Photo by R.E. ILG

Beginning with the early goose season this month, you can work your way through teal, dove and snipe hunting -- all before the action for traditional duck season even gets started! Here's how it goes.

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TO START WITH, GEESE
When the call came from a good friend inviting me to hunt during Alabama's early goose season a few years back, I was at the same time skeptical and excited. Seasonal September temperatures are usually in the mid-70s at daylight, which is not exactly considered prime waterfowl hunting conditions.

In the face of the humid conditions, we decided to meet at a local truck stop to get our plan together before the hunt. While enjoying a typical truck-stop breakfast, we agreed that, after the last piece of greasy bacon was devoured, heartburn would be on the agenda for the day.

My friend Steve Lyda filled me in on a large flock of resident Canada geese that he had stumbled on in a freshly turned field. The geese were nosing around looking for worms, grubs or whatever else they might find. Fortunately for us, Steve knew the owner of the field, who was all too happy to give us permission to dispatch or at least disperse the nuisance Canadas.

We arrived at the field about 40 minutes before daylight. Steve walked me around the field with a flashlight to show me the fresh droppings of the huge birds. Having never hunted resident Canadas before, I was amazed at the mess that these birds make.

Before Steve put out some decoys in the field, he gave me a shovel and instructed me to dig out a couple of depressions in the field that we could recline in to keep a low profile. Next, we placed some tarps in the depressions to lie on. Finally, we covered ourselves with camouflage netting.

When the sky started to turn pink with its morning glow, we could hear the large flock of geese starting to sound off from the roosting lake, almost a half-mile away. For at least 10 minutes the geese honked loudly as they readied themselves to lift off the lake en route to our location.

Straining to see the first of the big birds, we looked off in the distance towards the sound. While concentrating on the racket, we almost missed the bullet-like entrance of a large group of doves that had also discovered the freshly tilled field. A pity that dove season was weeks away, as doves continued blasting into the field -- but big Canadas were our targets. And soon, they appeared.

A string of 12 Canadas was methodically approaching the field in a ragged line. Even from a distance they were huge! As they flew into the edge of the field, the big birds seemed locked on our decoy spread. However, before coming into gun range they veered off, apparently having seen something that just wasn't right. Perhaps it was the "lumps" that hadn't been there in the middle of the field yesterday? Despite some sweet pleading on a goose call, the birds refused to commit and flew on -- and the next group of eight was just as spooky.