Links r Us
09-03-2004, 08:39 AM
OUTDOORS
Clear skies, full moon get goose hunters to cry foul
Friday, September 03, 2004
D'Arcy Egan
Plain Dealer Outdoors Writer
Gustavus, Ohio- When hunting Canada geese, a sunburn shouldn't be an issue.
If we had been after walleyes, yellow perch or bass on Wednesday morning - when the early Canada goose season opened - it would have been a delight to embrace mild breezes, sunny weather and the need to slather on the sunscreen. When the big geese are the focus, you cross your fingers and hope for cool, even inclement weather, that prompts the birds to travel.
Toss in a full moon and clear skies, which encourage geese to feed all night and sleep all day, and there weren't enough fingers to cross on opening morning.
John Beckwith of Kent, the head of Honker Bonker Guide Service, wasn't happy. Neither were Jeff House of Dayton, Jim Peters of North Royalton nor Ben Miller, an Ohio State University junior who lives just around the corner from the Trumbull County hay and cornfields we were hunting.
The conversation was lively. The goose tunes the guys were playing on their calls sounded sweet. A new hunting license and a couple of duck stamps were in my pocket. More than five dozen silhouette goose decoys were perched in the hay field in front of us, and a box of shotshells loaded with steel and a shotgun were next to my seat in tall standing corn.
All of the ingredients were there, save for one. A flock of geese would have been nice, or even a solitary gander looking for a mid-morning snack.
As the morning fog slowly burned away to expose blue skies and sunshine, the chance of success dwindled. We heard the faint sound of a shotgun a few fields away, perhaps a dove hunter on opening day. Somewhere in the distance a gaggle of geese, undoubtedly resting on a farm pond, could be heard talking about their late-night feeding binge in farm country.
"There was a load of geese in these fields yesterday," said Beckwith. "I figured we'd have our limits right off the bat."
The early season goose limit is a liberal five birds per day through Sept. 15.
Having successfully hunted with Beckwith in the past, there was no doubt he'd been out scouting all week to pinpoint the flocks visiting his hard-earned hunting areas around Northeast Ohio. Listening to the flurry of cell phone calls he fielded, a lot of hunting friends as well as his Honker Bonker partner, DeWayne Knight of Rootstown, were bemoaning the lack of opening-day action.
If the geese weren't accommodating, maybe the doves would be willing to fly. Checking in with a friend at nearby Mosquito Creek Wildlife Area, where an opening-day limit of doves on the groomed dove fields is always a possibility, the news wasn't good. A few birds were flying, but the morning fog hampered the hunting.
The dove hunting at Grand River and Berlin wildlife areas was fair to good for the opener. Ohio Division of Wildlife district supervisor Jeff Herrick slipped out Wednesday morning to his favorite fields at Highlandtown Wildlife Area and had a limit of doves by mid-morning.
There was still time to head to Lake Erie, where the yellow perch fishing has been outstanding in the Cleveland area and to the east. We all knew what would have happened if fishing had been our first choice.
"It would have been windy and raining," said Peters. "We would have wished we'd have gone goose hunting."
The Honker Bonker Guide Service has openings for the early goose season. Call Beckwith (330-283-3877) or Knight (330-730-0352).
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
degan@plaind.com, 216-999-6136
© 2004 The Plain Dealer. Used with permission.
Print This E-mail This
http://www.cleveland.com/outdoors/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/1094203846167574.xml
Clear skies, full moon get goose hunters to cry foul
Friday, September 03, 2004
D'Arcy Egan
Plain Dealer Outdoors Writer
Gustavus, Ohio- When hunting Canada geese, a sunburn shouldn't be an issue.
If we had been after walleyes, yellow perch or bass on Wednesday morning - when the early Canada goose season opened - it would have been a delight to embrace mild breezes, sunny weather and the need to slather on the sunscreen. When the big geese are the focus, you cross your fingers and hope for cool, even inclement weather, that prompts the birds to travel.
Toss in a full moon and clear skies, which encourage geese to feed all night and sleep all day, and there weren't enough fingers to cross on opening morning.
John Beckwith of Kent, the head of Honker Bonker Guide Service, wasn't happy. Neither were Jeff House of Dayton, Jim Peters of North Royalton nor Ben Miller, an Ohio State University junior who lives just around the corner from the Trumbull County hay and cornfields we were hunting.
The conversation was lively. The goose tunes the guys were playing on their calls sounded sweet. A new hunting license and a couple of duck stamps were in my pocket. More than five dozen silhouette goose decoys were perched in the hay field in front of us, and a box of shotshells loaded with steel and a shotgun were next to my seat in tall standing corn.
All of the ingredients were there, save for one. A flock of geese would have been nice, or even a solitary gander looking for a mid-morning snack.
As the morning fog slowly burned away to expose blue skies and sunshine, the chance of success dwindled. We heard the faint sound of a shotgun a few fields away, perhaps a dove hunter on opening day. Somewhere in the distance a gaggle of geese, undoubtedly resting on a farm pond, could be heard talking about their late-night feeding binge in farm country.
"There was a load of geese in these fields yesterday," said Beckwith. "I figured we'd have our limits right off the bat."
The early season goose limit is a liberal five birds per day through Sept. 15.
Having successfully hunted with Beckwith in the past, there was no doubt he'd been out scouting all week to pinpoint the flocks visiting his hard-earned hunting areas around Northeast Ohio. Listening to the flurry of cell phone calls he fielded, a lot of hunting friends as well as his Honker Bonker partner, DeWayne Knight of Rootstown, were bemoaning the lack of opening-day action.
If the geese weren't accommodating, maybe the doves would be willing to fly. Checking in with a friend at nearby Mosquito Creek Wildlife Area, where an opening-day limit of doves on the groomed dove fields is always a possibility, the news wasn't good. A few birds were flying, but the morning fog hampered the hunting.
The dove hunting at Grand River and Berlin wildlife areas was fair to good for the opener. Ohio Division of Wildlife district supervisor Jeff Herrick slipped out Wednesday morning to his favorite fields at Highlandtown Wildlife Area and had a limit of doves by mid-morning.
There was still time to head to Lake Erie, where the yellow perch fishing has been outstanding in the Cleveland area and to the east. We all knew what would have happened if fishing had been our first choice.
"It would have been windy and raining," said Peters. "We would have wished we'd have gone goose hunting."
The Honker Bonker Guide Service has openings for the early goose season. Call Beckwith (330-283-3877) or Knight (330-730-0352).
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
degan@plaind.com, 216-999-6136
© 2004 The Plain Dealer. Used with permission.
Print This E-mail This
http://www.cleveland.com/outdoors/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/1094203846167574.xml