As the waterfowl season is nearing its end and with all the ponds being frozen over, the fast flowing river remained the go to place for ducks and geese. So, with only a few days to go, I decided to head out to the river in hopes of harvesting a few more birds to close another successful season.
So, I parked my truck on one the many public dirt roads which led to the river, jumped into my waders, loaded up my gear into my backpack and headed southwest. I had to make my way through knee deep snow across an immense prairie field, all the while keeping an eye out for jack rabbit to harvest along the way. I always keep my orange safety vest in one of my carrying pouches for that purpose. Once by the river, I take off the vest and switch to waterfowl.
Rather than cutting diagonally across the open field exposing myself to the cold winds, I made my way along a brush line near a fence and then completed a large “L” shaped maneuver then headed through hummocky lands to the deeply entrenched river valley.
My goals was to reach the undercut banks of the river, make my way across the ice in the shallows and start moving in a westerly direction toward the islands and explore their beaches. In just under an hour of walking, I made it to the edge of the cliffs and rock formations where I spotted many fresh coyote tracks.
As if the tracks were speaking to me, I followed them through the steep rock and game trail on a downward slope and within moments found myself all alone on the shores of the rushing cold waters and hidden wild islands.
I stood very still for a moment right on the edge of the snowy banks, facing the narrow ice passage to the islands full of snow covered dark fallen trees. I have seen lots of territory over the years while hunting, but this place was so picturesque and yet so mysterious. It was worthy of a scene from the movie “The Revenant”. I pulled up my binoculars to scan my direction of travel and in an instant I had spotted thousands of ducks and geese along the southern shore of the first island tucked away from the rapids. Their wild goose calls echoed off the cliffs sending chills down your spine.
After having studied the lay of the land, I decide to make my way up one of the chosen creek river bed, and sticking to its edge in the low ground which offered a concealed approach to the birds and to my amazement I was still following in the footsteps of the coyotes. It was fair to say our hunt had just begun in this spectacular land of raging glacier waters and snowy forests.
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