NORCAL
FROM FIELD ...
TACKLING CACKLERS EUREKA AREA IS PRIME MIDWINTER HUNTING GROUNDS FOR ALEUTIAN GOOSE SPECIES By Scott Haugen
I
was so focused on the thick, white ring around the neck of the approaching Aleutian cackling goose that I began to shake. His neck was outstretched, his feet down, and anticipation mounted as he hovered over the decoys. “Take ’em!” John Corbett shouted over the incessant chatter of the more than 300 geese in the flock, all of which were landing in our spread. I quickly took a bead on the prized bird, dropped it and swung on another, followed by a third. As quickly as my Weatherby Element could cycle, three birds were down. But it wasn’t over. There were
so many geese that I had time to get off two more shots and drop a fourth goose before missing a fifth. My pudelpointer Echo was already on the move and the first bird she brought to my layout blind was that initial bird. It was in perfect shape and was my first Aleutian goose, a species I’d always dreamed of hunting. Combined with Echo’s perfect retrieve, it meant that this bird was going on the wall to preserve the special moment.
A BAG OF BIRDS By morning’s end I’d secure a limit, thanks to the expertise of Corbett and the fine staff at Pacific Outfitters (pacificoutfitters.com; 844-926-
Aleutian cackling geese funnel into an outfitter's decoy spread during author Scott Haugen’s February damagecontrol hunt near Eureka. (SCOTT HAUGEN)
6566). This special late-season hunt took place last February. Because upwards of 250,000 geese stage in the Eureka Valley this time of year before heading across the Pacific to their nesting grounds on Alaska’s Aleutian Islands chain, grazing damage on area cattle ranches is extreme. Thus, a late-season damage control hunt was put into place, which can make this hunt nothing short of spectacular. The special season runs just shy of a month, running from mid-February to mid-March. “This is strictly a private-land hunt,” Corbett says. “And it’s a pretty tight deal, meaning if you don’t know someone or have land access, it’s tough to just show up and find a place to hunt. It’s not like the general season in the fall with public land hunting available.” That’s precisely why I booked my
calsportsmanmag.com | JANUARY 2018 California Sportsman
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