Goose Fever
By Hookemharry

Posted: September 29, 2011

The waterfowl opener is this Saturday in Montana. Just like every other hunting opener that we have in Montana the goose and duck season is anticipated by a big group of hunters that love everything that goes with getting ready for opening morning. As an added plus this year the population of ducks and geese are up over last year.

When you are a duck or goose hunter the first order of business is to secure a good hunting spot. Whether you are hunting on land or near water getting permission is essential. Once that is accomplished then you need to decide how to best hunt it. Many questions need to be answered like what kind of blind do you want to hunt in? When making that decision you need to try and match the surrounding habitat the best you can. This can be accomplished by building your own structure or buying one of the many models of styles and habitat colors that are sold at your local sporting goods store. The store bought blinds will usually fit two or at the most three hunters. That store bought blind concept doesn’t fly when you are going to have in the neighborhood of fifteen hunters, which will be the case this Saturday for our annual Goose Blind Broadcast.

Building a blind that will hide that many hunters from incoming geese takes some thought and hard work. It is all part of the process that hunters learn to love. This will be our 13th annual Goose Blind Broadcast for the Montana Outdoor Radio Show. You can view the video from last year’s hunt by logging onto www.montanaoutdoor.com. On the video we start filming as we construct our blind that is made of wire stuffed with corn stalks. The video then takes you into the field as we set up the blind and of course into the next morning for the actual hunt where the unexpected can happen. During the hunt that morning while I was filming a goose that got shot drops out of the air just missing me and the camera. It was one of the many great moments that were capture on film.

2010 Goose Blind Broadcast
 

2009 Goose Blind Broadcast

Just like everyone that hunts waterfowl we never know if our efforts will pay off on opening day. There are so many variables that have to fall into place. Will the geese want to feed in the field that we set up in? “There are a few hundred geese that are feeding in the field that we have permission to hunt”, said Jens Gran, the unofficial director of the goose hunt. That is what Gran told me in a phone call last week. “Right now we don’t have any geese coming into the field, said Jaye Johnson, the official host of the goose blind broadcast. That is what Johnson told me in a phone call this week.
So you never know until the blind is up, the decoys are spread out and the hunters are ready to hunt on opening morning. You are invited to tune in this Saturday morning to the Montana Outdoor Radio Show and hopefully you will hear a shotgun blast or two come over your radio.

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