Last weekend I took a weekend off of big game hunting here in Montana and went back to my old stomping grounds in North Dakota. Me and a couple buddies went back home and met up with Team ND Stalk n Spookers, Dean and Tyler. While at home we hung out with family, had a monstrous fish fry, frequented the local watering hole, known as the Buckhorn Saloon, and spent several days targeting waterfowl in one of the top waterfowl destinations in the central flyway.
For me, the trip back home was like taking a step back in time, back to my high school days when I used to live for waterfowl hunting, shooting hundreds of birds a year with my yellow lab Duke. As fate always has it, my favorite hunting partner, Duke, passed away when I was in college. When Duke passed, it was almost a turning point for me, when my passions changed from bird hunting to archery hunting, and I moved to the great state of Montana to chase the almighty wapiti. I have been in Montana for about 7 years now and have done very little bird hunting since I moved. Although I truly love it here in Montana there will always be a part of me that is connected to the old farm back in North Dakota and I will always have a sweet spot for letting the old 12 gauge bark and watching birds hit the ground…
During the trip we hunted ducks and geese over 4 days hunting a variety of hunting techniques. Several evenings we hunted ducks over water, decoying divers into a small spread of floaters watching ducks buzz our heads and then crash into the water. The birds on the lake that we duck hunted on provided a lot of opportunity for different species. We shot several different diver species including canvas backs, red heads, blue bills, spoon bills and even had a few mallards mixed in. The variety of birds available and experience to hunt on big open water was a blast. My friend Matt that came with from Montana brought his black lab, Axle, that was a true necessity for the trip. Without Axle, retrieving the birds in the deep water would have been a struggle.
One morning we hunted Canada geese in a winter wheat field that the birds had been feeding in for several days. We hid on the edge of the cattails with a moderate spread of 8 to 10 dozen full body Canada decoys in front of us in the winter wheat field. As the sun started to rise above the horizon line, sheets of honkers would come off the water and gracefully glide into our decoys from 500 yards out. After the first flock came in we looked down to 16 canada lessers laying on the ground. It was an amazing morning with the wind at our back, thousands of birds in the sky, and an unforgettable experience with friends that ended with 51 honkers in the back of the truck.
My favorite hunt of the trip was the morning hunting snow geese. It has been over 8 years since I have shot a snow goose, and it was a complete blast! We put out over 40 dozen snow goose decoys and we all layed in white suits in the middle of the spread as 20 mph winds ripped at our backs. The flocks of snow geese would come in and whirl wind above our spread before we would open up on them. Snow geese are a very tough bird to hunt successfully as they travel in such large flocks that they can be tough to decoy in. Fortunately, the morning we hunted the snows all the conditions were right and we ended the day with 34 birds on the ground!
The 12 hour drive back to Montana was a long grueling drive, but as we look back on the trip it was some of the best 4 days of waterfowl hunting I have had. We ended up with 108 total birds, 11 different species, and memories that will never be forgotten. Good friends, good food, good drinks and a sore shoulder are always a good time!
Josh L. Norris
