classic bluebird day that we have become accustomed to of late here in Maryland. During the last week and a half, it has remained above freezing, even at night.
Our morning started out by rigging some new GHG Over-Sized Shells with Universal Motion Stakes. Once we rigged the new shells, we quickly set out six dozen GHG Full Bodies. We arranged our spread in loose small family groups. Since the arrival of warm weather, the geese have been sitting in small family groups. We were not hunting on the “X” today. We were going to be gunning “traffic”, so everything had to be perfect.
We got set up in a newly dug pit in a cornfield. The pit had all the comforts of home, but I was missing the visibility that my Power Hunter affords me. This would be very important later in our hunt.
The geese flew sporadically this morning. With the warm weather and calm winds, the geese did not feel the need to move to the fields. They were comfortable loafing on the West River. Finally, a few small flocks took flight. We had several groups circle our spread, but they would not make that final commitment. Luckily, one of the last flocks would cooperate.
One of the final flocks of the morning took flight and they flew south of our set-up. They were not coming in our direction until I started flagging. The flag quickly changed their minds. They began setting up for our spread. I put the flag down and we began calling. The geese circled our spread once and went to the rear of our spread. This is when we lost sight of the birds. The light and variable wind would not allow us to concentrate on one large landing area. We had several landing areas around our spread. The pit did not allow for us to follow the birds to the rear of our decoy spread. As we continued to cluck and moan, we were surprised by the sound of wings back peddling. When we stood, the birds were literally close enough to touch. We had to wait for the birds to put some distance between us before we shot our limits. Hunting out of the pit was nice. I missed the view that the Avery Layout Blinds provide. It would have been truly awesome to see the birds dumping in from behind and nearly landing us.
http://img87.exs.cx/img87/9013/dsc006038hc.jpg
Greenhead Gear Aggressive Feeder Style Full Body on a Universal Motion Stake
http://img87.exs.cx/img87/9736/dsc006065im.jpg
Avery Pro-Staffer Rusty Hallock and Jimmy Seibert