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2021 / 2022 Hunting Season Chronicle

11K views 135 replies 22 participants last post by  KEVIN 
#1 ·
Well figure try change things up from the norm on here so here it goes .

Start of our Hunting season was with early Goose Season down here on the Cape on Sept 7 , Myself and my daughter mostly for the 4 trips we did this yr plus one day with My son , one his buddies and his dad for a 5 member trip split up in two groups on that one wich turned out be a great day there .

Opener day turned into a great morning with SSW winds that warmed things up quickly with only one chance at the Geese bagging 3 that morning Daughter got two lesser 's with her New 20 gauge semi Weatherby , ( upgraded from the 20 Remington 870 ) big difference with a Kicks Mod. Extended shooting Federal Premium #4 shot steel , real nice pattern compared to simular set up on the Remy .

Anyways we continued on with two of our 4 trips mostly trying to get a crack at the elusive birds , seeing lots of different species of ducks including some woodies and pintails in the salt marshes .

The group Co - family hunt went great as 7 birds came victim of two different set ups on a blustery over cast day with several large flocks on the move off the ocean heading inland and coming from inland lakes or brackish coves trying get into good shelter feeding grounds battling the cross wind day , as well trying keep our 2 boats outta the swells along the shore line when getting into more open areas . Over all Early Goose made some great memories once again and some good table fare .
This pic is from opening day morning
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#2 ·
Congratulations to you and your family and thanks for sharing. Did you take any pics of the birds
Were you using the old 10ga :) Gold. They say those weatherby SA-08 are a good gun. I have never fired one but own one NIB in 28ga. Bought because it was a 28ga :) to add to the herd
Take care
 
#3 ·
My Trip to N.B was not a full success altho I could easily tagged out on a smaller than targeted bear , was after a nice Cinnamon Phase what we believed to be older Boar who every time came in drove off the smaller bears , along with a huge regular phase black bear that got taken week after I left N.B .

We did help others tag out who did not care what it was , just wanted meat and to get a mount of sorts , myself not what I was looking to do altho I did get some meatvto take home from one guy whos rifle got damaged on his second day hunt ( damm near cried myself on that , His Sako Finbear stock split somehow ) so loaned him my 45-70 lever as also had my 35 Remington for back up , he ended up with a 220 lb female and we both ended up with great memory and making a new acquaintence on both sides .

One of the highlights was when a 200 lb plus bear came straight up our tree and started coming around the inside of our stand with both us trying give it the point NO THIRD PARTIES ALLOWED ! Lmao little nudge of the rifle barrel with safety off ! ! ! Gave it the hint quickly and back down it went , that happened when one larger bears decided to start move in before daylight with this one walked in behind us .

Other than that bear hunting is just that a good adrenaline rush ! Lol
 
#4 ·
So now onto Grouse Season , opener was blue bird day flushing only one bird that went clear over a swamp into a thicket , was not going for that one , even tho checked out few back woods lakes to see what ducks were holding up and what species were there , also checking some older beaver huts for Beaver or Otter sign for Nov 1 Opener for trapping .

Went back at it next morning and my daughter accompany me and seemed she brought out the birds as we flushed 6 and harvested 5 of them , same area hunted with two different results as well basically same weather on both days . One never knows .

More to come on our couple of duck hunts we've got in so far , trying gear up for PEI after just getting in checking leg holds for coyotes after early start 4 am to my day
 
#6 ·
Start of our Duck Hunting season consisted of 4 man group ( 2 fathers and 2 sons ) Both my self and Greg let the 2 young fellas go to the side blind and we took the point blind , birds were going almost every direction for us , good and bad tbing as even circled from behind us , between us all had about 70 decoys , (spinners , feeders , semi resting and alert decoys , The boat made for great water taxi to head of the Island , two trips both ways , one for gear and other for us .

Ended up finish out that day with 11 blacks and 1 Teal , not bad for a morning hunt , just trying get the birds to land between decoy spread was the only challenge and in good range 30-40 yrd tops .

Our 2_young fellas tho were on top their game till one had malfunction on his Benelli Pump , not good start for his season but still got couple birds ( and yes that gun was cleaned extensively prior to opener ) so that gun is off to repair center after a burr was found inside the receiver all down slide rail .

Any how after few a few days , took back to a lone hunt back to same place and had 4 blacks by 8 am then the blue bird sun began to clear the skies , and birds took the high road going over and refuse any calls or to respond to the layout , what ever it is once skies clear down that way birds just don't cooperate in any manner . Thats just hunting in general i guess .
 
