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- South Africa, Namibia, Argentina....AK, WY, WA, ID, FL, SD, TX, HI
This is the second year I have hunted with Goose Shack Outfitters outside was of Delta Junction, Alaska. My son and I hunted with them last year and had a blast so I booked another hunt with them for two days sept 17-18, 2018.
The plan was to leave home on Sunday and drive the 500 miles to Goose Camp. Hunt on Monday and Tuesday and drive home Tuesday night for my son to be to school on Wednesday morning.
The best laid plans.... My son comes home on Friday night after a big football game and tells me that he really, really doesn’t want to miss School and Football and has way to much going on on Monday and Tuesday, so he doesn’t want to go hunting. My wife says “that’s what happens when you raise a responsible kid”. Well crap....Now what? All my usual hunting buddies are either moose hunting, or not Moose hunting because they have something else going.
At 9:00 pm in Friday night I text a friend Chris that I know likes to hunt deer and fish, but I have never hunted with him and I wasn’t sure if he would be into waterfowl hunting. The text goes like this “Hey, want to go Sandhill Crane huntin? Leave Sunday be back Wednesday. Everything is paid for...” Chris responds right away with “YES!”
We work out the details. It turns out that Chris hasn’t bird hunted in 40+ years but he has his grandpas old win Model 12 and really wants to put it to use. And he wants to drive and pay for his share of the hunting Guide! Right on!
Chris picks me at 11:00 am Sunday morning. A stop in Anchorage at Cabelas for shotgun shells for Chris’s shotgun and we are on the road to Goose Camp.
We arrive about 9:00 pm and everything is set. Mike Lenze our guide is there to greet us and get us set up in his decoy trailer for our sleeping accomadations for the next couple days. The decoy trailer is a bout a 16’ cargo trailer that Mike uses to haul decoys and gear, but since all those are in use, he sets it up with a couple of cots and a buddy heater. Works out perfect.
Monday morning 4:00am we are headed out from camp for the 45 min to the field where we would be hunting. We meet a group of 3 other guys from the Midwest that will be hunting with us. Get out in the field and set up the decoys just before daylight and we are in the layout blinds. Mike starts working his crane call magic and it’s not long before we have cranes everywhere. The 3 guys from the Midwest have their limits by about 10am. Chris and I stayed and I had my limit. Chris had 2 of his three and we headed back to Goose Camp for lunch.
After a quick lunch we headed out into a field close to Camp in hopes of bringing in some geese and maybe one last crane for Chris. As it turned out Chris got his last Crane for the day but no luck on Geese. And The weather was amazing!
Day 2 starts again at 4:00am. Today is Chris, Mike and myself in the blinds. The cranes come in but it’s not nearly as fast as yesterday. I get one and Chris and Mike both have two. We stay until about 2pm and then move to the other field agin close to Camp. Again the weather is amazing. We have a small group of speckled belly geese swing by but don’t come in. But another amazing evening in the goose blinds.
We headed out for the drive home at about 8pm that evening. Stopped along the highway by Sheep Mountian for a few hours of sleep in the front seat of the pickup. Rolled in the house about 11:00 and started cleaning and vac packing bird meat. Then a badly needed nap before cleaning guns and gear.
Anyway, it was another super successful hunt with Goose Shack Outfitters and I am really happy that Chris and his grandfathers model 12 got to experience crane hunting in Delta Junction with them.
The plan was to leave home on Sunday and drive the 500 miles to Goose Camp. Hunt on Monday and Tuesday and drive home Tuesday night for my son to be to school on Wednesday morning.
The best laid plans.... My son comes home on Friday night after a big football game and tells me that he really, really doesn’t want to miss School and Football and has way to much going on on Monday and Tuesday, so he doesn’t want to go hunting. My wife says “that’s what happens when you raise a responsible kid”. Well crap....Now what? All my usual hunting buddies are either moose hunting, or not Moose hunting because they have something else going.
At 9:00 pm in Friday night I text a friend Chris that I know likes to hunt deer and fish, but I have never hunted with him and I wasn’t sure if he would be into waterfowl hunting. The text goes like this “Hey, want to go Sandhill Crane huntin? Leave Sunday be back Wednesday. Everything is paid for...” Chris responds right away with “YES!”
We work out the details. It turns out that Chris hasn’t bird hunted in 40+ years but he has his grandpas old win Model 12 and really wants to put it to use. And he wants to drive and pay for his share of the hunting Guide! Right on!
Chris picks me at 11:00 am Sunday morning. A stop in Anchorage at Cabelas for shotgun shells for Chris’s shotgun and we are on the road to Goose Camp.
We arrive about 9:00 pm and everything is set. Mike Lenze our guide is there to greet us and get us set up in his decoy trailer for our sleeping accomadations for the next couple days. The decoy trailer is a bout a 16’ cargo trailer that Mike uses to haul decoys and gear, but since all those are in use, he sets it up with a couple of cots and a buddy heater. Works out perfect.
Monday morning 4:00am we are headed out from camp for the 45 min to the field where we would be hunting. We meet a group of 3 other guys from the Midwest that will be hunting with us. Get out in the field and set up the decoys just before daylight and we are in the layout blinds. Mike starts working his crane call magic and it’s not long before we have cranes everywhere. The 3 guys from the Midwest have their limits by about 10am. Chris and I stayed and I had my limit. Chris had 2 of his three and we headed back to Goose Camp for lunch.
After a quick lunch we headed out into a field close to Camp in hopes of bringing in some geese and maybe one last crane for Chris. As it turned out Chris got his last Crane for the day but no luck on Geese. And The weather was amazing!
Day 2 starts again at 4:00am. Today is Chris, Mike and myself in the blinds. The cranes come in but it’s not nearly as fast as yesterday. I get one and Chris and Mike both have two. We stay until about 2pm and then move to the other field agin close to Camp. Again the weather is amazing. We have a small group of speckled belly geese swing by but don’t come in. But another amazing evening in the goose blinds.
We headed out for the drive home at about 8pm that evening. Stopped along the highway by Sheep Mountian for a few hours of sleep in the front seat of the pickup. Rolled in the house about 11:00 and started cleaning and vac packing bird meat. Then a badly needed nap before cleaning guns and gear.
Anyway, it was another super successful hunt with Goose Shack Outfitters and I am really happy that Chris and his grandfathers model 12 got to experience crane hunting in Delta Junction with them.
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