First Time Blindside.

The season was in mid-stride. To say the migration was on was like saying a leaky faucet was running. Birds were moving down the flyway, but the numbers were in clumps. Even so, hope springs eternal in the heart of a water fowler.

It was an important day for my family. The Boy and B-man had been hard at work finishing Hunter's Safety. They had their field test that morning. Each needed to pass the written exam, and exhibit safe firearm handling at the local rod and gun club. Anxiety was on many a face at breakfast. Looking at our cast of characters, if you'd have asked my wife she'd have said I was the one needing to take a pill.

Both boys had exhibited a solid understanding of the rules of gun safety. The Boy had handled the practice stations with ease. B-man was prone to missing a few of the details on occassion. Things felt much better the previous evening, after having B-man identify the make, model, and parts of the firearms in my collection. If things went well, I'd have two more hunting buddies to share the blind. What more could a father want?

I dropped them off Saturday morning, and nervously made my home. I was to pick them up at noon. When the zero hour arrived, both had passed without incident. We hurried home to grab lunch, as I had a goose rendezvous planned for the afternoon. As we were driving along, the phone buzzed. My father called, "What have you got going on this afternoon?"

"The boys just passed Hunter's Ed. and we're going after geese!" I asked.

"Geese, huh. That would be great. Would you mind if I came? Also, could I bring Kevin? He is with us this weekend, " he replied.

Kevin was like my father's Godson. He was between my boys' ages, but hadn't really had many opportunities to be outdoors. I had to do some thinking, as hiding five folks and a golden retriever has its challenges when facing off against Canada geese. Also, neither my father nor Kevin had clothing for the hunt. I wrestled, since I was intending this to be an outing of just my boys. When it was all said and done, I figured... why not.

"If he doesn't mind being in corn, and has boots, bring him along!" Although I spent considerable energy weighing that decision, I'll never regret it.

My father is not a wingshooter. Has never been after pheasant, grouse, or fowl. He's hunted deer, and fished occasionally with my grandfather when I was young. Although I wanted this hunt to be special with me and my boys, I couldn't say no to sharing a blind with my father. Hopefully the birds would cooperate, and they all could get a taste of what I enjoy so much.

Lunch was quickly consumed. Dad and Kevin arrived shortly after. We had a good amount of gear to organize and load. My boys were somewhat lackluster in their efforts, but Kevin had that spark of curiosity and excitement of what hunting might be like. He helped me every step of the way. He found my B2 goose decoys super-cool, and looked disbelieving at the silhouettes. "Do those actually fool birds," he asked.

"I guess we'll have to find out. Now help me set up the spinning decoys," I replied.

With all the gear, snacks and sodas packed, and cammo distributed we left my wife in peace and quiet. Five folk running about the house with an excited dog was making the place shake. I decided to hit a field not far from home. It sat just off the river. I knew the geese were loafing, and the farmer had left me a few rows of standing corn. As an off-chance, I brought my full body duck decoys, and spinners too. I knew ducks were frequenting the area. I'm not too picky when it comes to hunting fowl, and luck favors the prepared.

Upon arriving, we all began setting up the spread. I made two pockets of geese to the outsides, with ducks feeding close to the corn stalks. The spinners were just to the corners of the full body duck decoys. My best full body geese decoys were closest to the corn, with silhouettes making up the exterior zones. Since it was early October, I still tried setting everything up into small groups of three, five, to seven goose clusters. Putting together a field spread is fun, but you will work up a sweat.

I got everyone situated in the standing corn. Camping chairs were distributed, gear covered up, shooting lanes for the my boys and I set. Now we needed geese to move. It's funny how things develop when sharing a blind. The Boy sat back with his hat over his eyes, and proceeded to nap, as teenagers are prone to do. B-man wanted to show his newest phone app to my father. Kevin snacked on licorice and soda. I had my eyes and ears to the horizon, but shared some jokes and stories. B-man made sure to make corn rain on my head, and that made the whole blind jovial. I'm fine with being at the receiving end if it makes it fun for kids.

The wind was making the corn rattle. The sun was warm at our backs, and I began to worrying if there'd be any bird action. Suddenly a flashing of wings caught my eye. Two mallards were floating right above my spinners. I quickly brought my Remington to shoulder and rushed a shot. I missed gloriously, but from that point on, everyone's eyes were trained to the skies. Kevin's eyes gleamed. He couldn't believe those birds snuck up on us like that. Neither could I to be honest.

"I thought you were supposed to hit the birds, not shoot at them," my father teased.

"Sometimes you have to give make them think you'll miss to get the others to show up," I said.

Outside the ribbing for missing a gimme, it didn't take long to get a second chance. The afternoon was progressing, and that magical last hour was painting the October landscape in brilliant reds, browns, yellows, and orange. As if on cue, geese began filtering towards the river. I shut off the spinners, and began making a few clucks. I didn't need to do much calling, which, if you've ever heard me, is a good thing. The geese took a good look at the spread, flew overhead from behind us, and swung around ninety degrees with landing gear down. I called the shot, and dropped two of the flock of five. Neither boy shot! Calvin rushed out to make the retrieves. He loves bringing back heavy geese. The look on my father's face was pretty priceless.

"Aren't you boys going to shoot? They were coming in perfectly," I said.

Neither felt 100% about shotguns. Since I had my limit, if they weren't going to shoot we'd be done. We decided to take a couple of pictures. I posed the boys, Kevin, and Calvin in front of our geese. As I was taking pictures, they all began pointing. Another flock was coming in.

"Come on! Get back in and hide. Maybe they'll land," I said. This flock of geese were coming in from the right side of the spread, but again flew behind us, pulled a 180 and were coming in front and center. I looked at the Boy, and questioned. He smirked, and readied his piece. Two volleys wrang, and two more geese thumped to the ground. Calvin went after the first, but the second bird was winged. The boy, Kevin, and B-man went after that goose without a shotgun. Wings flapped, as that bird danced among the silhouettes. My father and I got quite a kick at watching three boys chase after a goose on the ground. Thankfully Calvin stepped in. He got the goose by the neck, did his trick, and brought it back to me. The birds were added to the days bag. High-fives were shared.

With a few minutes of legal shooting left B-man made it clear he wasn't ready yet. We respected that, as the afternoon had turned quite bright. I posed everyone again, but this time with our four geese. After snapping a few picks, and getting in on the action myself, one last flock was coming in hot.

We ran for the cover of corn. I looked at B-man, but he shook his head, so I pulled out my phone, and recorded this final flock, as they landed right into the spread. Calvin whined at my feet. For fun I made him wait seconds, which felt like hours. When I call "Calvin!" he bolted for the geese, which flapped furiously and made their way east to safety. We had another great laugh at watching that dog smile as he pranced back to us.

As we finished up, the smiles in my father, Kevin, and kids' faces was etched into memory. The boys were arguing about who was going to get to bring in two birds. We gave Kevin the honors. Getting home, everyone was eager to relay the afternoon's hunt to my wife. It may have overwhelmed her, but it made me feel pretty great. Birds were brought in, and quickly shooed to the basement at my wife's request. Good times!

I'm so glad I decided to bring the extra company along. Thankful the day worked out the way it did. Thankful for being given the opportunity to enjoy nature, the changing season, and migration. If you ever get the chance to introduce somebody to the outdoors, I sincerely hope you'll do so. Both my father and Kevin said they'd do this again in a heartbeat.