#9 · (Edited)
My Hunting season began two weeks ago with our annual Moose Hunt. Daughter and i have been going to Nl now for quite a few years. Pricey, however you cannot take the money with you should you stop living, so i save my dimes from year to year to make it happen. Life is short. As with most years I stood back and watched her shoot. A well placed quartering away shot and Moose Meat was once again on the pole. Prior to seeing this Critter, which we actually called in using a mating call, we took after another about an hour earlier. A big lone Cow as was this one. We got to within 300 yards trying to get to a rock outcrop to get a steady rest, but that Moose was a bit smarter then us and left town fast. This Moose was about 200 yards away, I ranged it with my range finder. Saw one more after this one a young six point Bull. The other group that were in camp, 6 gents from Mass. all tagged out by Weds. In total they saw over 20 Moose and 40 Caribou in a day and a half span, they left for a further in Spike Camp Tuesday Am and were back the following afternoon, all tagged out.. Getting a Moose means that i will not hunt Deer, simply no room for it. However bird hunting takes front and center. Been out on the old haul roads a few rimes. Not much happening yet. That will change..Good to see a thread like
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this started.
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#12 ·
Great thread Walter !! Love reading these kinds of local stories !!
MWO....very NIIIICE man !! It's all about the kids and keeping them involved ! They ARE the future of the shooting sports !!
WELL DONE GUYS !!!
Waiting on the rest of you guys to post em up. Daddy D and his Grand D should be along shortly (( hope so)) lol
 
#14 · (Edited)
Huge Congratulations to you and your Daughter MWO FOR sharing a lifetime event together and Harvesting a very nice Critter to boot , and yes can't take the money with you so enjoy it as best as one can .

Once again up and out at 4 to start checking and locking out gear till we get back from the island , had a Bob cat at one my sets , seems 1 more minute it would been a accidental catch recording , only couple more inches and snapo , then out come the catch pole to have a wrestling match for live release . None the less we both seen the other in time to allow easy escape .

Once the sun came up and cool mist started burning off out came the grouse on one particular trail , with in 200 yards stretch flushed 7 birds we harvested 3 outta them , due to others were Spruce Grouse , our Ruffers were 2 hens and one nice male , seems after the rain and cool nights with leaves dropping now at steady rate and full bloom of colors
These types of encounters are what keeps you going back over and over no matter how you may feel , life is just to damm short to sit on the porch . My trip to the island is a gift from my kids who pitched in to allow the guy who dragged them thru the woods over and over in when still in a baby carrier my son at 3 months by my side while going up and down brook sides and his mom enjoying a quiet day with me both hooking into brook trout and making early family memories that you look on .
 
#16 ·
Another Hunting story of my Daughter and I , as told by her. She is much better at telling stories then me..This was last year, 2020.
Well as always Newfoundland has been an amazing time and made some memories that will last a lifetime!
Dad had another friend, Steve, join us for the trip so on Sunday once settled at camp it was decided we would take the Argos and do some scoping for moose. We stopped the Argos to have a look around. A NFLD moose hunt was a first for Steve so it was a given if there was an opportunity this was his moose. This is his story to tell so I won’t go into more detail but was a great experience to be a part of and the excitement over his success was felt by all!
There was lots of hours put in Monday and Tuesday in beautiful weather however no success. On Wednesday we went a long way from camp to another place called Little Mic (see the rest below, not sure why it gets cut off like this)
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a. The weather was terrible with high winds and rain that was quite heavy at times. We were on the Argo on a return trip headed back to camp, and honestly was feeling rather defeated knowing there was lots of bad weather coming. The excitement hit when we saw a massive black body standing on the side of the bank only to quickly realize it was a black bear when it popped its head up then ran away. Not long after when we came to the top of a mountain Scott stopped and pointed excitedly saying there’s two bulls... they were on the side of the next mountain over and were very hard to see. To say I had my doubts would be an understatement. The bulls climbed higher and eventually walked the whole ridge (in my pics) toward a ravine. The first one went down the backside of the mountain and we never saw it again. Scott made a few great calls and sure enough bull #2 turned toward us and started back down. Feeling more hopeful at this point I took my hat and gloves off and stood up on the seat of the Argo and got ready. As I was starting to wonder if he may have followed the ravine below us instead I started to see the rack coming behind the bush line. I got the rack in my sights and off with the safety! It was on! He came up and gave me enough of his shoulder and I fired. It was clearly a good hit and he started to wobble around looking like he was going to drop then started to move... very quickly... and he was PISSED OFF. He began charging directly at the Argo and he wanted revenge. Dad and I both fired at him while coming head on but still no stopping this angry moose. That massive rack was about ten feet from the Argo before finally turning just to the side. I could have reached out and touched him it was so close when passing the side of the Argo and that was the last place I had seen Scott standing. Thankfully he made it behind the Argo in time or he would have been directly in the path. He went about 20 yards down and finally gave himself up. My shot was lung so it was amazing the stamina this fella had for a “dead moose running”. It took some time before we could clean him up as we were all shaking so bad. And yes the blood on my head is my own, sometime in the process I managed to scope myself. That might embarrass some but I am coming home with a 17 point rack (45inch spread) (once I inherit it
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) so I will wear my shiner proudly!
 
