Beat The Migration By Heading To Their Home—Canada

While everyone was setting up their bows and preparing for the adventures of fall big-game hunting we teamed up with the folks at Sure-Shot Game Calls and embarked on a journey which led us to Saskatchewan, Canada for the 2014 Waterfowl Media Conference.

Before heading north and letting the HEVI-shot fly, I thought it be best to freshen up the wing-shooting skills with a quick early season dove hunt.

As the early morning doves take up out of the freshly harvested corn field, I dreamt of my adventure ahead, and the new friends I would make. And, of course, the flocks of birds as they begin the early migration in the northwest region of Saskatchewan.

Passport—Check! Boarding Pass—Check!

Dropping into Saskatoon, the butterflies began migrations to my stomach as I peered out the window onto what appeared to be great looking hunting grounds—water, food and cold temperatures to the north.

After arriving at the Northway Outfitters LTD. and meeting the fellow hunters and industry icons like “Cowboy,” the inventor of the first double reed duck call, I literally stumbled across this partial whitetail antler. Pretty impressive!

Snacks are packed, the Yeti filled with ice, calls are ready and the Berettas are cleaned. All that’s left—throw on Under-Armor and hop in the Nissans and head to our hunting grounds.

The guide arrives with a stock trailer and for what, I asked myself. Well…40 dozen decoys, that’s what.

As the morning sun begins to steal the horizon, the air begins to fill with sounds like a rock concert of migrants awaiting the escalations from their nightly roost and onto feeding—we patiently wait for that magical time; legal light.

As the swarms of birds travel overhead and some while some fall around me, I cannot help myself from taking the obligatory selfie.

The first morning proved rewarding, if you can't tell.

The rest of us were just as happy to be knelt above a beautiful Canadian harvest.

As the morning temperatures rose, it was time to load up the Yeti Hopper’s into the tested Nissans and make the two hour trip back to the lodge.

The new Beretta A400 did a great job keeping us warm as hours became minutes and minutes became the final seconds of this adventure. Truly one we will never forget especially the times spent with new friends and legends of our sport. Many times we always get caught up in the kill and the pursuit, but we must all remind ourselves with any adventure we make or take that we must never look past the simplicities that make hunting so great.