Christmas Eve Waterfowl Hunt

Drake redhead and a Canada Goose on Christmas Eve

A cold snap over the weekend had many waterfowl enthusiasts looking for 'new' ducks to swoop in from up North. A few reports of geese showing up on Friday had me checking the local goose ponds over the weekend, and I was pleasantly surprised when 23 fresh geese flew in on Sunday evening. Christmas Eve weather included warming temps into the 60's and a solid cloud deck. The clouds would make for a good afternoon hunting opportunity, since the geese would be pond hopping well before twilight. With a rain front also passing in the late afternoon, it was my guess that going to hunt early could pay dividends. Well imagine my surprise when a big group of 11 honkers showed up with a lone special guest in tow. Was this Santa Claus?! Nope, but it was a drake redhead duck that joined in the flock with these migratory geese! The redhead looked very small next to the geese, and was easy to pick out, and my trusty Remington Wingmaster barked three times. One shot folded the redhead, but he appeared lively when he hit the water, so another shot was issued to put him 'legs up.' The Canada geese had approached low enough that I was able to pick out a BIG honker and put a nice head shot on him! The goose fell to the earth and made that loud thump that signals that a 20-pounder has rapidly lost altitude. No second shot was required on the honker. Christmas came early!! A migratory redhead mixed up in my goose flock is almost too good to be true!!

To view past Christmas Eve hunt stories click here.