# Day goose hunts near rosenburg/katy area?



## JuiceGoose (Oct 4, 2006)

I have an inlaw coming in this weekend and he had asked about getting a morning goose hunt lined up. Can anyone recommend a good guide for a morning hunt out in the west side of Houston?

Thanks


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## drathe3112 (May 30, 2008)

Third Coast - El Campo


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## Jess (May 18, 2008)

X2 on Third Coast Outfitters! They'll put you on the birds.


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## sotexhookset (Jun 4, 2011)

Or Sammy (grand poobah on here) with Butch's Guide Service out of Eagle Lake, Wharton County area. 713-306-3574 Put us in chit loads a couple weeks back.


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## Fishin' Soldier (Dec 25, 2007)

sotexhookset said:


> Or Sammy (grand poobah on here) with Butch's Guide Service out of Eagle Lake, Wharton County area. 713-306-3574


Yep I have a hunt booked on the 4th of January.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk now Free


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## 09 ag fan (Apr 19, 2013)

Going with third coast Sunday and could not be more excited.


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## CrazyAndy (Dec 13, 2011)

Thirdcoast hands down


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## JuiceGoose (Oct 4, 2006)

Ended up booking with Sammy and Butch's guide service. Sammy is a good guy for sure. Never got a call from any other service but I know most are probably booked up.
Looking forward to popping some geese.


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## JuiceGoose (Oct 4, 2006)

Had a great time with sammy and butch's guide service. Weather was a little too nice for the birds to stay low but we managed more then enough shots. I'd use them again in a heartbeat.


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## hawaiian12 (Feb 7, 2012)

Double JJ Outfitters. Great group of guys. Ask for nick if possible


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## flatsmaster14 (Mar 25, 2011)

WGOhunt.com good prices and has great fields

This was a couple weeks ago on a duck hunt.


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## Brandon Zahn (Jan 12, 2012)

**** nice hunt. How many snows was that? They decoyed to the duck decoys or just raked them after that photo?


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## AlanKulcak (Aug 24, 2007)

Looks to me like they busted the roost right after that picture, then set up the duck spread.


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## Brandon Zahn (Jan 12, 2012)

Certainly appears that way..... Not that snows are impossible to kill in great numbers.... However blue bird day... Zero ripples on water, zero goose decoys, etc... Kinda makes you wonder how many cripples flew off to die later and what Texas goose hunting will become in five to ten years if things like this continue to happen. But hey if they were killed ethically and fairly then kudos to the lucky hunters....


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## flatsmaster14 (Mar 25, 2011)

Those are decoys...... And we shot them the whole hunt. We were where they wanted to be


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## 4thbreak (May 20, 2005)

Brandon Zahn said:


> Certainly appears that way..... Not that snows are impossible to kill in great numbers.... However blue bird day... Zero ripples on water, zero goose decoys, etc... Kinda makes you wonder how many cripples flew off to die later and what Texas goose hunting will become in five to ten years if things like this continue to happen. But hey if they were killed ethically and fairly then kudos to the lucky hunters....


Yea, I'll never get that mentality of having 10k snows roosting on a flat and the need to rake them or scare them off to throw out a dozen duck decoys. It's just doesn't make sense. Your assumptions of how that hunt went down are probably 100% correct and a shame really.


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## flatsmaster14 (Mar 25, 2011)

So we set decoys on the roost and scared them off and they came back? No those birds showed up about 10 min to shooting time and continued to show up all day. It was a lot of birds but we had a lot of hunters. I didn't get the memo that you can't kill a lot of snows...... I guess I'll pass on them next time they decoy to make y'all happy... The guy asked where to kill birds and I told him, sorry if we had a good hunt. But the way y'all think it went down is wrong. Dont make the assumptions if you don't have a single *********** clue of went on. And I can assure you the 50 birds we shot didn't put a dent in the population. Y'all wanna ***** about killing birds you might wanna call the Feds and tell them to do away with conservation season... So quick to bash someone for the way you think things work. I guess I didn't see y'all in the blind cause it sounds like y'all where there. That's why I don't get on here any more.


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## sotexhookset (Jun 4, 2011)

Fk those guys flats. Nice hunt.


