After a great start on the stags we awaited the other members of our group, coming from Kansas. Thanks to the always timely (sarcasm intended) British Airways only 1/3 of the crew made it on the original schedule. John arrived on time, but the other two (a father son combo) were delayed more. So, back to the Snow Goose Inn for a second round of fish and chips with a pint and to kill some time. From there, John went north with LeviGSP, while brother and I picked up the hired car and waited in the airport. They arrived about 8:00 PM, so we quickly loaded their bags and started on the 2 ½ hour drive back to the north. Conversation was intermittent, mostly because they were in the throws of jet lag.
Back at the cottage we unloaded, checked out who would be shooting which estate shotgun, then headed to bed knowing morning would come too soon.
Morning arrived too soon (as expected) and off we went to a field scouted for geese the day before. The plan called for shooting both graylag and pinkfoot geese.
Mostly to whet my appetite, before setting out, our friend shared with me his lanyard – just to show me what was possible. We did not get any bands/rings or collars on this trip, but we did know they were possible. Among American/Canadian wildfowlers a band is consider quite a trophy. Thinking of even the remote possibility of adding a British, Icelandic, or Norwegian band to my own collection was a heady thought.
We set up on a harvested oat field with a deep ditch along one side.. Even though we were 4000 miles away from home, Scottish geese still act like American geese. The day before this field had several hundred geese in it. A mile downhill was a loch that was roosting several thousand birds. There is never a sure thing when hunting birds, and this morning proved that.As the morning dawned hundreds of geese got up and headed out – in exactly the opposite direction. The birds that come north obviously had other plans and veered off the field at 300-400 yards away, heading northeast. We weren’t flaring birds, because they weren’t coming close enough to be flared. Finally, we had a small bunch come to the field and worked like they were expected to. We ended up with those 3, and a few jackdaws. Of note, as any experience hunter knows, while we sat in the field with only shotguns- the wood lot about 500 yards away was a Sika Passion Palace - several stags out patrolling the edges and whistling non-stop. I am sure if we had gone that morning with rifles in hand, the sika would have been silent, and the field would have been filled with geese - just the way things seem to happen sometimes.
That afternoon most of the crew napped to try to defeat jet lag. LeviGSP and Scott went scouting and found the southbound birds. Same plan was set for repeat, just on a different field.
To put it mildly, the next day was the exact opposite of the previous day. Around 7:00 the first birds appeared in the field, and we were perfectly on the spot they wanted to be. It was very much like snow goose shooting – big flocks rolling in, getting shot at, and additional flocks on the horizon heading in. We left the field at 9:40 with 34 geese (and one sailer to pick up when we drove out – so 35). What made this day special for me was when LeviGSP went to pick up a sailer a couple paddocks over, I took over calling. So not only was I shooting Scottish geese, I was calling them.
Our third and last day on geese was also good. Maybe not hot barrel action, but solid and steady. Many times we had to pass on a flock because it also had swans mixed in. In the UK, swans are highly protected, and that is quite different from the US. We are allowed to take a limited number each year, using a tag system. We even landed one flock that decided the imitation geese were odd, and chose to depart hastily. Day 3 was a mixed bag. We also added several more crows (Interesting to see that you all have 5 species from the pigeon sized jackdaw up to the goose sized raven), some pigeons, and a lonely mallard duck.
I did manage my first Pinkfoot this morning, even though the majority of the pinks seemed to prefer a field about 1 mile away. What was also interesting was laying out the pinks and greylags side by side for comparison. The pinks sounded and acted like our Specks (whitefronted geese), but the barring on the greylags made these look more like specks.
The final note I have on the last day hunt was how awesome the scenery was. During the dark we noted lights moving across the horizon. Once it became light we realized we were within 2 miles of the North Sea and those lights were ocean going ships. I wish I had a picture that conveyed this, but iPhones just don’t manage to capture awesome scenery.
So, whats next? In 2020 I am heading back (unless I can make it happen in 2019). I still have red grouse and black neck pheasants to shoot, along with a bunch more castles to visit and whiskys to sample.
Back at the cottage we unloaded, checked out who would be shooting which estate shotgun, then headed to bed knowing morning would come too soon.
Morning arrived too soon (as expected) and off we went to a field scouted for geese the day before. The plan called for shooting both graylag and pinkfoot geese.
Mostly to whet my appetite, before setting out, our friend shared with me his lanyard – just to show me what was possible. We did not get any bands/rings or collars on this trip, but we did know they were possible. Among American/Canadian wildfowlers a band is consider quite a trophy. Thinking of even the remote possibility of adding a British, Icelandic, or Norwegian band to my own collection was a heady thought.
We set up on a harvested oat field with a deep ditch along one side.. Even though we were 4000 miles away from home, Scottish geese still act like American geese. The day before this field had several hundred geese in it. A mile downhill was a loch that was roosting several thousand birds. There is never a sure thing when hunting birds, and this morning proved that.As the morning dawned hundreds of geese got up and headed out – in exactly the opposite direction. The birds that come north obviously had other plans and veered off the field at 300-400 yards away, heading northeast. We weren’t flaring birds, because they weren’t coming close enough to be flared. Finally, we had a small bunch come to the field and worked like they were expected to. We ended up with those 3, and a few jackdaws. Of note, as any experience hunter knows, while we sat in the field with only shotguns- the wood lot about 500 yards away was a Sika Passion Palace - several stags out patrolling the edges and whistling non-stop. I am sure if we had gone that morning with rifles in hand, the sika would have been silent, and the field would have been filled with geese - just the way things seem to happen sometimes.
That afternoon most of the crew napped to try to defeat jet lag. LeviGSP and Scott went scouting and found the southbound birds. Same plan was set for repeat, just on a different field.
To put it mildly, the next day was the exact opposite of the previous day. Around 7:00 the first birds appeared in the field, and we were perfectly on the spot they wanted to be. It was very much like snow goose shooting – big flocks rolling in, getting shot at, and additional flocks on the horizon heading in. We left the field at 9:40 with 34 geese (and one sailer to pick up when we drove out – so 35). What made this day special for me was when LeviGSP went to pick up a sailer a couple paddocks over, I took over calling. So not only was I shooting Scottish geese, I was calling them.
Our third and last day on geese was also good. Maybe not hot barrel action, but solid and steady. Many times we had to pass on a flock because it also had swans mixed in. In the UK, swans are highly protected, and that is quite different from the US. We are allowed to take a limited number each year, using a tag system. We even landed one flock that decided the imitation geese were odd, and chose to depart hastily. Day 3 was a mixed bag. We also added several more crows (Interesting to see that you all have 5 species from the pigeon sized jackdaw up to the goose sized raven), some pigeons, and a lonely mallard duck.
I did manage my first Pinkfoot this morning, even though the majority of the pinks seemed to prefer a field about 1 mile away. What was also interesting was laying out the pinks and greylags side by side for comparison. The pinks sounded and acted like our Specks (whitefronted geese), but the barring on the greylags made these look more like specks.
The final note I have on the last day hunt was how awesome the scenery was. During the dark we noted lights moving across the horizon. Once it became light we realized we were within 2 miles of the North Sea and those lights were ocean going ships. I wish I had a picture that conveyed this, but iPhones just don’t manage to capture awesome scenery.
So, whats next? In 2020 I am heading back (unless I can make it happen in 2019). I still have red grouse and black neck pheasants to shoot, along with a bunch more castles to visit and whiskys to sample.