To stay or not to stay, that is the question

Following on from the hunt on the stubble, we had a question to ask ourselves - do we hang around for another crack?

Both Dan and Paul had to return to work on the Monday, so for them it was easy. In the end, it was easy for Dave and I as well - why leave, when there's an opportunity at another hunt.

We said goodbye to the other lads, and headed back to the woolshed for another night. Fresh duck fried up for tea made a nice end to the evening, but we knew we had all ready shot both ends of this valley, and a lot of birds knew we were about, the mooring would bring what it would bring.

It brought fog.

Most people think a windless day is a goose hunters worst nightmare, not so. A foggy day means no wind, and no way for the birds to find your decoys. Sometimes you get the odd good shoot in the fog, but all in all, my experiences with it have been mostly negative.

It was quite late in the morning, the fog had cleared enough for the Paradise shelduck to fly, but nt the geese. Parries are  very dependable game bird - if your in the right place, you have a good chance of being able to call them over the decoys.
It was well past "goose o'clock" when the fog finally lifted. We waited around for another hour, nd were about to pack up, when a lone honk could be herd from up river - and it was coming closer.

One honk led to s few more, and it wasn't long before the geese were playing ball. Sadly, Dave and I who normally shoot very well together had an "off day at the office". Dave got caught with n rounds in his gun on one mob, and It felt like I was shooting blanks at another. We got our game together, anf all in all, we were pretty bloody happy to have stuck around for another morning - though the pack up job for two guys was immense!

When the fog lifted, it was a beautiful day in more ways than one. Myself and Dave with the bag.