Kevin J Legg

We hunted the Canadian side this morning and for the few birds we saw we did ok.

I'm thinking of heading down to hunt the late Western zone after the holidays. Will likely be staying with a friend on Honeoye but also may have access on Keuka and Coneseus. Also may look to hunt Oak Orchard on the big lake. With the limited number of birds I'm seeing on the SLR I'm wondering if it is worth the trip down. Perhaps winter will arrive in the next two weeks and move some birds. Any report on bird numbers would be appreciated.

Yep, they have really nice perch bait now at the 1000 Island Bait Store. May try the ducks in Canada this week before leaving for NJ.

Hit them again today and bite was a little slower but we picked up a couple bonus pike. This was my take and my buddy took home about the same number.

Mike Ringer and I went through a pound of minnows and ended up with 90 , just shy of our limit.

Finished up my Northern waterfowl season and it was a little disappointing. Although we saw a fair number of birds our take wasn't stellar this fall. Today we took a pair of mallards and a goose. We were hunting a marsh that is usually frozen this time of year. I hope we get some weather so the western NY late season and the rest of the Canada season picks up. The birds today were very hawky and have likely seen it all. With muzzle loading ending this weekend I may be doing more perch fishing from my boat this week if weather cooperates.

Hopefully late western zone and later in Canada will be better

Caught about 30 today (3.4lbs) of fillets on a beautiful morning on the river.

Hunted the lake today and saw very few ducks. Some bufflehead but few of anything else.saw one flock of broadbills, very few mallards and blacks, a couple long tails and whistlers and quite a few swans. Harvest in my garden was more fruitful!

With the nice weather I decided to put the boat in and try the perch. Kept 20 nice ones in Chippewa Bay in a few hours using minnows. Had to cull lots of shorts but it seemed like April or May out here and water temp. was over 40 degrees. Some different than last year at this time.

Drove up to Massena this morning to hunt with friends. Not many birds there either. We got 4 whistlers.

I drove along Black Lack this evening and didn't see a single duck or goose. Very few on the big lake or the Thousand Island region. A few weeks ago there were tons of geese and a fair number of ducks but I believe many have moved on, perhaps to the Finger Lakes region. Need a good freeze and some migrants moving down from Canada.

Hunted the lake and there certainly are not many ducks around. We managed a scoter, two whistlers, and a bufflehead. Very few mallards and blacks around.

The pastrami is excellent and pretty easy. I just completed my first attempt canning meat and it was also pretty easy. Good way to use older geese and tougher cuts of meat.

My wife gave me a pressure canner for early Christmas. I have been wanting to try canning goose and venison as well as salmon. Today I did 5 quarts of goose and 7 quarts of venison. It looks and smells great. Makes a very easy meal and gives me additional freezer space. Also would be an option to prevent waste if I ever have freezer issues.

I make mine using Mortons Tenderquick, pickling spices, and onion. It also comes out great. On a side note, once you make it into corned beef, you can turn it into pastrami by simply rubbing it with pepper, paprika ,and coriander and then smoking it. This is very delicious! I also just purchased a pressure canner and am going to can a bunch for something different and to take up less freezer space! Lots of good ways to use goose once you figure them out. I also use the legs and braise them or grind them to make sausage. You get about a third more meat if you use the legs than if you just breast and the leg meat is great but somewhat time consuming to get.

Nice looking greenheads. Glad some birds are around.. Now we need a freeze.

Hunted a pond this morning. Geese we shot returned in small groups, mostly singles and doubles. We did have about 500 come in and land, but decided to watch them rather than shoot. What a great sight to watch them fill in the pond. One of the hunters was a 14 year old and we let him try most of the singles. Great day with a nice bunch of guys and Bailey the wonder dog.

Thanks guys, I have a couple more interesting waterfowl hunts lined up over the next few days. One at a private club on Wolfe Island. I'll post results. Chiropractor seems to be doing some good and I had an MRI done yesterday.

Well I turned another year older today and celebrated with two good friends in layout blinds. It was a short hunt as we had our limit by 7:15. Bailey, the wonder dog. was her usual flawless self and made some great retrieves. By the time we had everything picked up and we were back at the trucks there were already about 500 birds back in the field we hunted and another big bunch across the road.

Hunted a marsh this morning with my buddy Matt. Saw many mallards and blacks but few woodies and teal. Ended up with 7 nice ducks and a goose.