“Ok, lets fling arrows until the quivers empty then use our shotguns,” I said to Lance, a friend of mine who willingly participates in many of my hair-brained ideas.  Lance had never shot a goose before and I had never shot one with a bow.

There’s a slough along the Bitterroot River that holds water all winter long.  My tree stand sits on the edge of the water here and after a  few days of geese flying by the stand at 15  feet I couldn’t resist any longer.  I mounted sharp broad heads onto 6 flu flu arrows and invited Lance along for the challenge.  The geese flew just over the water for a couple hundred yards every morning making it perfect for bow shooting opportunities.  I like a challenge but I knew that it was more likely that  we would empty our quiver on flying geese without touching a feather than it was that geese would be dropping like rain.  So as a back up plan we had our shotguns ready.

Lance Jones with his first goose taken with a shotgun after emptying a quiver of flu flu arrows.

The first group of geese lifted off the rivers edge and we could hear them coming.  I wasn’t ready when they appeared over the tall grass and into view but I got an arrow on the string of my Howard Hill Long bow and let one fly.  The arrow was on its way but so was the goose.  I missed by about 5 feet.  Lance did about as well as I did.  But having a legitimate chance at flying geese with a long bow was thrilling.  The next group of geese were flying low and straight at us.  Our arrows crossed inches over the back of one goose and we reveled in the aftermath of the close call.  The next group of geese emptied my quiver without touching a feather too.  But it was a “blast” to try.

Speaking of blast, the next group of geese weren’t so lucky as 12 gauge shot guns rang out in place of wood arrows.  Lance dropped his first goose then a few minutes later shot a fat winter mallard drake.  I’m not sue what was more fun, drawing down on geese with my bow or finding all six arrows.  Well, ok, shooting at geese with my bow was more fun but finding all six arrows means we can try it again!