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Avery® Hunting Journal Entries Ohio 2003
 Brutal Hunting Conditions!
Southern Ohio, January 25, 2004
By Brian Bowers, Avery® Pro-Staffer
DATE: January 25, 2004
LOCATION: Southern Ohio
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 7:54 A.M./ 5:50 P.M.
WEATHER: WINDY, COLD and SNOWING
TEMPERATURE: 14
WIND: West Northwest 20-25 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear® Full bodies, Greenhead Gear® Oversize Goose Shells, Greenhead Gear® Universal Motion Stakes, Avery® Power Hunters, Avery® RealSnow Spray, Avery® Blind bags, Avery® Floating Gun Cases, Avery® Neck Gaiters, Avery® Power Belt's, Mojo decoy, and Zink LM-1 & PM-1 Goose Calls.
HUNTERS: Brian Bowers, Brad Alsop, Ben Graziano, Field and Clay Hudnall switched off on the video camera.
JOURNAL NOTES: Our hunt the evening prior lasted until the end of shooting time. We were left with no scouting time for today's hunt. Brad and I were on the way to the same field when we decided to check a field the geese had been in 2 days ago. We had some fresh snow from Friday evening. If any geese had been in there on Saturday there should be some tracks. With some walking we found the jackpot. The geese had been in there thick. We quickly called Field and Clay to change the meeting spot. When they arrived, none of us wanted to the leave the warm confines of the trucks. It was flat out cold! Looking into the wind for just a few seconds gave you a massive ice cream headache. We quickly set up the GHG full bodies, Over-Size Goose shells and our Power Hunters. Many of the full bodies were mounted on GHG Universal Motion Stakes. This, in my opinion, is the best trick since flagging. They present such a realistic movement in the decoys. Nothing can touch it. The Power Hunters were sprayed the night before with RealSnow Spray. All that was left was to add some corn stalks and then settle in. The birds started flying soon after we parked the trucks. Once they started coming, it was wave after wave. The calling and flagging never really stopped until we had 10 geese for the 5 guys. Every shot was called inside of 15-20 yards. As we picked up the spread, we all agreed this was one of the most severe days of goose hunting we had experienced.
The last week has been just fantastic for us in Ohio. Over and above great blinds and calls, there are a couple things that have been crucial in helping to finish these late season, extremely smart geese. 1. The realism of the GHG decoys. 2. The GHG full bodies on Motion Stakes. Only a couple more days to go. I am already having withdrawal pains just thinking about it! Its just 8 months until Canada!
 Brutal conditions in the field provided excellent goose hunting in southern Ohio!
Awesome Late Season Goose Hunt!
Southern Ohio, January 19, 2004
By Brian Bowers, Avery® Pro-Staffer
DATE: January 19, 2004
LOCATION: Southern Ohio
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 7:54 A.M./ 5:43 P.M.
WEATHER: cloudy with snow flurries
TEMPERATURE: 23
WIND: West Northwest 10-15 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear® Full bodies, Greenhead Gear® Oversize Goose Shells, Greenhead Gear® Universal Motion Stakes, Avery® Power Hunters, Avery® Blind bags, Avery® Floating Gun Cases, Avery® Neck Gaiters, Avery® Power Belt's, Mojo decoy, and Zink Duck and Goose Calls.
HUNTERS: Brian Bowers, Fred Zink Sr., Bill Schwarz, Mark Six, Sean Finke, and Bob Brown.
