Goose Hunting

Here I sit thumbing away on my BlackBerry and staring out into the inky blackness of an early October morning. Wind is driving a steady rain against the window and tiny rivlets race down the glass like they are in a hurry to get someplace. Well at 4:30 am I was also in a hurry to get someplace but Mother Nature had other plans.

My neighbor had secured permission to hunt a farm field that had geese piling into it every morning at percisley dawn. For the waterfowl hunter, there are few greater sights than the heavy slow wing beats of a goose landing in a field spread. So, needless to say, I was anticipating this adventure with much bravado.

The back of the truck is completely full of goose shells, full bodies and floaters. The Franchi and a case of BB 3 inch 12g ammo are in the cab and I am wrapped head to toe in Max 4. Why the rain decided to start AFTER I got dressed and packed the truck is one of those little mysteries beyond the scope of modern man's understanding.

Sure, sure I know what you are all saying . . . don't geese fly in the rain? Well, of course they do! However, hunting is more than shooting a few geese and getting soaked, cold and miserable in the process. It is about the enjoyment of the event in its totality. I am not rushing this event just to say it is completed but instead savoring. The geese will be there tomorrow, the next day and the next. Patience will bless me with a day a field filled with clear skies where the only precipitation will be geese raining from the sky!!