September 9 (Bad Decisions)
I hunt a club. Every blind is assigned to a group of 3 guys that rotates weekly during regular duck season. Your blind the first week of duck is your blind for early goose as well. You must get it ready to hunt for duck season. If you are at the club an hour before shooting time, you can claim your blind. Unclaimed blinds are claimed based on the order you arrived with one exception, you can't claim the blind you jumped the day before until everybody else jumping has passed. There are 2 goose fields that are both with duck blinds (they are too close to hunt both at the same time so you pick which you hunt if you claim them). I wanted to get one of the goose fields, but I had to hope the guys who have those blinds didn't show and I was ahead of everybody else or join up with guys that I hunt with.
First bad decision. I got up extra early so I'd be first on the jump list.
The people in the blind that I shot 4 the day before showed and claimed their blind. The one guy actually beat me there and was already gone. His partner showed a little later and asked if I wanted to jump in with them. I said sure if they were hunting the goose blind. He wasn't sure so I drove all the way to the back where that blind is only to find out the other guy had the boat loaded and ready to go.
Bad decision #2, I said I'll head back and hunt the other field.
About 5 minutes before jump time, the guys with that blind show. They say they are going to hunt a little and then work on the duck blind, but I'm welcome to join. So I make bad decision #3 and pass and decide to head to one of the water blinds.
There are geese all around in the dark making noise. Looking like I might have made the right decision.
About 15 minutes before shooting time, I just get into the blind after setting up about 10 geese pass right over my head about 25 yards up.
Sun comes up and I really don't like how I have the decoys set, but there are a lot of geese. Screw it Bad decision #4, I got to move them. Not half way to the first decoy and some geese go over that looked like they might have wanted to play.
OK, got things looking better.
A good sized flock heads over. A little high, but they seem in range. 3 shells later either they weren't or I missed. Another bad decision or bad shooting.
The rest head out with no interest and then it pretty much goes completely dead on my end less than an hour after shooting time. I hear shooting from the other guys which I could have been hunting with.
On the plus side it was a beautiful day of bird watching. I had a hummingbird about 5' from me feeding on a flower in front of the blind. Kingfishers chasing each other around and fishing. Lots of bluejays, robins, and other little birds. After about 2 hours of nothing but bird watching I called it a day.
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