In the pit long before sunrise, there was misery. A blizzard hit. Snow piled on everything: the calls, the dog, the spread. Temperatures dropped to zero. The wind howled. The pit offered little protection from the elements. In the open field, as we were brushing the drifts from the decoys, the winddriven snow felt like so many tiny knives. It was perfect.
But there was joy also. Soon after sunrise, geese flew continually. They flew in great number. A few found our spread. They flew in low. They gave us ample targets. The Lab, alert and capable, didn’t miss a beat. The day couldn’t have been any better.
Jeff Moore hunted Canada geese this past January near the town of Braidwood, Illinois, which is about 90 minutes south of his home in Chicago. He hunted with a friend over a favorite cold winter spot for migrating geese. “I knew it was going to be a good day, the moment my F-150 slid off the icy road into the ditch,” he wrote. See more of his work at jeffmooreimages.net.
Credits:
Photography by Jeff Moore