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## Scott (May 24, 2004)

I used to guide for years. Got a lease with Third Coast a few years ago. Personally, not a fan. Won't hunt with them again. That's just my personal experience.


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## calphil (Jan 17, 2011)

Nice hunt flats


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## saltaholic (Feb 19, 2005)

Who cares how he killed the geese.... 

Snows are very over populated destroying tons of duck habitat and crops every year. Why do you think there is no limit during the conservation season??!! 

Not to mention no one asked or cares about other people's assumptions of how the hunt took place!


Looks like a good hunt to me!


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## Category6 (Nov 21, 2007)

saltaholic said:


> Who cares how he killed the geese....
> 
> Snows are very over populated destroying tons of duck habitat and crops every year. Why do you think there is no limit during the conservation season??!!
> 
> ...


Are you saying ducks nest on the arctic tundra? If so, recheck your facts. The NFWS places a disproportionate amount of value on canada geese, and would prefer that snows went nearly extinct since hardly anyone knows how to kill them since they're so smart and long-lived, and only a handful of states even have a huntable population thus making them economically non-viable. It's all about economics for the entire US, nobody within the Feds gives 2 s h a t s about Texas or snow goose hunting, and keep believing that overpopulated BS line of mess they are trying to feed everyone and check back in 20 years and see how overpopulated they are. ALWAYS trust in what the government tells you, as they will ALWAYS be the harbingers of truth. You need to open your eyes and close your mouth once in awhile.


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## Category6 (Nov 21, 2007)

Nice hunt by the way, I doubt you raked them since there's no fun in that. I've seen fresh birds come to a roost like that after flying in overnight, and when it happens it's stupid good. It may never happen again on a hunt for you in your lifetime because it's rare, but it's crazy when it happens.


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## saltaholic (Feb 19, 2005)

Category5 said:


> Are you saying ducks nest on the arctic tundra? If so, recheck your facts. The NFWS places a disproportionate amount of value on canada geese, and would prefer that snows went nearly extinct since hardly anyone knows how to kill them since they're so smart and long-lived, and only a handful of states even have a huntable population thus making them economically non-viable. It's all about economics for the entire US, nobody within the Feds gives 2 s h a t s about Texas or snow goose hunting, and keep believing that overpopulated BS line of mess they are trying to feed everyone and check back in 20 years and see how overpopulated they are. ALWAYS trust in what the government tells you, as they will ALWAYS be the harbingers of truth. You need to open your eyes and close your mouth once in awhile.


Simmer down you don't know me...

I have been hunting geese in this area for 25+ years. A 20-30 bird shoot does not affect anything!!

Are you a snow goose protection agent or what?

It's a good hunt regardless!

If there are 10,000 geese on my pond tomorrow morning then at legal shooting time I will legally shoot them!!!

We pay for properties, license etc to kill birds!


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## Category6 (Nov 21, 2007)

I AM a self-proclaimed snow goose protection agent. Somebody needs to be, since the government and the dumb kids that buy all their BS these days certainly don't seem to care. Does anyone really need 20 per man, and unplugged guns with tape recorders? I would ask whether you remember what it was like 30 years ago but obviously you wouldn't. Sure some of them are in Arkansas, but that's not the whole story.


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## Brandon Zahn (Jan 12, 2012)

The US is overpopulated.... But Texas isn't... No question if things don't change there won't be huntable numbers anymore in Texas... Last year count was lowest in history... Expect the same numbers give or take again this year...Texas needs to wake up and do something on there own or we all might as well forget goose hunting in Texas ten years from now


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## Goose Lover (Jan 23, 2012)

I remember what it was like 30 years ago and 20 and ten and now. It has changed in a big way and not for the better.

It's not that some snows are in Arkansas. Lots and lots are in Arkansas. I have been there and it is incredible. Amazing numbers. And many more are in North Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Illinois and Kansas. 

In mid December (last week) some guys went to Kansas during the really cold snap and shot 45 snows. And it was really, really cold. 

They just are not pushing down here. Some thing happened with the Canada's many years ago and now we have seen the same thing with the Specks and Snows.