JOURNAL NOTES: Due to not having time to scout because of an afternoon hunt the day before. We went back to the same field as yesterday. We got all set up by 1:30pm and waited. The first birds waited to fly until around 2:00. The first group of 20 started toward us with 3 dropping out and almost landing on the blinds. We had a little indecision on whether to wait for the group but opted to get the sure thing. Since we waited a little too long, we were presented with an awkward shot and only managed 2 of the 3. Ten minutes later another group of 3 came at us low on the deck and finished on the right side of the spread. None of those 3 left. Most of the birds were flying to the west and not over our field. I had my 2 birds when Sean Finke arrived after work. He jumped in my Power Hunter while I took off to locate the large concentration of birds. The group finished another pair in the decoys immediately. After driving for about 45 minutes to find the geese, I headed back to the field. As I drove up, there were 2 groups totaling about 15-20 geese cupped and coming in. I sat there thinking this would be it and they would fill out their limits. Buuuut…it didn't happen. I still haven't gotten a good story as to what DID happen, but only 2 geese fell dead. We finished out another great day of waterfowling with 9 geese. These geese have been hunted hard all season and were still finishing right on top of our Greenhead Gear decoys. The movement and realism were the key to 2 great days of late season Ohio goose hunting.
 What an awesome late season goose hunt in Southern Ohio!
 Another Late Season Goose Hunt!
Troy, Ohio, January 18, 2004
By Sean Finke, Avery® Regional Pro-Staffer
DATE: January 18, 2004
LOCATION: Southern Ohio
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 7:10 A.M./ 5:31 P.M.
WEATHER: Mostly Cloudy
TEMPERATURE: mid-20's
WIND: Northwest 10-15 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: 7 Dozen Greenhead Gear® Canada Goose Full Bodies, Avery Finisher Blinds, Avery® Power Hunter Blinds, Avery® Blind Bags, Avery Gun Cases, Avery Neck Gaiters, Avery® Gun Cases, Avery® Neck Gaiters, Avery® Decoy Gloves, Mojo's, Avery PowerBelts and Zink Duck and Goose Calls
HUNTERS: Bret Ayers, Sean Finke, Tom Luthman and Rob Muter.
JOURNAL NOTES: Tom had invited us to hunt a field that he had hunted with success the two days previous. We were preparing for a morning flight of geese that doesn't happen much this time of year here in Ohio, usually afternoon flights only. The birds started to fly out to the south of us at about 7:45 am and continued to fly until about 10:30. Around 10:30, Bret saw the first flight headed in our direction. A flock of three approached the decoys and finished to the spread, after a long retrieve all three were in hand. We had numerous flocks of geese approach the spread, but all would not finish the way we like right in our face. We managed to fool a couple flocks and were headed for the trucks at 11:20 am. The heavily pressured birds were tough to finish, but with the right decoys, blinds, calling and flagging we were able to shoot our limit for the day.
Avery® Pro-Staffers Bret Ayers and Sean Finke enjoy a January goose hunt in southern Ohio.
What a fantastic day!
Southern Ohio, January 18, 2004
By Brian Bowers, Avery® Pro-Staffer
DATE: January 18, 2004
LOCATION: Southern Ohio
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 7:55 A.M./ 5:42 P.M.
WEATHER: cloudy
TEMPERATURE: 31
WIND: West Northwest 18-20 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: GHG Fullbodies, GHG Oversize Goose Shells, Avery Motion stakes, Avery Power Hunters, Avery Blind bags, Avery Floating Gun Cases, Avery Neck Gaiters, Avery Shell Belt's, Mojo decoy, and Zink Duck and Goose Calls.
HUNTERS: Brian Bowers, Fred Zink Sr., Bill Schwarz, Mark Six
JOURNAL NOTES: After what has been an up and down few weeks of waterfowl hunting, it seemed like we had everything going our direction today. The field we were hunting held approximately 500-600 geese and well over a 1,000 ducks the day before. It was the last day of duck season so we hoped to finish on a high note. We set up all the decoys and blinds and settled in. Fred had fitted many of the GHG Fullbodies with holes for Avery Motion Stakes. With the wind blowing strong they had unbelievable movement. The birds began flying with in 15 minutes. The first bunch was dropping right in on us and then slid at the last minute, landing 60 yards behind us. Expecting that the ducks would fly first we had the Mojo out, but turned it off. We immediately hid it and waited for the next group. That turned out to be the ticket. Another bunch of 10 immediately finished right in our faces at 15 yards. We managed 6 birds out of that group. Within 5 minutes we took 2 more singles. This is when the show started. We couldn't get out of our blinds. Geese started pouring out of the roost and in to our spread. We couldn't believe how well they were finishing. These were hard hunted, late season geese. They were acting like they had never seen a decoy. We had hundreds of geese finishing on our GHG decoys. All we could do was sit there and enjoy the show. Geese were landing, walking and feeding in the decoys. There was no indication they had any idea these were not the real thing. The day finished out with 9 mallards, but unfortunately we were out of light and couldn't get a good picture with the ducks. What a fantastic day!
