Four KwickLabs Goose Hunting (Link) - musical montage of 2006 - 8 seasons

         Nov 30th-Dec 4th snow, cold and just a few walks to stretch legs
                                note: Dec 1st Interceptor for all  
         Dec 5th long walk in the snow at the bean field with all four dogs together - Gunny and Daisy
                      were "after" each other almost the whole time
         Dec 6th day off
         Dec 7th (afternoon) Taffey did a Blonhaven "Euro" with 8" of snow - picked up 30 pheasants
                      and did very well, cleaned up afterwards finding more 
                      Gunny went out after Taffey was put up in the van - he found four pheasants which he
                      retrieved and had at least seven opportunities to be "dechased".......he's got that down
                      without any need for interference.......just stands and watches them fly away
         Dec 8-10th three days off.......more snow and ice
         Dec 11th (noon) all took a long walk at the bean field after Taffey and I "raked" snow down to
                        bare ground in an area to hunt geese tomorrow, again Gunny and Daisy were trying
                        to establish who is in charge......Daisy was "winning" when I finally put a stop to it
                                 note: put white snow covers on the Power Hunter and the Ultra Low dog hide,
                                          "white tape" the goose gun
                                 note: spent too much time trying to the ice and snow out of the driveway,
                                          the ATV trailer was snow covered, too
                                 note: to self......winter sucks!
                                 note: about 100 geese in the field this afternoon
                                 note: Go Bears!  
         Dec 12th (mid-morning) goose hunt with Daisy, very cold and used only 10 decoys all eight
                        Dakota feeders and two Avery Pro Grade oversized sleeper shells
                                 note: leave to setup about 10:45 am in the snow covered bean field, temp was
                                          8º with a wind chill of - 3º we got back home at 3:00 pm and it was a bit
                                          warmer 12º with a wind chill of +2º
                                 note: moved about 50 geese out of the field when we set up and geese kept
                                          coming back in "bunches" of a few to as many as 2-3 dozen, they did not
                                          want to finish where I had set up and landed about 150 yards behind and
                                          farther up on the hill, too cold to relocate so I "sent" Daisy two different
                                          times to clear out the "live" decoys = another reason to have a dog that
                                          handles
                                 note: first goose at about 12:30 pm, got cold and took a walk back to the van to
                                          warm up...figure walking to an back would work (for both of us) , 150 yards
                                          into the walk and 5 geese landed RIGHT IN THE DECOYS, but we were
                                          now warmed up enough to finish the hunt......a "dumb" one came right in
                                          all by himself 60 to 70 yards in front of a bunch of five.......limited out and
                                          left the field quickly
                                 note: big PM storm tomorrow left everything hooked up ready to back in the
                                          morning and will set up more toward the top of the hill 
                                                                           (left click on thumbnails)

	Daisy's Goose #1	"cripple"	"close"
	Daisy's Goose #2	"Good Girl!"	"Great Look!"
	"The Hide"	"Daisy's Limit"	"The Setup"

     Dec 13th  radar showed drizzle moving in much earlier than yesterday's forecast - passed on
                    going goose hunting, not into getting wet when it is cold with high winds.......there will
                    be better days...if the geese fly, they must be really hungry...besides, if they do, this will
                    be a great excuse to let the field "cool" off  
     Dec 14th  a huge warm-up high of 49º in the afternoon with plenty of rain melted off a lot of the
                     snow, temperatures quickly plunged to 9º after dark & winter was back
                             note: Taffey, Kooly, Daisy & Gunny went for a long walk in the somewhat muddy
                                      bean field with long strips of melting snow.........the deer droppings were an
                                      impossible attraction....when Gunny found an old pile of racoon "stuff" and
                                      rolled it...that was it....we head back to the van.....tired, bad breaths & a
                                      filthy Gunny with his "scat back"...what a mess....but at least they are tired!     

     Dec 15th  bitter cold with ice and - 8º wind chill tonight - DAY OFF!
     Dec 16th  hibernation time - scouted.....no geese anywhere (that I could find)
     Dec 17th  dogs ran a little in the morning....late afternoon big storm starts with lots of snow
     Dec 18th  storm finished about noon...worked on driveway & dogs ran a bit in the deep snow
     Dec 19th  finished off the driveway.......with 12" of snow now working hard to find a place for it
                             note: took dogs to the bean field in the afternoon.....should have carried a gun,
                                      three geese were so busy "eyeing" the four dogs running "every which way",
                                      that they never saw me standing still.....right over the top....20 yards up
     Dec 20th scouted.......found geese........bought two ATV sleds........at dusk, it started snowing again
                             note: priorities are in order, driveway clear, goose gear ready to roll in garage and
                                      the ATV trailer is cleared for "take-off" (snow removed all around it)
                             note: Gunny is working on OB......daily
                             note: the other dogs are only hunting until 2009
                             note: Taffey does geese next
                                                                   (left click on thumbnails)

"running out of room"

"ATV on standby"

     Dec 21-31st  snow, cold & wind followed by a heavy thaw produced no geese, the dogs were able
                     to get out and run some in the bean field, but it has been a very slow end to the year