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## Category6 (Nov 21, 2007)

Here's the thing: we aren't producing rice in Texas anymore like we used to. Blame the LCRA among other things (such as ethanol in gasoline) for that. The winters have been warmer overall. Result is not as many snows pushing south. If we kill off the ones that ARE coming here, then how will any young birds ever learn how or why to come here? It's not snow goose populations in the US I care about, it's snow goose populations in Texas. The feds don't care about Texas.


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## Goose Lover (Jan 23, 2012)

The hunting pressure on snow geese is a fraction of what it was in the 1990's and before. So I doubt we are killing them off. The harvest has to be significantly lower. How many guides actually hunt geese on a consistent and regular basis? Not many. Through the 70's, 80's and 90's there were many, many guide services. Larry Gore's service probably took more geese then than all of the guide services combined today.

If conditions change, such as it snowing 3 feet in Arkansas and the temperature goes sub zero for a month they will come back. But that's kind of unlikely 

We didn't shoot down the Canadas or Specks. The limit on Canada's has been one per day for most of my life. They just quit coming here. And the same happened with the Mallards and Specklebellies.

I feel your pain in a big way but if we dropped the snow goose limit to one per day I doubt it would help much. 

I would support taking the limit back to 5 per day since there were many more light geese here when the limit was 5. Might as well try it and determine if it does help but opinion is that it wouldn't. But there is little else to try.


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## Category6 (Nov 21, 2007)

Goose Lover said:


> The hunting pressure on snow geese is a fraction of what it was in the 1990's and before. So I doubt we are killing them off. The harvest has to be significantly lower. How many guides actually hunt geese on a consistent and regular basis? Not many. Through the 70's, 80's and 90's there were many, many guide services. Larry Gore's service probably took more geese then than all of the guide services combined today.
> 
> If conditions change, such as it snowing 3 feet in Arkansas and the temperature goes sub zero for a month they will come back. But that's kind of unlikely
> 
> ...


agreed. I really just want it to be like it used to be and it likely never will, but I know there are numerous variables. I don't think killing them all is the answer though.


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## Category6 (Nov 21, 2007)

also...Larry didn't really kill that many in East Bernard / Egypt / Garwood because he didn't really care about the hunting just the money. He held a BUNCH up there but didn't kill too many. He made a lot of money though. The goose numbers there are depressing nowadays. Ducks are good though.


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## fishnfowler2 (Aug 19, 2013)

*food= birds*

I agree with the point catagory5 made. The gulf south doesn't plant/produce nearly the amount of rice it did in years past. This is not only true in Texas but in south Louisiana as well. Years ago from Lake Charles to Crowley La, it was nothing but field after field of rice. Now it is mostly sugar cane. My home town of Eunice(17 miles north of Crowley) used to get geese but in smaller numbers.We still plant rice extensively in the area and now have had a much stronger goose population for last 10 years. The birds will follow the food, bottom line.


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## Brandon Zahn (Jan 12, 2012)

That and the geese are switching their diet more heavily to grain like corn.... Midwest harvests their corn much later than us so geese have plenty of fresh corn that hasn't sprouted up there to hold them through the winter. Cover it with 3 foot of snow though and they'll move on looking for food


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## fishnfowler2 (Aug 19, 2013)

*Katy Prarie- Pretty good read*

*History of Katy Prairie[edit]*

 
Daytime on Katy Prairie Photographed by Michael Morton

Katy Prairie lies in the Texas Coastal Plain, and encompasses over a thousand square miles, (Wermund, 1994) bound by the Brazos River on the southwest, pine-hardwood forest on the north, and the city of Houston on the east. Historically, Katy Prairie was characterized as a poorly drained tall-grass prairie subject to periodic fires and containing a considerable amount of wetland areas.
Comanche and Karankawa Native Americans were the first humans to use the prairie, following the bison herds which grazed the area. The standing ponds were frequented by thousands of ducks. Up until the end of the 19th century, the prairie remained more or less untouched by Europeans. Around 1870 the first settlers began to raise corn, potatoes, and cattle on the prairie. At the turn of the century, rice farmers appeared, creating 30-acre (120,000 m2) fields harvested by hand.[2] Sportsmen began to take advantage of the hunting opportunities, hunting the indigenous ducks, Curlews, and Prairie Chickens.[3] Small-scale agriculture had only a minor impact on the region, and the prairie remained primarily a plain/prairie ecosystem. In 1914, George Finlay Simmons described the area as still "a coastal prairie region with few farms and ranches; the only timber lies in strips from a quarter to a half mile wide along Buffalo and Bray's Bayous. The remainder of the country is flat, uncultivated prairie, sprinkled with small ponds and grassy marshes".[4]
 