 (L to R) Mark Six, Fred Zink Sr. and Bill Schwarz enjoy a phenomenal day goose hunting Southern Ohio.
Memorable Hunt!
Troy, Ohio, January 3, 2004
By Sean Finke, Avery® Regional Pro-Staffer
 DATE: January 3, 2004
LOCATION: Southern Ohio
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 7:26 A.M./ 5:16 P.M.
WEATHER: Rain Showers
TEMPERATURE: mid-50's
WIND: West 10-15 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: 2 Dozen Greenhead Gear® Life-size Mallard Decoys, Avery® Power Hunter Blinds, Avery® Blind Bags, Avery® Gun Cases, Avery® Neck Gaiters, Avery® Decoy Gloves, Mojo's, Avery PowerBelts, Mojo and Zink Duck and Goose Calls
HUNTERS: Jeff House, Sean Finke and Fred Zink
JOURNAL NOTES: Freddie called me the night before and had found a field with a couple of thousand ducks using a water hole in a corn field. After getting permission from the landowner, we made plans to hunt the next morning. When we arrived at the field before shooting time the birds were already filtering into the field. We set-up our Power Hunters and put out our Greenhead Gear decoys with the ducks trying to land in the field all around us. With decoys set and the blinds brushed and hidden, we loaded our guns and started calling. The ducks worked the spread all morning and a limit of 3 mallards apiece wasn't very difficult to finish. We were looking for the elusive other ducks, but were hard to find with 99% mallards working into the spread. We did mange to bag 1 black duck, 1 drake wood duck (unusual this time of year), and a prized drake pintail (which is going on my wall). What a nice bonus being the last day of pintail season in Ohio's south zone and is probably the nicest drake I've seen during hunting season in Ohio. To our surprise, we also had a couple of opportunities at Canada geese and finished the morning with 4. We finished the morning with 9 mallards (1 accidental hen), 4 Canada Geese, 1 Black Duck, 1 Wood Duck, and 1 drake Pintail. Now that's a hunt that we will never forget.
We found a great duck hole!
Troy, Ohio, December 30, 2003
By Sean Finke, Avery® Regional Pro-Staffer
DATE: December 30, 2003
LOCATION: Southern Ohio
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 7:26 A.M./ 5:16 P.M.
WEATHER: Mostly Sunny
TEMPERATURE: mid-30's
WIND: West 10-15 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Avery® Finisher Blinds, Avery® Power Hunter Blinds, Avery® Blind Bags, Avery® Gun Cases, Avery® Neck Gaiters, Avery® Decoy Gloves, Mojo's and Zink Goose Calls.
HUNTERS: Kevin Bennet, Sean Finke, and Brad Goorman.
JOURNAL NOTES: We arrived at a different field for an afternoon duck hunt. The conditions were right for an excellent hunt. Sunny, cold and breezy. Upon entering the field, we could see signs that the water hole in the middle of the cornfield had been pounded pretty hard previously from the number of shell casings on the ground. But, we decided to give the hole a try anyway. After getting set-up, we had nice flock of 12 pintails work, but they kept going. The birds really didn't start flying until 4:15-4:30 PM, which gave us less than an hour of shooting time. The birds were very cautious and tentative about approaching the set-up. Luckily, the birds came in smaller flights and decoyed better than the larger flocks previously experienced in other fields. At 5:10 PM, we shot our last mallard drake to make a limit for the three of us, plus two beautiful black ducks! As we were walking back to the truck, the ducks were pouring into the hole until it was too dark to see them anymore. The only problem is I forgot to take a picture before it got to dark. I guess there's always next time.
