Our Maine Street's Aroostook Issue 6 : Fall 2010 | Page 25

© 2010 Ken Lamb, northernshutter.com
Opposite and inset phoros by Rebecca and Pete Bowmaster

the fake geese in such a way
that any real geese flying over
would want to drop in and
check things out. It didn’t
take long for us to then place
the blinds out and cover
them with frozen broccoli
plant remains. At this point
in the very early morning I
was starting to actually wake
up and light was starting to
creep up over the horizon. I
laid down in my blind still
very aware of the fact that
I could see my breath every
time I spoke and that it
was too early for any sane person to be out of bed. Then it
happened, the single moment where I became so very happy
to be in that frozen field at that incredibly early hour. The
sun came up. Yes, I know, it comes up every day, but I can
count on one hand the number of times I’ve been awake
enough to notice it. It was so beautiful on this particular
morning. It took the frigidness out of the air, and it made
the entire field of broccoli plants glisten.

I would love to tell you that after the awesome
sunrise we had a phenomenal hunt. But that sadly wasn’t the
case. Apparently the geese were not interested in broccoli
that day. We had flocks fly right over us but none actually
landed, so I didn’t get to shoot my first goose during my first
actual day out in a field. My father would say that they call
it hunting for a reason. Since then I have shot a fair amount

of birds on the various
hunts that I have been on.
Nothing, of course, close
to my husband’s count,
but definitely enough to
call myself a goose hunter.

As with any other
form of hunting, there
are plenty of regulations
and restrictions to insure
appropriate management
of the goose population.
During the season there
are different limits on how
many geese one person is
able to shoot and when
you start and stop hunting. All of these rules are put into
place for proper conservation. True hunters enjoy the hunt
too much to want to injure the population of whatever it
may be that they are hunting.

I knew the first time that I met Pete that there
was something different about him. I simply knew that I
needed to get to know him better; that he was someone that
I wanted in my life. I, because of him, have a new love for
goose hunting. I now have a reason to look forward to the
autumn. I have a reason to be outside breathing in the crisp
air and watching the sun slowly rise over a harvested field.
I knew that he would bring something new and exciting
to my life. I didn’t know that the new and exciting things
would include goose hunting. I am so very happy that it
does.
FALL 2010 The Goose Hunt 23