but it has sure been fun.

I started out this year to try to target some new birds in different areas. this was made much more possible by the fact that eastern WA has been very tough this year because of the weather. So i have been spending a lot of time on the westside of the mountains and targeting new birds. it has taken a lot of miles in the car and a lot of time with the binocs in hand but i have finally found a few areas i can hunt and have some success. i have had lots of goose decoys in my garage for the past 10 years and only used them on occasion. the pile has steadily grown to the point now that i have a very good goose spread and almost nowhere to use it. So i have knocked the dust off and worked on my calling a lot, only to realize that you dont need to call much and the decoys do almost all the work.
here are a couple pictures from this season accomplishing several of my goals for the year. Bands, collars and a couple of aluetians of which i have no pictures. i hope the rest of the season goes as well and i can learn even more about these birds. i already cant wait for next season to really put in some time on these guys.

Nice work man. If you are planning on being on the west side in the next couple of weeks, give me a ring, we can hook up and go shoot some geese/ducks.

As usual, great post.

Glad to see you enjoying the fruits of your labor.....

I have a very special bird in my field that i am chasing tomorrow. i hope to be able to post some pictures. Feels like I'm 5yrs old at christmas right now.

"Feels like I'm 5yrs old at christmas right now. "

That is a very good thing!

Has anybody seen my sweet old Parrot "Lucky"...he is attracted to camoflage and the smell of Red Dot powder.......he also likes the company of Geese (a Mommy complex I guess).

Kidding of course.......good luck and look forward to the pics!

Christ, Dave, you are a machine. Isn't your freezer full yet?

couldnt find "THE" bird today but did shoot my first Spec. ever. Just a nice little juvie but he was fun to work in about 8 times and finally shoot when i had no other birds around.
they make some awesome sounds.

Awesome job. Grill the speck. They are my favorite on the grill.

how do you like to grill them?

Normally, I marinate the breasts in olive oil over night in the refrig.

I take them out while the grill is heating up to uber-hot, and rub the congealed olive oil over them, and salt -pepper to taste (I don't use either, but some do). Then grill them, they will swell like a london broil, when the internal temp is 135, I pull them. Let them sit a bit, and then cut them cross ways like flank steak.

Hopefully in the meantime you grilled up some veggies, and/or prepped some rice. Then eat everything with your favorite barbecue sauce, and beer.

Fresh food, simply prepared and cooked, is my motto 90% of the time.