Duck Hunt in southern Ohio
Troy, Ohio, December 29, 2003
By Sean Finke, Avery® Regional Pro-Staffer
DATE: December 29, 2003
LOCATION: Southern Ohio
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 7:26 A.M./ 5:16 P.M.
WEATHER: Mostly Cloudy w/ Light Rain Showers
TEMPERATURE: mid-40's
WIND: Southwest at 10-15 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Avery® Finisher Blinds, Avery® Power Hunter Blinds, Avery® Blind Bags, Avery® Gun Cases, Avery® Neck Gaiters, Avery® Decoy Gloves, Mojo's and Zink Goose Calls.
HUNTERS: Kevin Bennet, Sean Finke, Tyler Rednour, Zach Rednour and Fred Zink
JOURNAL NOTES: We were getting set-up in the same field as the previous post for an afternoon duck shoot. The Rednour's were in town from southern Illinois hunting with Zink for a couple of days and we wanted to get them a good field duck hunt experience. The field probably had around 600-700 mallards and black ducks in it when we arrived. After getting set-up about 2:00 PM, the ducks started to pour in. The birds were still not wanting to finish the way we normally like, you always get that lead bird or pair out of a flock of fifty or more to do it. These birds have had a lot of hunting pressure and seem to know all the tricks of the trade. We had to take the shots they would give us and wait for another day to finish them. By 3:30 PM, we were packing up and headed for the truck with 15 mallards and five happy hunters plus Gunar, Freddie's 3-year-old son and future hunting partner. What a day!
Duck in Ohio's South Zone
Troy, Ohio, December 23, 2003
By Sean Finke, Avery® Regional Pro-Staffer
DATE: December 23, 2003
LOCATION: Southern Ohio
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 7:26 A.M./ 5:15 P.M.
WEATHER: Mostly Cloudy w/ Rain Showers
TEMPERATURE: mid-40's
WIND: West at 10-15 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear® Canada Goose Full Bodies and Shells w/ Universal Motion Stakes, Avery® Finisher Blinds, Avery® Power Hunter Blinds, Avery® Blind Bags, Avery® Gun Cases, Avery® Neck Gaiters, Avery® Decoy Gloves and Zink Goose Calls.
HUNTERS: Brian Bowers, Kevin Bennet, Brad Goorman and Sean Finke.
JOURNAL NOTES: We were getting set-up in the field for an afternoon duck shoot. The weather had turned from cold and snow showers a couple days ago to rain and unseasonably warm, which made for wet and mudding conditions. The ducks were already flying when we got to the field and set-up. The birds were wanting in bad right from the get go, but for some reason they would not finish all the way and give us that 10-15 yard shot that we like to see. No matter what we tried would not help and had to settle for the 25-30 yard sliding shots, which we made the most of by taking our 12 mallards (3 a piece) and 2 black ducks. The shoot lasted for about two hours in a steady rain, when we decided too call it quits and let the field rest for a future shoot.
Geese in Ohio's South Zone
Troy, Ohio, December 20, 2003
By Sean Finke, Avery® Regional Pro-Staffer
DATE: December 20, 2003
LOCATION: Southern Ohio
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 7:30 A.M./ 5:06 P.M.
WEATHER: Mostly Cloudy w/ Snow Showers
TEMPERATURE: mid-20's
WIND: West at 10-15 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear® Canada Goose Full Bodies and Shells w/ Universal Motion Stakes, Avery® Power Hunter Blinds, Avery® Blind Bags, Avery® Gun Cases, Avery® Neck Gaiters, Avery® Decoy Gloves and Zink Goose Calls.
