34 for 4

[Big Friend Ten (BFT)]

It has been a hot, dry, and sometimes relatively humid summer in southeast Michigan. This occurred after a wet, wet spring which forced our local farmers to plant very late in the season. A late planting followed by not nearly enough rain during hot weather and most of the beans and what corn there is hasn’t grown very tall. To date the only crops harvested has been wheat and alfalfa. On top of all that all summer long there hasn’t been even one Canada Goose on my pond. Why would there be? There is nothing to eat in the nearby farmers’ fields!

It is now the third day of early goose season. Days one and two were hot and humid but this is day three with an overcast sky and there is a hint of autumn in the sub-60 degree air. Promptly at 08:00, as if morning colors had been sounded, a small flock swooped low over my pond. After a goose-less summer this is truly a special day and special days deserve special guns! In my hands was a purpose built fowling piece that I do not deserve. A Parker DH 12 gauge built in 1900 on a #3 frame. Even my Super Fox gives leave to this 34” barreled behemoth! Both bores are perfect mirrors at .728” and .040” constriction. I am not worthy, I am not worthy, I am not…

With my best friend Radar, a 95 pound lovable but stubborn as heck Chesador, at my side I waited patiently. Radar is never patient when he sees birds fly by! Just like clockwork that band of goose-steak on the wing returned to land in the gap between my decoys. Radar started to fidget so I softly but firmly commanded him, “Stay”. I picked the tightest concentration of birds and let loose the first barrel. The gun’s 10 pounds tamed the recoil of an ounce and three-eighths of non-toxic shot accelerating down the Damascus tube. Within a half second I touched the second trigger and the gun again bellowed. Reload! This is about the only time that I long for ejectors. Boom, boom, and I finished off a couple of swimming fowl hanging on their last moments of life.

The limit during early goose season in Michigan is 5 geese per day. At 55 yards there were now four geese in the water along with Radar doing what he lives for! A few short retrieves and Radar had 50 pounds of geese on the shore.

Labor Day? Yes, this truly is a holiday!