Late on the Big Muddy

by Z-Unit Troy Bailey

Very seldom does a plan work out perfectly. When it does and involves a hunt it is usually one that many cherished memories come from and this case was no different.

Following a great hunt on the Kansas River the week before, our group started putting plans together for the final weekend of the Kansas dark goose season. Z-Unit member Sean Evans and Jay Longhouser had found a good concentration of geese roosting on the Big Muddy - the famed Missouri River. The geese were spread out through a fairly large area, we made a plan to run some traffic on the river.

Under optimal conditions the Missouri River is no cake walk. Add in the large chunks of flow ice that seemed to fill the river and it can be down right dangerous. Sean took his time taking the boat the five mile journey up river to the spot we had scouted out. The trip seemed to take forever as we moved through the flow ice but seeing several groups of geese still asleep on the roost kept high spirits.

We finally got to our spot, a side sand bar covered in snow and ice with a small pool of water in front of it out of the flow of the channell. We quickly unloaded the boat load of decoys, blinds and gear and went to working setting up. During the set up we watched thousands of geese head to the fields to fill their bellies. A set of Greenhead Gear sleeping oversized shells, FFD fullbody resters and sleepers and some FFD actives made the ice come alive. The snow covers on the Avery Finishers and GHG Ground Force and Ground Force Dog Blind made them disappear.

Almost immediately after getting set up the first birds began to work us. It took barely an hour for the three of us to shoot our limits. Watching my labrador retriever, Cass, make several difficult retrieves highlighted the day for me. One chase down of a crippled bird with a subsequant tackle and retrieve plus a very long retrieve through the flow ice. That retrieve was scary to watch as she went over and around the flow ice but I was grinning ear to ear the entire time.

The next day was no different. Though the flow ice was thinner, there was just as much of it. Our set up was very similar but altered slightly for the change of the wind and to give a little different look. Similarly to the previous day, birds finished in a grand fashion. The first five birds we saw all came as singles and sat in the decoys less than ten yards from our blinds. We were quickly over half way to our days limit. We did have to work a little harder for our last four as a large group of geese sat in the fields to the north of us but we managed and couldn't hardly complain as previous to that 11 of the 14 geese we'd harvested had touched down in the decoys prior to the shot being called. Thats what I call in your face action.

The last goose, the packing of the equipment, the boat ride to the dock - it all brought on some reflection of the season as a whole and the times shared with good friends. There's not doubt that Sean, Jay and I will share even more in the future, but untill then the promise of next season and the memories of this season will have to hold us. That is untill the snow geese show up anyway!