#19 · (Edited)
Welcome to PEI Goose Hunting
You are hooked now :). One trip in 84 and I stopped hunting waterfowl here for good but loved hunting over there and went every year for 20
I bet you will return next year :) Funny your guide didnot shoot also they did when I hunted there but times have changed I guess
Congrats
 
#20 · (Edited)
Our PEI trip went as so , Got over to our Outfitter , Point View Outfitters Duck and Goose Hunting on Wednesday evening and checked in , got our non resident licences and met up with our Outfitter over few social beverages , who also told us of where our first hunt and our guide for the 3 days would be .

DAY 1

After a good nights rest and up early at 5 am , had quick breakfast , prepped our days lunch and snacks and of course thermos of coffee , headed to the field and met our Guide ( Craig ) who was a riot and good fella to chat and get to know , made the lull in call ins on birds interesting who could take good ribbing and give one back . geese at first were slow to move , warm kinda mild day , but birds were coming up and headed to same field until a quick change of our blind to side view of the 350 plus decoys , few single geese showed interest and fell victim to our anticipation of bigger numbers , our guide quickly showed up he could get the birds to where we wanted them and then the real excitement of ggetting the bigger flicks to break up into smaller groups as not to burn up the big flock and start dropping them outta groups of 20-50 . In 2 hours we had our limit . Gave our guide a hand to full tear down and pick up of decoys and he agreed to afternoon hunt of Ducks at a side marsh , that was a blast as we had limited in 45 mins on ducks very easily . Back to the lodge and got the birds to the cooler area and get them cleaned and cut up and bagged .
That evening after getting cleaned up and good meal with few drinks , we got briefed on next days hunt .

I can clearly say the guide we paired with could speak goose fluently , directing them with high fast notes to low tweets on the calls , watching him we had clear idea where the geese or ducks were coming in from in our pit blind , getting clear point of what direction , what height and how many coming to us , letting us know if on edge of the decoys , right in the hole or even once dropped if one was walking thru or on edge of decoys . The guy was and is one the best callers ive seen in long time .

Taking birds even at 50-60 yard range easily , most were 25-35 , lots of laughs , making new friends and just great experience of seeing flock after flock of birds going all directions , seeing 100-300 black ducks at once and watching our guide to get them break up with his calls to make it more manageable to get the right shot . Having birds land right on top of the put blind and having to wait till they walked out into the decoys gets the blood pumping

Even had a unexpected and totally protected visiter

More to follow
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#22 · (Edited)
Day Two of the trip

Again up again at 5 am , weather was cool with light fog in the distance , overcast and damp to the touch , winds were about 15-30 WNW , just right conditions as once out on the deck of the Chalet we stayed in one could here the geese in the near distance , our drive to the Pit Blind #18 was approx 20 min, our Outtfitter escorted us to our field where our Guide Craig was once again very busy setting up the different set up for day two with almost 400 decoy spread set up getting us in just that right propspective of a higher view for miles in this pit blind set up .

We laughed soon as we got our gear down in our spots as the cage hatch got sprayed by a skunk the day prior and our outfitter had scramble for another plus brought out hair spray to spray down the top hatch area just in case there was any residual on upper hatches , luckily non was there , no sooner legal light and few ducks swung around just at that questionable distance and we just passed on them , taking it in stride .

