NO NEED FOR WILD GOOSE CHASE
Therewere Th plenty l of birds— and some good eating later
Through a slit in the sliding wood door of the pit blind, I watched dozens of Canada geese flying high in ragged V’s. Guide Jeff
Norris, sitting next to me, honked seriously on his goose call. I wondered why until I saw low- flying geese coming out to feed.
Last Wednesday was a good day to be out. For a couple of hours, geese coming out to feed in the fields of the Fox River Valley crossed under high- flying migrators just arriving.
‘‘ Lots of birds coming in this morning,’’ Norris said. ‘‘ Welcome, guys. The river is right over here. Corn is all over.’’
All of the above is why Norris has had nearly a quarter- century run with his Fox Valley Guide Service ( comekillgeese.com) in the western suburbs.
In my first goose hunt of the fall, I rode with Frank Lagodny, the just- retired Chicago Public Schools shop teacher I met through his Prosser Wood Duck Ecology Club. Mike Wett made four in the pit.
It was cold enough that frost dusted the decoys, but it melted quickly under a sun bright enough that Norris warned not to shoot into it.
If I could shoot, we would have been done within an hour. As it was, the birds were done flying before I bagged my second. Among the usual pit banter, Norris said they had shot geese banded in Geneva, Ontario and Manitoba so far this season.
The goodness extended from the sassy companionship to an introduction to Ike, Norris’ hard- working 1 ½ - yearold yellow Lab. Lots of sandhill cranes were moving, too. And specklebelly geese flew near us. Norris said it was the third year in a row for specks.
‘‘ Best- tasting goose, easily,’’ Norris said.
I don’t know about that, but the four of us certainly had food on our minds.
Back at the hunting shed, we breasted- out our geese. I asked whether anyone would mind if I pulled the hearts ( delicacies inmy mind) from the chest cavities of the carcasses. Another regular guest saves goose livers for his wife.
Norris served Italian goose sandwiches with homemade giardiniera somebody had left at the shed. It was good, hearty food for a crisp morning hunt.
Lagodny and Norris wandered into a sausage discussion. Many of Norris’ customers use Wurst Kitchen, a venerable sausage maker in Aurora. I freeze any goose breasts I don’t eat right away, then take them at the end of the season to Jim Carmical of Jim’s Deer Processing in St. Anne. He makes them into goose pastrami.
As we left, Norris bestowed on me a small jar of jalapenos and a quart of homemade dill pickles.
My personal treat came Thursday. I sautéed goose hearts, onions, mushrooms and garlic, then stirred in tortellini. It felt like I had extended the hunt.
Hunting
Duck hunting in the north zone, which ends Tuesday, might finish before ice- up. . . . I will post harvest numbers for firearm deer online ( chicago. suntimes. com/ section/ outdoors) when the secondseason figures become available.
Stray cast
Believing Bud Selig deserves induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame is as plausible as believing Louie Spray caught the world- record muskie.