This past week, I finally took a day off and got in some hunting and fishing. I always enjoy the mixed bag scenario and employ it whenever I can.
September is one of my favorite months. I typically have all my deer hunting preparations finished and get to relax a bit. Not this year though. I’m breaking all of my own rules and continuing to work a property into September until the job is done. I haven’t had much free time lately, so a float down the Chenango for geese and fish was a much needed break. I prefer a kayak or small flat bottom canoe for such situations, but some alterations may be needed. The scenery alone is reward enough for the effort, but the prospect of a good fish or hand full of geese is icing on the cake.
I recommend being out of the woods by the first of September, to allow time for them to cool down. I try to hang all of my stands and cut all of my shooting lanes and trails by the first, but the hill is killing me. It’s only a 250 acre lot but it’s nothing but steep step ridge crossed by grown in logging trails. I have to hack in trails, mark them, drag in stands, hang them, cut shooting lanes, and clear walking trails of debris. This has proven to be more of a task than I had expected. I will counteract my late presence by not hunting the location until around the second week of season. This will give the deer some time to settle down and return to their normal travel pattern. After realizing I had to work on the property a couple weeks longer, I decided it was time for a day off. It was almost the first, so I decided to get the goose gun, kayak, and a pole out.
This trip out, I was joined by my buddy, Scott Henzler. He had fished the Chenango many times, but was a first time goose hunter. While preparing for the hunt, Scott called and texted several times with questions about what would be needed. We started with the important stuff and went from there. I explained what a duck stamp was, where to get it, and how to get his HIP certification. He then went to get his hunting license and some goose loads. I prefer BB shot, but all shot for ducks and geese must be steel, so I recommended he get those. Lots of things were talked about from how to position the boat for a shot, to how many rounds were allowed in the gun and how many geese we were allowed to shoot. I told him that no duck plug was required for early goose and that you were actually aloud to have up to a seven round capacity. The best part is the goose limit was now 15 a day , too bad you can’t fit more than five large geese in the belly of a Kayak without running out of room. I thought I had told him everything, so we headed out.
The morning started out calm and foggy. As we unloaded the kayaks, I noticed that Scott had made a gun rest. I had forgotten to tell him to make one, but hunter’s instinct prevailed again. It was a good laugh between us when we looked at the boats side by side with almost matching rests. We hadn’t gone more than a quarter mile before, from the fog, flew out a Bald Eagle. That always makes my day, but today would be special. As we fished and floated down river looking for geese, we saw it five more times. At one point it perched atop a dead tree in the middle of a corn field and offered itself for a perfect photo opportunity. You would think that picture should have made the paper but I just happened to strike brown gold.
The hunting was slow and the fishing wasn’t much better, until we approached a tight slow moving bend. As we approached, minnows were seen ahead leaping out of the water to avoid being eaten. We started casting and before long had both been hit. The current was making it hard to fish the spot, so we landed the kayaks and fished from shore. I hadn’t casted more than three times before I felt a heavy tug, followed by some pulling and finally nothing. I had been hit, but the fish came off. I gave it a few minutes and casted to the same spot. This time when the fish bit, I was ready. I set the hook and the drag instantly began buzzing away that sweet song. The fish was strong and took nearly a minute to break it from the current. When I did, the fish propelled itself into a beaver lodge. It tangled and I thought for a second all was lost, but finally the fish swam free to instantly wrap itself around a log. I somehow managed to free the fish again and finally landed it.
I’m so glad I took a pole and gun because we never saw any geese. If I had chosen to only hunt, I would have missed out on this great fishing opportunity.
Good wishes and get your pole and gun out on the water.