Was late start as first set of birds never showed interest until 8:30 am then the fun began close to 20 mins of Craig calling the birds getting them to split into groups where the majority would not get gun / decoy shy , groups fell in 4 then 4 again then 7 and stayed that way from 11:30 till 4 pm when the birds began to take flight once again , our outfitter never shot with us on first two days , we told him he could but he instead offered up his Berretta A400 to one of us to try out , we were more than happy with his offer to try it out , plus on every hunt he brough out different types of Goose Jerky , Pepperettes and salami that he had procrssed . Damm it was all excellent , lots of getting to know him , and sharing secrets , we provided him on day two with a bit of left overs , smoked pork chops , fried rice and side of apple crisp .

Birds came once again from anywhere but this time we seen them off a mile or more and just covered the hatches and waited for that call to take em down , day two left us easy hour b4 end legal light to get tore down , packed up and head back .

Having once again sounds of Pheasants in the corn , , coffee and lunches in the trench , shooting the breeze about hunting adventures and experiences , talking about big game hunting , and even fishing .

We had birds coming in that either did not cooperate with the calls and other groups that could not resist , with limit again on day two it was clear this trip was everything it was meant to be .

our two sons helping bring in birds for processing
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#25 ·
So onto day 3

Well not much to say as for hunting it's just that , got up at 5 am , showered , down for breakfast and stool out on the deck for a warm muggy heavy air morning , not a sound out on the river or bay , damm it I said , took cup coffee and stood there listening , hardly a sound unlike both previous mornings , birds were telling you your in for good or bad day .

Our Outfitter ( Reid ) came over and said well Craig is up back same spot wants know if you guys want there or not , unless you want late start to head to Souris 45 mins away you gotta leave now , said we take our chances on the one we said for him to set up on , 100s of birds in that one day prior while we were banging birds across the way from it day before , another Pit blind with trap doors Pit # 24 , said hes there and not making him travel 45 mins more with almost 2 hour set up .

Well it was 9:15 before first rip came thru , 75 - 100 birds , Craig cranked up the called while we watched his movements in direction he watched the birds in direction they moved , telling us the were going smaller group s but not committing to us , then outta no where about 7 landed outside the decoys on downward slope of the potato field , said one walking inside the decoys but dont shoot unless clear shot the others were walking toward us , soon as we came under our pit the lifted for proper shots , I reached out with the 10 and #2 shot and crumpled a hybrid Canada/Snowgoose , at about 65 yards , Craig said what a hit on him , Range finded the bird and said that was something else , we tagged 3 birds whole morning and nothing ekse moved but that set , glassed fields , no shots even down the bay or river . Pheasant guys not having any luck even with dogs down our way of the Preserve . True blue bird day , we got one more chance at 11:45 and damm birds stayed high and circled several times , thougt Craig was going blow a lung out thru the calls , said frig you O.K and apologized for not getting us a shot , cripes we could not been any happier this is what we came for , a adventure , chance to have birds right on top of us on the roof of the pits , we shook his hand and said great job , thanks for the laughs , thanks for just doing best you could , we even said he could shoot with us and he did on day two and three . We called it a day at 1 pm said these birds are not moving due to humid , heavy calm weather with low tides and calm glassy water out on the bay and river . That's waterfowling , that's hunting . Good or bad it was all good , in the end 46 birds came down , cannot complain for 3 days . Brought home some good game table fair , today is Goose Jerky day or start of it .

None the less , back to the chalet and get cleaned up , earlier supper , Rabbit / Partridge pie , Stuffing , Mashed whipped spuds , and gravy all over , damm what a finisher for a meal . The trip was a success for us , lots of food , drinks , talks , laughs , memories and picking up lots of tips from one hell of a guide who as I said can clearly speak goose and sing notes to get those birds .

Told our outfitter we Will
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come back on one condition Craig is our guide and we have some venison for him as he loved the meals we sent his way as our way to say thank you for everything he did on his end.

Middle goose is Hybrid as confirmed by Our own DLF Wildlife Technicians ,

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#26 · (Edited)
Back to trapping on Monday morning , went back to re set my leg holds , as well check trail cams , first batch of 6 went in then over to another trail for an other batch and so on till they were re set , went to check trail cams and activity has gone dark last 3 weeks . Not a single deer nothing but bunnies at my apples .

so on way back around figure i do double check on everything , came back to third last set at top of a hill where 3 trails meet and right at the fresh scent set I just put in couple hours prior is this fella , won't have to worry about this young male bothering the deer anymore .

Not a Grouse or anything on the move , Some fresh Cat tracks in different spots , hoping that changes , got in from evening check on the gear but nothing else , change in weather should help that .
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