Despite the rain and general nastiness, I went out yesterday morning to the local state wildlife area to continue my pursuits of ducks. It is likely still too warm, for them to migrate down here to SW Ohio. I returned from a long overdue funeral in upstate New York and was looking to recharge in the home woods a bit.
The lake had dropped about 5 inches since early October (early season) and it was a very hard leg sucking, mud traverse to my blind area. I was surprised about the water level as it has been raining - but this is a man- made reservoir, so who knows? I put my decoys out from my kayak this time, and I immediately noticed after my mud slog, that one was drifting away. I decided to get the errant decoy later from my kayak. I saw cormorants, herons, and thankfully no other humans. A group of gees flew very high over me but behind over the thick marshy woods so there was no way to recover a shot goose. It slowly stopped raining and warmed up a bit.
View from my makeshift blind - great concealment but no birds. Mud is very difficult to traverse.
After about an 1:30 in my makeshift blind, and nothing I decided to scout other areas of the lake. While trying to get my kayak in area deep enough to launch I became very stuck and my shotgun fell over board as I stabilized my self with the kayak. I clip a safety strap I made on my shotgun every time I stow it, so it was dragging along in about six inches of water but completely covered in mud. I always remove the round from the chamber before stowing and ensure the safety is on. I didn’t really know what to do, but to unload it and wash it off in the water, and scrap it out with leaves. Once it cycled again (but sounding really gritty) I loaded and shoved off.
I traversed an large open area with tons of birds - but mostly seagulls, kingfishers and cormorants. This area was very shallow and I was barely able to traverse it, with my very overloaded Kayak. I noticed 2 skeins of Canada geese flying very high in formation. Goose season generally runs concurrent with duck seasons in Ohio, depending on the region. I had only brought 2-2/3 steel shot #2 shells. I don’t have a goose call, but I will be getting one. The geese were flying around in formation and sure enough the began to fly over where I was. I had a hard time managing keeping the kayak from spinning, aiming and firing the shotgun at the lead goose. When the gun discharged I knew I had misjudged the lead - having never shot at a goose before. I did not feel secure enough in my rapidly spinning & rocking vessel for a rapid follow-up shot. I can see why folks much prefer a Jon boat, or very stable, fishing kayak. I need to figure it out or do a little practice firing in the kayak. I had a hard time managing my paddle & the gun. In any event, My gun had a hard time cycling due to the mud. After I fired, the 2 skeins of geese departed the area.
I continued to slog through the area to get to slightly deeper part of the lake where I could actually paddle with out dragging the keel across the mud … and then scouted a few areas that I can get to from a different boat launch (however a much further kayak in the morning.).
Hard to tell but the shotgun is caked in mud. I took this photo of this less muddy area (but less available concealment) I will try to hunt next time.
I went home, and my 3 year old watched me disassemble and clean out my shotgun. He’s pretty interested In my duck decoys - wants one for Christmas, lol. All in all, some lessons learned, and I always value my time outdoors.
Shot at a Canada Goose from a Kayak - that was a Marginal Experience. (UPDATED 2022 - TLDR - still no Geese)
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Last edited by INVICTVS138 on Tue Oct 26, 2021 11:13 am, edited 1 time in total.