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Post by Woody Williams on Feb 19, 2010 11:56:39 GMT -5
Geese — and then some 'Gazillion' crowd local lake  Courtesy Charlie Sorenson ABOVE: The number of snow geese around a lake near the Interstate 64 exit at Griffin, Ind., defies actual count. But Bish Mumford, a Griffin-area farmer, says it's more like "two or three gazillion." TOP: Snow geese move around on the ice of the private lake. An estimated 5,000 to 6,000 snow geese, along with 100 or so Canada geese, have gathered for the last several days on a private lake at the Interstate 64 exit at Griffin, Ind. Sitting on the ice edge and loafing in vast flotillas in open water, the mass defies actual count. According to Bish Mumford, a Griffin, Ind.-area farmer, the count is more like "two or three gazillion." Those numbers may be more accurate While Canada geese spilled into the protected lake some 10 years ago, only recently have snow geese appeared. A count by the Department of Natural Resources a couple of years ago indicated a site estimate of 10,000 to 12,000 snow geese. "The snows have been coming here for the last couple of years when we have these severe cold spells," said Mumford. "They like to move as far north as they can as soon as they can, so they'll leave as soon as we get a break in the weather. I expect they'll lift off in the next week." The flock likely will leave in unison, resuming an amazing migration to the high Arctic breeding grounds, the urge to move regulated by lengthening days. And when they lift off, the multitudes darken the sky, a spectacle that's a sight to behold. Snow geese regularly display white and blue morphs, plumage variations unrelated to age or gender. Assumed until about 25 years ago to be two separate species, the so-called snow goose and blue goose have now been identified by scientists as a single species. The Griffin flock, typical of most snow geese, contains a few more white morphs than blue, each dramatic in its own way — one for its brilliant all-white body and black wingtips; the other for its bluish-black body and white head and neck. The flock gathers on the water in late afternoon, remains for the night and into much of the next day, leaving about noon to forage in nearby wheat fields, and then returns to the water for the night.  Snow geese move around on the ice edge of the private lake  Courtesy Charlie Sorenson Snow Geese over the lake at Griffin, Ind. |
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Post by duff on Feb 19, 2010 12:27:48 GMT -5
I am ready, have my conservation tag ready. Who's got the goose decoys?
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Post by inwaterfowlin on Feb 19, 2010 12:51:49 GMT -5
haha i have my tag as well
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Post by fowlaholic on Feb 19, 2010 22:05:51 GMT -5
Got my tag meet you guy's in Griffith.
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Post by featherduster on Feb 20, 2010 10:54:25 GMT -5
Fowlaholic : Griffith is a long ways from Griffin.
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Post by duff on Feb 20, 2010 10:58:00 GMT -5
Fowlaholic : Griffith is a long ways from Griffin. I think it is a long way from everything ;D |
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Post by DDragon47 on Feb 20, 2010 19:31:48 GMT -5
I wish it was Griffith.
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Post by HighCotton on Feb 21, 2010 8:39:21 GMT -5
Pretty cool. Being very green here, and just getting into the sport with my more knowledgeable nephews and in-laws in nw Indiana (after decades) I have a few questions. Are these migrating flocks becoming more prevalent? Do any of you waterfowlers really take many of these snows or ross on the late season light goose? Are they primarily found down along the southern wabash flyway? Is the "light goose" season what you all are calling "conservation tag"?
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Post by teamcgo on Feb 22, 2010 17:30:53 GMT -5
Have decoys will travel!!!
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Post by Ahawkeye on Feb 24, 2010 13:25:31 GMT -5
What's even more intresting is that the owner of said pond won't let you hunt unless you are a member of the mumferd farm hunt club it says in the article that the geese are destroying their own habitat but those won't get blasted unless you got the dough. or you find them on the river and can call them in. That always frustrates me about good hunting land it's usually leased up and not even hunted because the people who have the lease don't waterfowl hunt and don't want you anywhere near it. just mt 2 cents
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Post by moose1am on Nov 22, 2011 11:43:00 GMT -5
I know Bish. His older brother is an AGR brother of mine. And Bish and I use to play Ice Hockey together at Swonder before he got married. I stopped playing a few years after I got married and lost track of him. He and I and a few other friends use to go to the Pub and have a few beers after the games. Good times. Bish is a great guy and very conscious of the environement.
I just don't get over to Griffin that much anymore. Only been to New Harmony a few times in the last 30 years.
But some day I'll get back over there and look Bish Up.