Katy Prairie Photographed by Greg Lavaty

With the escalation of rice farming and population in the 1930s and 1940s came an increase in hunting and birding. Ducks remained the most popular species, but hunted species included snipe, cranes, doves, quail, rails, and geese. The presence of ducks and doves increased, directly due to the habitat availability afforded by the flooded rice fields. However, as farming ate up grassland areas, upland species such as the Prairie Chicken declined drastically.[3]
Farming advancements during the 1950s and 1960s boosted rice farming to a large scale. It was at this time that the Snow Goose emerged onto the rairie. Historically, the snow goose wintered in the marshes and prairies along the coast. Vast amounts of available open-water habitat combined with waste rice created by modern farming methods created exceptionally conducive wintering grounds and thousands of geese moved inland to the new habitat.[2] Migratory birds increasingly depend upon this habitat as other areas along the Gulf Coast have diminished in size or lost to development.
Eventually, developers began to appear on the prairie. The city of Houston experienced a huge growth spurt and began spreading to the west and northwest. From 1978 to 1983, 100,000 acres (400 km2) of the prairie were converted to urban use, primarily residential, with some industrial and retail. This was coupled with a decline in rice farming, with land use for rice falling 59% in Waller County from 1980-1992.[5]
Urbanization will have consequences for the future of the prairie, as agricultural use has been consistent with its role as a wildlife habitat for nearly one hundred years. Rice farms in particular provide the wetlands necessary for migratory waterfowl to thrive, while pastures and other croplands provide essential food and cover. Encroaching development puts this function at risk.


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## oOslikOo (Jul 13, 2010)

Brandon Zahn said:


> The US is overpopulated.... But Texas isn't... No question if things don't change there won't be huntable numbers anymore in Texas... Last year count was lowest in history... Expect the same numbers give or take again this year...Texas needs to wake up and do something on there own or we all might as well forget goose hunting in Texas ten years from now


this years count will 100,000 birds higher


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## Brandon Zahn (Jan 12, 2012)

That a guess or insider info?


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## Goose Lover (Jan 23, 2012)

What would propose Texas do on their own to bring the number of geese wintering here up?


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## 4thbreak (May 20, 2005)

Brandon Zahn said:


> That a guess or insider info?


I have not seen anything official yet. Past MWI's have been conducted around Dec. 13-15. But thats heavily dependent on weather and pilot scheduling.


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## oOslikOo (Jul 13, 2010)

Brandon Zahn said:


> That a guess or insider info?


guess on what ive seen. thats assuming the East side stays as strong as the last 2 years or close to it.


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## 4thbreak (May 20, 2005)

Just got word the MWI count this year was 196K. 52% decline from last year. Again, more birds on the east side.


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## Brandon Zahn (Jan 12, 2012)

195 is in line with what I heard... Not much can be done to bring population up... But pray. Just doesn't make since to keep treating them like pests in Texas. I'd say go down to five a day... Do away with tape recorder bs and try and keep what little we have coming. The public sees how "overpopulated" they are and feel its their "duty" to exterminate them.... I know a lot of people who crawl roosts, creep fields, etc.... Trying to "save the tundra".... Change the public opinion of them in Texas at least...

After all.... What we are doing is dang sure dropped the numbers wouldn't you say?


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## Goose Lover (Jan 23, 2012)

Is that 195K plus or minus number just for the west side of Houston which are Zones and 2 and 3?

Or is that for East (Zone1) and the West side combined?

195K sounds too low for both sides combined. 

I sure hope that is just for the west side. If that is the combined number it would pretty shocking given the strong fronts we had and a good hatch. I didn't expect great numbers but I would expect it to be better than that.


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## twdjr (May 8, 2005)

That was total. 100k on the east side.

