Hunting Honkers Over Lessers.....

**David Rearick** · #1 09-11-2007, 04:37 PM

2007 Hunting Journal Entries

DATE: 09-10-07

LOCATION: Western PA

SUNRISE/SUNSET: 6:54

WEATHER: Overcast

TEMPERATURE: 70’s

WIND: Mild to Non-Existent

EQUIPMENT USED: Avery® Finisher Blind, Avery® Finisher Dog Blind, Avery® Game Hog Strap, Avery® Power Hunter Blind Bag, Avery® 6 Slot Goose Decoy Bags, Avery® Fleece Calling Gloves, Avery® DIY Lanyard, GHG® Ground Force Blind, GHG® FFD Lesser goose decoys

HUNTERS: Shawn “Smiley” Smith, JB, Zink Calls® Staff member Erik Nilsson, and Avery® Pro-Staffer David Rearick

DOGS: Shawn’s Dog “Drake”

JOURNAL NOTES:

After an all out scout effort Sunday by Shawn, Erik, and I, we had options. Our best bet was a new farm Shawn acquired that was really hot, so we set the meeting time and began counting the hours down to sunrise. I scouted the field three times during the day to watch the birds, as the day progressed, and birds just kept coming to the field almost using it as a loafing area around lunch time. With lots of birds in the area, things looked good for the day and we were ready to get after them for a quick hunt before work.

With a long walk ahead of us, FFD lessers were going to be the ticket for today’s hunt. Many times, I have been asked if lessers are effective on our resident honkers, and I am a firm believer they work just the same, while saving space in the trailer and weight on your shoulders. Today we would put that theory to the test one more time and run a small spread of 3.5 dozen lessers and no Honkers.

The first flock came shortly after light; double clucking and moaning, as they made their approach. I never get tired of watching geese approach and the overcast conditions made the backdrop on the birds something to remember. It wasn’t long until they were feet down 50 yards out and the 30 plus birds in the flock never second guessed that the decoys were right. As they began to back peddle amongst the decoys, the shot was called and the first birds of the day were on the ground. Drake made the retrieves and we quickly got settled back into our blinds as flocks on the horizon were on their way.

The birds continued to head in our direction on their way to a field across the road, where they have been provided safety from hunting for 5 years. With the correct combination of flagging, calling, and reading the birds they continued to hit the hole even with a mass of honkers gathering across the road, in freshly cut fields. The birds seemed un-phased by the FFD lesser decoys and we quickly answered the question, I have been asked all those times, regarding the lesser decoys ability to work exclusively for large Canada geese; plain and simple they will and did. Maybe it is just my back telling my brain what to think, but I actually ponder if they don’t work better. Not only do they allow me to carry 2 dozen at a time and I can get 4 dozen in my truck at once without towing the trailer, but they also provide effective realistic motion in the lightest of winds. The residents we hunt all year quickly become educated to decoy spreads, blinds, and hunters; so something different is typically the ticket for making it happen the right way, in your face.

As the day progressed, we were out of geese that had been using the field, and began running traffic on birds headed to other fields. We ended the day with a solid 23 on the ground and many birds still huntable in the following days or weeks. With the long walk out, we all enjoyed hunting over the lessers if for nothing more than having to make one less trip up the hill to haul out gear.

The Birds

Drake Rounding Them Up...