I'm Baaaaack!

[clayman]

I just got back from SW Manitoba a couple of days ago. I spent a week there with my Dad, Brother, and some friends of ours.

I didn't keep track of the final numbers this year, but between seven of us we brought back over 40 geese and just over 70 ducks.

In the part of the province we hunt, we normally don't get a lot of Canada geese, but this year we bagged more Canada's than we ever have, mostly the small Richardson's (lesser) Canadas. Though I did wack one dandy greater - all dressed out it wouldn't fit into a two gallon freezer bag. We ended up with about 16 Canadas and the rest were snow/blue geese. Including a triple I shot - three geese passed by, and I dropped all three with three shots fired. That earned me the honor of being labled a "Game Hog"!

The duck hunting was better than the goose hunting, and we could have limited out (16 a piece) if we had really wanted to. We shot a lot of Mallards. We also took a bunch of green wing teal, and more canvas backs than we've shot in a long time. We hit a few pintails, but not as many as usual. A couple blue wing teal, and a bunch of spoonies (shovelers) that we decided to marinate, fry and eat in camp rather than bring home with us. We also got a couple gadwall, a redhead, and a ringbill and a couple of widgeon. (The variety of ducks in this area never fails to amaze me.)

My brother got his first band ever. It came from a hen mallard. It was a relatively new band, probably this year's, but he'll find out when he calls it in.

I was really surprised by the quality of the drakes we shot. The green wing teal and the spoonies had some of the nicest mature color I've ever seen. (Better than the GW Teal I had mounted last year.)

The weather at the first part of the week was sunny but windy. By the end of the week it had turned much colder and was rainy. We shot birds every day that we hunted.

Like Pallsonator, we celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving in our camp. Our tradition goes back to the very beginning when we started hunting up there 22 years ago. Waterfowling wasn't allowed on Sunday's then, so we hosted a Thanksgiving party and invited the family of the guy that owns our goose shack and all of his local relatives and their kids. We also invite the landowners who let us hunt their land. As the event has grown over the years we've had to increase the spread. It bagan with one big turkey and all the fixin's. It grew to two turkeys, then two turkeys and a ham. We make about 15-20 pounds of mashed potatos, and so much stuffing that we have to mix it in a trash bag, a gallon of corn, two or three onion pies (a local family delicacy) and more fruit pies than you can count. I think we had seven this year.

One of the families that we always invite, raises turkeys for family and friends. Last year they told us to stop buying turkeys and they would have one ready for us when we arrived this year. The darned thing weighed in at 45 pounds ! Their biggest this year was a 48 pounder !! The only way to cook a bird that size without out quartering it is to grill it in a large wood-fired grill used for pig roasts. Man was that bird good eating.

We didn't take many pctures this year. I know there was a few taken of the greater Canada I shot and the 45 pound turkey. I'll try to get those posted once I get copies of them.

[huntn4bucks]

Wow, that sounds like an amazing hunting trip! I bet you had a blast.

[Palssonater]

Awesome! I can't wait for the day that I can take a week or two for strictly hunting.

That was a great story and I am glad that you had such a great time in the great province of Manitoba. Year could be better for me, but I think I am heading to minnedosa!

Thats an amazing hunt. There are a lot of mature birds in the area and we are just now seeing ducks in flocks of over 100. Marshes should be full, as well as every pothole.

I am going home again next weekend and hunting Saturday and Sunday. Gonna get me a nice teal before they leave, and I have seen some great pintail in the area too!

Congrats clayman! I am very envious.

[Palssonater]

Awesome! I can't wait for the day that I can take a week or two for strictly hunting.

That was a great story and I am glad that you had such a great time in the great province of Manitoba. Year could be better for me, but I think I am heading to minnedosa!

Thats an amazing hunt. There are a lot of mature birds in the area and we are just now seeing ducks in flocks of over 100. Marshes should be full, as well as every pothole.

I am going home again next weekend and hunting Saturday and Sunday. Gonna get me a nice teal before they leave, and I have seen some great pintail in the area too!

Congrats clayman! I am very envious.

[Covehnter]

Sounds like an awesome weekend! And you made me hungry.