"The Best Day of Waterfowl Hunting I Have Ever Had" - Birdtail Waterfowl
When Kevin Beasley and the Canada in the Rough crew arrive at Birdtail Waterfowl's exceptional outfit in late September—three weeks into waterfowl hunting season—they're not surprised by reports of an overwhelmingly successful early season. Located in the Prairie Pothole region of Manitoba—referred to as such because of its thousands of shallow wetlands (or glacial potholes)—Birdtail is situated on one of the largest flyways in North America.
Manitoba's Prairie Pothole Waterfowl Paradise - Birdtail Waterfowl
Bringing high expectations into a hunt can be a disadvantage. Still, it's difficult not to have high expectations in this part of the country, especially when you see the facilities at Birdtail Waterfowl. Here, the accommodations and attention to detail exceed even the highest expectations. Unique amenities include a skeet-shooting range and a convenient on-site gun rental service. Birdtail owner Paul Conchatre even employs a Red Seal chef to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner. Hunters can even take advantage of a provided Change House—a separate shelter for storing hunting clothes and gear to keep private cabins tidy during their stay.
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Kevin's good friend Marc Bender is joining him on this hunt. Canada in the Rough viewers might recall that Marc enjoyed his first-ever black bear hunt with Kevin on an episode last year. Now, the novice hunter is gearing up to experience his first-ever waterfowl hunt—and what better place to spread his wings as a hunter than Birdtail's upscale outfit?
The First Hunt of the Trip
The windless conditions of their first morning threaten to temper the guys' expectations, but guide Ryan Suffron maintains a reassuring confidence. "We've got a real wide spread, like a trap," he says, gesturing toward the team's extensive layout of decoys. "Without wind, this is our go-to setup, and as long as we get the fly-bys, we're in good shape."
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The quiet calm of the windless morning enhances the guys' hearing. Once they settle into their blind, they can hear what sounds like dozens—maybe hundreds—of geese congregating just out of sight.
The first birds to fly into Ryan's trap are a pair of stray ducks that circle through. On their third pass, the ducks get close enough for the guys to jump up and take both. Two shots ring out, penetrating the quiet. In response, the sounds of the nearby geese escalate from a low rumble to a deafening chorus.
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"Watch the horizon," says Ryan, directing the guys with a nod.
The gunfire has lifted the flocks. Hundreds of geese darken the skies. Then, hundreds more reveal themselves. In an instant, thousands of geese are soaring skyward.
Non-stop Action
Ryan and his two friends immediately spring into action, skillfully using their goose calls to turn the cloud of geese into a massive cyclone that spirals down in concentric circles. The hunters stare in awe as the geese descend, a cacophony of honks and wingbeats, until they near the decoys.
On cue, the hunters jump up and take aim, dropping seven birds from the group. "Good calling on that, guys," says Kevin. "That's tough with so many birds in the air."
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One of Ryan’s friends, Dan Snyder, issues a cue, and his canine companion, Beau, springs from his own blind to recover the fallen geese. Dan has trained Beau impeccably, and watching the dog respond to direction—a succession of simple vocal cues—is like observing choreography in motion. More than once, Beau vanishes beyond the visible landscape and returns, galloping to his trainer with a goose hanging from his mouth. Once Beau has recovered all the birds, the hunters resume their position in the blind, reloaded and ready for another round.
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Despite all the commotion, the morning sky—a pale violet—is still filled with birds. "Wow," says Kevin, his eyes sweeping the goose-filled sky. "Wow, wow, wow. Incredible."
Birdtail Waterfowl - Taking you to your Limits
The way this hunt is going, the Birdtail Waterfowl team will have the guys a four-person limit of geese awfully soon. The birds continue to descend on the field in enormous waves. The rising sun has barely broken the horizon when a flock of about sixty geese turns into the field. Ryan gives his cue, and the eruption of gunfire is punctuated by a thunderous procession of geese colliding with the earth below—the guys manage to take a staggering thirteen geese from a single flock.
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It's not even eight o'clock, and the team watches Beau recover the last goose of a four-person limit. "What an incredible morning that was," says Kevin.
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Ryan regards the impressive stack of lesser Canadian geese with casual satisfaction. "This is classic early season," he says. "And this year especially, we've been seeing thousands and thousands of lessers. Today... we probably saw two thousand (or) twenty-five hundred birds come into the spread."
Sandhill Crane Hunting in Manitoba
For their second morning, the Birdtail team switches it up and focuses on a different species: the sandhill crane. This time, Kevin and Marc find themselves sliding into layout blinds at a new location. The Birdtail guides have scouted this field for several days, and Ryan is confident their effort will be rewarded.
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For the uninitiated, like Marc, sandhill cranes are quite a sight. Sandhills can be enormous, often inviting comparison to pterodactyls with their five- or even six-foot wingspans. But they don't appear as one might imagine a prehistoric beast; instead, the cranes seem almost weightless as they glide through the air. They maneuver reliably toward the guides' calls two, three or four at a time.
Up close, the recovered cranes reveal greater beauty; the low, mid-morning sun ignites patches of bronze- and gold-tinged plumage.
An Evening Waterfowl Hunt to Remember
Another of Birdtail's exceptional guides takes the reins for the evening hunt: Joe Fleury, a newcomer to Birdtail but not the sport. The decoy spread shows a variety of bird species, and Joe expects the same variety in the sky. His confidence isn't misplaced. The guys barely have their guns loaded before the action begins: the geese start piling in fast.
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"This is insane, boys," says Kevin, quickly reloading his shotgun after a flock of geese. "This is why you come to the prairies." With an overwhelming number of flocks overhead, the guys rely on Joe's direction to focus their attention—on his cue, they leap up, aim, and more geese come crashing to the ground.
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By six o'clock, with two hours of legal light still left, the guys are closing in on their limit of geese. "Unbelievable," remarks Kevin, taking inventory of the fallen birds. "We've got twenty-eight geese down already, and the ducks are just starting."
Duck, Duck, Goose
Sure enough, the ducks start zooming into the field in waves. The guys barely have time to reload, their gun barrels scorching hot, as the birds constantly descend into the hunting area. Gunfire rings out continuously, shell casings arcing through the air like confetti as birds come crashing down. Once again, Kevin and Marc watch as Beau races to recover the birds. Sometimes, the volume is too much for the dog, and the guys join the canine, sprinting to recover birds before the next flock is upon them.
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"This may be the best day of waterfowl I've ever had," says Kevin, both hands straining to grip several ducks. "Limit of cranes this morning, and we're really close to our limit of ducks and geese."
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Before the clock strikes seven, Marc shoots one of a couple of incoming ducks to claim the final bird of the evening. "That's a full limit, fellas," announces guide Joe Fleury. "Ducks and geese."
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