Note - Pics are below in the order listed below in OutdoorAg_10's reply. Tried to edit in using imgur. Must be major user error. Sorry. Pics are in order. Will abandon photobucket in the future.... :-)
Just got back from Canada on a trip with Northern Prairie Outfitters and Travis Schneider. It was a great trip and we had a blast. Spent 2.5 days hunting Eastern Alberta. The prairie and number of acres of barley, peas and wheat is incredible. As far as you can see. I went with my dad and a 4 others for a total party of 6. It was an incredible trip. We hunted 5 times over the 2 1/2 days and killed 193 birds. Travis donates the birds to folks in the area who need the food. I am a lifelong waterfowler. If this is your thing, I highly recommend it. Also - Travis and his team were great.
Day 1 AM- Hunted a pea field in the AM. There were some geese in the area but they didn't cooperate. However, this was the best duck hunt of my life. 48 mallards and pintails in 75 minutes. It could have been faster if we had been used to the set-up. Sam (Travis dog) was a workhorse and the hunt was incredible. We also picked up 2 bonus greaters. By the way, we had several flocks of 75 to 150 mallards bombard us and I literally had a mallard hen fly by my head between me and the end of my gun! On a sidenote, we had a great time meeting the people in the area after this hunt. They were great.
Day 1 PM - We hunted a different pea field for Greater Canada Geese. I would not have guessed we would get a bird when we got there. However, we killed 25 in a few hours including a banded bird with a neck collar. There are less than 25 birds in the pic because we took photos while we still had good light. More birds to come after pictures.
Day 2 AM - Woke up to 30 degree temps and frost/no wind. I learned on this day that conditions are still important no matter where you hunt. We killed 18 geese and 27 ducks. 45 birds on a bluebird day with no wind. Fabulous hunt even in these conditions. Note the minivan. Had a rental fiasco with the car rental company (not to name them because they took care of it with compensation and ended up with a minivan that we wanted in pics)
Day 2 PM - Total bluebird sky with no wind. 18 birds total where I would have guessed zero when we started. Good hunt. I would have never guessed that with 63 birds on Day 2 I would have said "what could have been?" given the conditions.
Day 3 AM - Fantastic morning. 55 birds. Limit of 30 specks. 11 Canadas (Greaters and Lessors). 14 bonus snows. Little wind until 845am. If we would have had wind early, we would have had another 20 to 30 geese. This was the best goose hunt of my life
Last pic is a 1 person limit of 8 Greaters.
Couple of items.... Getting through customs into Canada with a firearm is not difficult but they take their sweet time. There is not much of anything except grain/peas and ducks/geese in Eastern Alberta along with a few mule deer and a moose. Travis's dog Sam is a world class dog and a pleasure to hunt over.
I had viewed this as a once in a lifetime experience and I was wrong. I am going to have to make this happen again. It was a great trip. The waterfowlers out there should make this a priority! Travis runs a great operation.
www.northernprairieoutfitters.com
Wes '87
Just got back from Canada on a trip with Northern Prairie Outfitters and Travis Schneider. It was a great trip and we had a blast. Spent 2.5 days hunting Eastern Alberta. The prairie and number of acres of barley, peas and wheat is incredible. As far as you can see. I went with my dad and a 4 others for a total party of 6. It was an incredible trip. We hunted 5 times over the 2 1/2 days and killed 193 birds. Travis donates the birds to folks in the area who need the food. I am a lifelong waterfowler. If this is your thing, I highly recommend it. Also - Travis and his team were great.
Day 1 AM- Hunted a pea field in the AM. There were some geese in the area but they didn't cooperate. However, this was the best duck hunt of my life. 48 mallards and pintails in 75 minutes. It could have been faster if we had been used to the set-up. Sam (Travis dog) was a workhorse and the hunt was incredible. We also picked up 2 bonus greaters. By the way, we had several flocks of 75 to 150 mallards bombard us and I literally had a mallard hen fly by my head between me and the end of my gun! On a sidenote, we had a great time meeting the people in the area after this hunt. They were great.
Day 1 PM - We hunted a different pea field for Greater Canada Geese. I would not have guessed we would get a bird when we got there. However, we killed 25 in a few hours including a banded bird with a neck collar. There are less than 25 birds in the pic because we took photos while we still had good light. More birds to come after pictures.
Day 2 AM - Woke up to 30 degree temps and frost/no wind. I learned on this day that conditions are still important no matter where you hunt. We killed 18 geese and 27 ducks. 45 birds on a bluebird day with no wind. Fabulous hunt even in these conditions. Note the minivan. Had a rental fiasco with the car rental company (not to name them because they took care of it with compensation and ended up with a minivan that we wanted in pics)
Day 2 PM - Total bluebird sky with no wind. 18 birds total where I would have guessed zero when we started. Good hunt. I would have never guessed that with 63 birds on Day 2 I would have said "what could have been?" given the conditions.
Day 3 AM - Fantastic morning. 55 birds. Limit of 30 specks. 11 Canadas (Greaters and Lessors). 14 bonus snows. Little wind until 845am. If we would have had wind early, we would have had another 20 to 30 geese. This was the best goose hunt of my life
Last pic is a 1 person limit of 8 Greaters.
Couple of items.... Getting through customs into Canada with a firearm is not difficult but they take their sweet time. There is not much of anything except grain/peas and ducks/geese in Eastern Alberta along with a few mule deer and a moose. Travis's dog Sam is a world class dog and a pleasure to hunt over.
I had viewed this as a once in a lifetime experience and I was wrong. I am going to have to make this happen again. It was a great trip. The waterfowlers out there should make this a priority! Travis runs a great operation.
www.northernprairieoutfitters.com
Wes '87