Light Geese
Zone 1 100k
Zone 2 53K
Zone 3 26K
Zone 4 800


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## Brandon Zahn (Jan 12, 2012)

The report I heard while talking to the pilots was slightly worse than last year.... As far as the hatch.. I'd have to say based on my kills and survey of flocks would be a less than average hatch.. I've killed a few young birds but not like years past. I don't claim to be a snow goose scientist.. But I've hunted them enough and studied them plenty to know what I've observed this year. I don't travel a lot but have about 40k acres of prime area to observe. I wouldn't doubt if we housed half of the snow goose population for a week or so at one time in November before they really busted up.


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## Goose Lover (Jan 23, 2012)

Based upon my observations of glassing them off of county roads and from the hunts I have made I felt the hatch was reasonably good. Early on I thought it looked tremendous but it seemed to weaken some as more birds arrived.

I would guess that meaningful amounts of white geese that were in this area in November made their way to the east. I was on and around the Anahuac NWR the first of November and it was hard to hear or see a goose of any kind but there was a lot of rice farmed in Chambers County. Almost like the old days. 


Those are some really poor counts. That's a new low since the aerial surveys started. Which is pretty awful considering how poor they have gotten since 2003.


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## Category6 (Nov 21, 2007)

If you really consider the ridiculous nature of aerial survey methodology, then you begin to realize that far more science (which is almost exactly zero) goes into gulf red snapper population estimates than ever went into goose estimates. Don't even get me started about their "scientific" evaluation of the length of time required for the tundra to recover from goose grazing. There are numerous contradictory studies to look at, but the feds only are interested in the ones that back up their agenda. I'm a wildlife & fisheries major (TAMU), so I'm not completely counter-biased here. We're about to go to 5 trout statewide for no scientific reason, and we've basically been banned from catching our endangered red snapper, but we should absolutely believe what a bunch of government lackeys tell us about snow geese? Please!


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## 4thbreak (May 20, 2005)

Goose Lover said:


> Those are some really poor counts. That's a new low since the aerial surveys started. Which is pretty awful considering how poor they have gotten since 2003.


Not to mention it was the first year they failed to spot a Canada goose.


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## Goose Lover (Jan 23, 2012)

I know that's not right.

I've seen 5 Canada's this year. 

Guess they missed them.


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## oOslikOo (Jul 13, 2010)

That's crazy. There seem to be more birds everywhere this year than last. Saw a flock of Canada's pushing 1,000 birds last week.


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## Swampstomper (Apr 19, 2010)

26K in all of zone 3 huh. I,m officially not paying any attention to the aerial survey anymore.


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## Goose Lover (Jan 23, 2012)

The flights are not scientifically conducted. And one of the biologists that has done the counts in Zone 2 and 3 for many, many years was not involved this year. And he knows where to go looking for them.

So maybe the counts are a little light. Maybe they missed 50 or 60 thousand and there was 250,000 actually out there. Who knows.

The point is however you choose to look at the numbers it's bad. Really bad.

You can drive down Highway 59 all the way to Victoria at sunrise or sunset and not a see a goose. I talked with a friend that hunts in East Bernard and he told me there was nothing for geese this past week. And this gentleman has goose hunted all of his life and knows the area well so I doubt he is missing much. Or take a drive to east of Collegeport down Oyster Lake Road. Virtually nothing for geese and that is an area that has been one of our best strongholds. At least it was until the rice stopped two years ago.

If you think about it like this it's kind of scary. Guesstimate what percentage of Canada Geese migrate to the Texas coast versus historically from their peak. If you guess 5% is what is left (and that probably a little high) and then apply that to Snow Geese. I believe we peaked at a little over a million in the TP&W aerial surveys in the late 1990's. Take 5% of 1.1 million and you get 55,000.

I hope that not applicable but it is trending that way.


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## Goose Lover (Jan 23, 2012)

If you add up TWDR's numbers it comes to 180K

Maybe there was an additional 15K in Zone 3.

Are you'll certain of the 195K number? I didn't expect much but I am still surprised it is that low.


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## chuck leaman (Jul 15, 2004)

They must have missed the cacklers because this is the first season in the last 3 that we are seeing any. They killed 10 on a hunt last week and another guide service was going out after them specifically.


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