HUNTERS: Kevin Bennet, Clay Hudnall, Field Hudnall, Brad Goorman and Sean Finke.
JOURNAL NOTES: We were set-up in the field at about 8:00 AM awaiting the first flight of geese. It wasn't long before the first flock of geese arrived to the spread of oversized shells and full bodies. The pair of geese worked the spread and ended up trying to land with the sleeper shell decoys, when the shot was called. The next forty-five minutes proved to be flock after flock of geese passing over our field to go to a resting area. The morning started out with dusting of snow and as the morning progressed the Power Hunters and Finisher blinds were not hide as well as I normally like. The blinds were responsible for the geese not totally finishing to the spread, but we still ended up shooting our limit of geese for the morning.
Ducks and Geese in Ohio's South Zone
Troy, Ohio, December 17, 2003
By Sean Finke, Avery® Regional Pro-Staffer
DATE: December 17, 2003
LOCATION: Southern Ohio
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 7:30 A.M./ 5:06 P.M.
WEATHER: Snow Showers
TEMPERATURE: mid-20's
WIND: West at 10-15 mph
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear® Canada Goose Full Bodies and Shells w/ Universal Motion Stakes, Avery® Blind Bags, Avery® Gun Cases, Avery® Neck Gaiters, Avery® Decoy Gloves and Zink Goose Calls.
HUNTERS: Brian Bowers, Kevin Bennet, Clay Hudnall, Field Hudnall, and Sean Finke.
JOURNAL NOTES: We were set-up in the field at about 2:00p.m. awaiting the afternoon flight of ducks and geese. It wasn't long before the first flock of ducks arrived to the spread. Five wigeon decoyed almost perfectly and all 4 drakes and one hen stayed. The action from then on out was continuous until each of us had shot a limit of mallards, which in Ohio is 3, and each a black duck. The geese on the other hand did not cooperate as well and would not finish in our face the way we normally like, but we ended up with 8 geese and one that sported a bonus neck collar and leg band. A wonderful afternoon spent with buddies doing what we like to do, hunt waterfowl.
 Opening Day of Duck Season!
Ohio, October 25, 2003
By Fred Zink, Associate Avery® Pro-Staffer
DATE: October 25, 2003
LOCATION: Southern Ohio
SUNRISE/SUNSET: 7:50 a.m.
WEATHER: Partly Sunny
TEMPERATURE: 45 degrees
WIND: Southwest wind at 10 mph.
EQUIPMENT USED: Greenhead Gear® Life-Size Series™ Wigeons, Greenhead Gear® Life-Size Series™ Wood ducks, Greenhead Gear® Over-Size Series™ Mallards, Avery® Floating Decoy bag, Avery PowerPaks, Remington 11-87, 3 #2 Remington Nitro Mags, Zink Calls LM-1 Goose Calls.
HUNTERS: Fred Zink, Sean Finke
JOURNAL NOTES: Today was opening day of duck season in Ohio and Sean found a good concentration of puddle ducks using a flooded woods. The area was around 10-15 acres of water surface in the center of a 50-60 acre woods. We picked a smartweed bed for the location to setup for mallards at first light we were swarmed by woodies coming from every direction. As darkness gave way to a beautiful sunrise a few mallards started to move around the area and the higher the sun rose the more mallards we saw. Around 9:30 a.m. they started returning from the fields and dropped in the spread flock after flock. Mixed in these flocks of greenheads were wigeon and gadwalls. We finished the hunt with a 2 man limit of 6 greenheads, 2 drake wigeon, 2 drake gadwalls and 2 drake wood ducks.
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  Links of Interest
for Hunters:
Terraserver/Maps
Sunrise Tables
River Stage Levels
Waterfowl Surveys
State DNRs
Bird Banding
Organizations
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