It was - without question - one of the worst rookie mistakes of my shooting career. This happened this morning on a farm pond in Ashtabula County.
I did a good job of calling; just enough toots on the Glynn Scoby walnut goose call to get the attention of two Canada geese.
The birds were heading straight into the small spread of decoys. No questions asked. They wanted in.
But I shot waaaaay too soon. No doubt I should have waited until they were locked in and even back-tracking. Instead, I fired when they were still out there a ways and could still collect their thoughts.
As a result, I didn't touch a feather and the birds quickly recovered.
It was the kind of shot I get only once or twice a year and I blew it. You'd think that after 40 years of waterfowlign I wouldn't make this error and could hold my peace until the correct moment. Nope.
Poor Berry and Jenny Lynn couldn't figure out why the geese didn't drop so they could retrieve them.
This one is going to haunt me for the rest of the year.
And I only have tomorrow - Tuesday morning or evening to make amends during the early Canada goose-only season, too.
Oh, well. It was my mistake and I take all of the blame. Rats, the embarrassment still hurts, though.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com
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