INTERLAKE MANITOBA CANADA GOOSE HUNTING (PART 1)
Interlake OutdoorsINTERLAKE RELIGION. Manitoba’s fabled interlake region located between massive lakes Manitoba and Winnipeg (12th largest in the world), an area always wanted to hunt. Fell in with the right crowd, too. Fog and no wind was the hand dealt this morning. We played it anyways. Not too far away, renowned Oak Hammock. And in the spread, savvy young guns, plenty old enough to realize how truly special their own backyard is. The dad showing me the pump shotgun his own father gave him 41 years ago, countless waterfowl since felled, proud that his son and friends are skilled waterfowlers. “They get it,” he said quietly, later saying he’d never before hunted with a 28-gauge shooter either. Genuine waterfowl culture thrives here. Proof: over a hundred folks attending last night’s pulled pork dinner at a local hockey rink, culminating an annual goose rodeo keeping youth facilities going. Long line of community-donated raffle items, great food, camaraderie, cold beer, boy and girl hunters all ages attending, the entire community and surrounding areas involved. Like it should be. First volley this morning, wood ducks popping out of purple fog into our laps, welcoming me to Mississippi Flyway headwaters i s’posed. Char Dawg’s first interlake Canada goose retrieve, banded (she don’t care). More ducks and geese tallied throughout the morning, keeping Char and Bailey busy until our growling bellies demanded fried egg platters. Often find myself wondering about ever living in places visited. Here? Definitely. If only it wasn’t so damned cold during winter. But then again hear the ice fishing’s world-class! So far away, yet feeling perfectly at home thanks to Troy Bennet, Dustin Dole and Cole Kilpatrick.
