A hunting dream
comes true

Al Rostello,
News Tribune Outdoor Writer

Finally! My dreams come true!

In 1952, I read a magazine story and entitled, “The Great Diaper and Cardboard Goose Shoot” by Townsend Miller. The article was about hunting ducks, snows, blues, Canadas and speckle bellies over a rag and paper decoy spread near Eagle Lake, TX.

After reading about this hunt, I dreamed that some day all these different species of waterfowl would fall to my gun. Through the years I’ve bagged all various species of ducks (except sea ducks), Canadas from Cacklers to Giants and a blue goose, but when the 2005-2006 season opened, I still needed a speckle belly and a snow goose. Then on December 12 while Canada goose hunting, I got my speckle belly.

Now all I needed to complete my personal “grand slam” was one snow goose. After doing some research, I decided to get the snow goose by booking a Conservation Order Light goose season hung with Flatland Outfitters near Decatur, only 132 miles from Spring Valley. When I called owner/operator Allen Letcher he assured me that he runs a first-class hunt and if I would plan a February hunt, we would achieve my goal.

Due to warm weather, Letcher called me and said to get there on January 25th because the geese were arriving in the area ahead of schedule. However, that was a false alarm.

He called me again to tell me the birds moved south so “we better wait a few days.” On January 27, Letcher phoned me stating, “Al, I’m covered up with geese. It’s the real thing this time. If you want a snow goose, it would be best to be here Tuesday (January 31) and Wednesday (February 1)”.
We arranged to meet at a motel in Taylorville and what happened afterwards was totally awesome. As we were getting ready to head for my field of dreams, I asked Letcher how man of us would be hunting and he replied, “Just you, me Rob, who is my right man and maybe a friend later in the morning. The rest of the week I’, booked up, so we’ll be hunting with a party of five tomorrow.”

We got set up in our layout blind and at sunrise it was an experience of a lifetime. I was sitting in the middle of 760 snow and blue goose decoys (600 full-bodied and rest flappers of one kind or another) four wildlife callers blaring away, hundreds of light geese flying overhead and some of those wa wa wa birds already working our spread. Suddenly I heard Letcher yell, “Kill that bird coming in from our left, Al.”

I shot and wing-tipped a juvenile snow. While it was gliding down, superguide Rob shot to make sure it stayed down.

“There’s your first snow Al,” Letcher quipped.

Except for a few details, I’ll spare everybody a blow-by-blow account of the hung. I killed five snows and three blues. It took me 49 shots to get those birds because I’m not good at lying down and then sitting up to shoot. We bagged 32 light geese (one of them was a Ross goose) and sailed three cripples in the horizon.

As I loaded up to leave Letcher told me he would put my geese in the caravan while I said so long to Rob. When I opened the van to show my wife the eight birds, there were 20 geese in the rear cargo area. Hmmmm. Wonder if those 12 extra birds hatched during the drive from Letcher’s farm to the motel.

The next day, seven of us shot 14 geese. I shot a dozen times before I had to leave at 10a.m. to get my wife out of the motel by check-out time. Although the second-day hunt was not as fantastic, I still felt like a king in a fairy tale.

By the same token, if you want more information from Allen Letcher about hunting with Flatland Outfitters, call 2177-519-3680. Allen my not be ne of our own from the Illinois Valley, but I found he is the type of guy that if you talk to him 5-10 minutes, he feels like an old friend. I you spend a morning with him, he seems like family - in fact better.

Keep in mind Flatland Outfitters follow the geese and will soon be “setting up shop” in southwest Iowa. If you want to hung light geese in March consider hunting in Iowa. You won’t be alone. Letcher told me hunters from Quincy, Galesburg and Peoria travel to Iowa goose camp.

Oops! Almost forgot. The first morning we had about 125 birds funnel overhead. As I was watching, Letcher whispered, “Close your mouth Al. There’s going to be some stuff coming down besides feathers and blood.”

About that time, the geese on top of us relieved themselves on my right arm and left shoulder. If you doubt me, call me before I wash my vehicle. I’ll show you where the flights of geese bombed it four times while it was parked next to Letcher’s barn. If you have any other questions, feel free to call me.

 

Shoot Conservation order light geese in Illinois

Al Rostello

The United States Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) needs the help of hunters to enforce their 2006 Conservation Light Goose Order in Illinois. Snow geese populations have grown dramatically since the mid 20th century: today the lesser snow goose is the most abundant ARctic-nesting goose in the world. Its abundance has wrought serious degradation on the tundra which threatens the future of the geese and all other wildlife that share Arctic habitats. In 1998 USFWS Director Jamie Clark stated at an outdoor writers conference “We usually have a problem with declining numbers of species, not with the unusual growth of a species. That’s why the USFWS is going to issue conservation orders liberalizing light goose hunting. by light geese, we mean Ross geese, blues, and snows.”

“The conservation order regulations will allow an extended season on light geese after regular waterfowl seasons close, no federal stamp will be required which might encourage non-waterfowls to shoot snows, unplugged shotguns, no daily bag limit, shooting hours a half-hour after sunset and use of electronic devices,” Clark explained. “We may even allow other measures if flock reduction is not significant after a few years.”

Every February about 750,000 light geese fill the skies and stop for food, water and to rest in Illinois. Yet Prairie State hunters only shoot approximately 25,000 birds during the conservation order season because snow goose hunting is a very specialized sport. It takes a huge investment of time and money such as scouting, setting hundreds of decoys and etc. to harvest snow geese. a great deal of knowledge is also needed to bag these wary birds which are difficult to lure into shotgun range.

The owner/operator of Flatland Outfitters - Allen Letcher- has the ability to stay one step ahead of the geese. Letcher - a central Illinois soybean and corn farmer - is an 11 year veteran of snow goose hunting. Due to his success as a snow goose hunter, his off-season hunting hobby evolved into a winter side business of guiding hunters and developing full-bodied decoys for snow goose hunting.

“Snow goose hunting is challenging and exciting sport.” Letcher stated. “Patience and experience are the keys to bring high-flying birds into range.”

I hunt with some friends from Christian County and they told me “Letcher is legit, not a bad guy and his outfit has a reputation of killing a lot of geese.” When I called him to gook a hunt, he commented “bring plenty of shells, you won’t be disappointed.”

To book a hunt or learn ore about snow and blue goose hunting, contact Allen Letcher at 217-519-3680 (cell). Letcher’s farm is within 20 minutes of Decatur (pop. 84,000). I recommend hunters stay overnight in one of the fine new motels in Forsyth, a town two miles away, at the junction of Route 51 and I-72