I went goose hunting with a buddy today. Sitting in the blind it had been slow, a few flocks passing by a mile or more away but nothing working. We were sitting talking when I saw 4 geese coming about 50 feet high maybe a half mile away. They were headed right to us across the frozen lake and were headed right toward us into the wind. Visibility was perfect, unlimited visibility, no snow blowing or anything in between us and those 4 geese but now 1/4 mile of frozen lake. No need to call, they were headed straight in. At 200 yards they just disappeared. They didn't didn't turn away, they didn't land, they just stopped being there or anywhere from what we could tell. No birds on the lake. No birds flying away, just empty air where they had been.
My buddy said, "Where'd they go?" I pulled the binoculars out of my pocket and looked at the ice on the lake. Nothing in sight.
"I don't know, they were right there, and then they weren't". I got out of the blind to get a higher angle from the pit and there was nothing on the ground, nothing in the air. I turned and looked behind us and saw a flock coming in from the other side so I jumped back in the pit and hit the call and waved the flag and they turned. They came in, circled once set their wings and we got a pair each and called it a hunt.
Now, I have had critters give me the slip. Deer in early bow season with leaves on the trees. Squirrels I had watched for 10 minutes hop on a tree and never reappear. Even ducks in the timber, they are coming in, go behind some brush and never come out. But these were geese, in a clear blue sky, over terrain as flat as a pool table for 1/4 mile in every direction. I'm stumped and just going to write it off as weird, but I know I am going to lay awake tonight wondering where those 4 geese went.
My buddy said, "Where'd they go?" I pulled the binoculars out of my pocket and looked at the ice on the lake. Nothing in sight.
"I don't know, they were right there, and then they weren't". I got out of the blind to get a higher angle from the pit and there was nothing on the ground, nothing in the air. I turned and looked behind us and saw a flock coming in from the other side so I jumped back in the pit and hit the call and waved the flag and they turned. They came in, circled once set their wings and we got a pair each and called it a hunt.
Now, I have had critters give me the slip. Deer in early bow season with leaves on the trees. Squirrels I had watched for 10 minutes hop on a tree and never reappear. Even ducks in the timber, they are coming in, go behind some brush and never come out. But these were geese, in a clear blue sky, over terrain as flat as a pool table for 1/4 mile in every direction. I'm stumped and just going to write it off as weird, but I know I am going to lay awake tonight wondering where those 4 geese went.