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Post by moose1am on Nov 22, 2011 12:05:31 GMT -5
Years ago I studied Pre Veternary Medicine at Purdue University and joined a Fraternity. I belong to the Delta Chapter of AGR. I don't own a farm but have been into gardening for years now and was interested in small animal care mostly. I was not brought up on a farm unless you count my Grandfather's small farm. He raised some cattle and hogs and had a small garden. His dad helped him build the barn. Anyway I found out that in order to be a Veternarian you have to go to college for four years first or get though Pre Vet for two years and get straight A's. So I switched my major to Environmental Science and Conservation of Natural Resources. I meet Guy's like the current Director of Indiana Fish and Wildlife Division, Mark Reiter, while I took some courses in Wildlife Biology and Historical Geology. I also learned a lot about farmers. We had 70 guys living in our AGR frat house back then and most all were from farms. Big Farms at that. Big farmers are businessmen and all they talk about is the price of corn and beans and livestock. I found that out right away. We have several guys in Veternary Medicine living in our house and not all of them were from farms. Those were the guys that I could talk to about Ice Hockey and Swimming and other stuff. All the farm guys talked about was farming for the most part. There were some Fish & Wildlife guys living in our house and those were the guys I hung out with most of the time. So when you talk about Bish remember that his family are businessmen first and Bish in paricular is more concerned about his bottom line than letting other's hunt on his land without payng for that priviledge. I wish my parents owned large tracts of farm land but they don't. My ancestors use to own the General Store at Santa Claus Land but they sold that property a very long time ago. My father's mom's dad use to run the General Store there and the Post Office. So they were the one's that you sent your "DEAR SANTA" letters to.  . I've got a registery of all my AGR brother's addresses and phone numbers but I never have bothered any of them to go hunting on their farms. With one exception. I took Mark Reither out hunting with me one Saturday on one of my brother's farms up by Purdue University. I called him up and got permission to go rabbit hunting on his farm one Saturday morning. Mark had invited me to his club where he and I shot our high powered rifles at targets one day. Mark remarked that my Trigger was not worth a hoot and 30 years later I found out he was right and had the trigger replaced on my Remington Model 660. That gun had a problem with the trigger and had an law suit filed about it against Remington so they had a recall and fixed my trigger for free. It's a lot better shooting gun now and much safer too. Bish is a great guy and I was not aware that they had a Mumford Hunting Club. But if I lived closer to him I'd check that out. Unfortunately these days you have to work hard to find hunting land or pay to lease a farm for that purpose. I don't do either as I am not that rich that I can afford to pay to go hunting. I 'll just stick to asking friends if I can hunt on thier land and or hunting public property like everyone else. I know that's not the best solution but it's all I have right now. One thing that should help is that IDNR has come up and got the IN legislature to pass new legislation that helps protect farmers from liablity when they allow hunters onto their farms. That should help hunters get permission to hunt a lot more farms. Take away the liabilty and it opens up a lot more hunting opportunies. Still some farmers may not want strangers on their properties. From what I heard a lot of disrespectful people have opened gates while hunting on farm property in the past and allowed the livestock to escape. Or the hunters didn't respect the land or animals on the farms and caused other problems like leaving trash on the property. Would you want someone to come to your house and make themselves at home and mess up your house or yard? Probably not. I was lucky when I grew up as I had a farm right behind my parents house and then there was this big woods behind the house as well. I was able to hunt the wood and fields behind the house for years until it was sold and developed into a subdivsion. Now there is a lane that runs back into the middle of the woods and a home was build there. And the farm land behind the house is full of houses now. Before that I could shoot a shotgun out in my back yard and it was more than a mile to the next road or house behind the property. Those were the good old days and I miss them dearly. What's even more intresting is that the owner of said pond won't let you hunt unless you are a member of the mumferd farm hunt club it says in the article that the geese are destroying their own habitat but those won't get blasted unless you got the dough. or you find them on the river and can call them in. That always frustrates me about good hunting land it's usually leased up and not even hunted because the people who have the lease don't waterfowl hunt and don't want you anywhere near it. just mt 2 cents |
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Post by Ahawkeye on Nov 22, 2011 19:04:46 GMT -5
Years ago I studied Pre Veternary Medicine at Purdue University and joined a Fraternity. I belong to the Delta Chapter of AGR. I don't own a farm but have been into gardening for years now and was interested in small animal care mostly. I was not brought up on a farm unless you count my Grandfather's small farm. He raised some cattle and hogs and had a small garden. His dad helped him build the barn. Anyway I found out that in order to be a Veternarian you have to go to college for four years first or get though Pre Vet for two years and get straight A's. So I switched my major to Environmental Science and Conservation of Natural Resources. I meet Guy's like the current Director of Indiana Fish and Wildlife Division, Mark Reiter, while I took some courses in Wildlife Biology and Historical Geology. I also learned a lot about farmers. We had 70 guys living in our AGR frat house back then and most all were from farms. Big Farms at that. Big farmers are businessmen and all they talk about is the price of corn and beans and livestock. I found that out right away. We have several guys in Veternary Medicine living in our house and not all of them were from farms. Those were the guys that I could talk to about Ice Hockey and Swimming and other stuff. All the farm guys talked about was farming for the most part. There were some Fish & Wildlife guys living in our house and those were the guys I hung out with most of the time. So when you talk about Bish remember that his family are businessmen first and Bish in paricular is more concerned about his bottom line than letting other's hunt on his land without payng for that priviledge. I wish my parents owned large tracts of farm land but they don't. My ancestors use to own the General Store at Santa Claus Land but they sold that property a very long time ago. My father's mom's dad use to run the General Store there and the Post Office. So they were the one's that you sent your "DEAR SANTA" letters to. . I've got a registery of all my AGR brother's addresses and phone numbers but I never have bothered any of them to go hunting on their farms. With one exception. I took Mark Reither out hunting with me one Saturday on one of my brother's farms up by Purdue University. I called him up and got permission to go rabbit hunting on his farm one Saturday morning. Mark had invited me to his club where he and I shot our high powered rifles at targets one day. Mark remarked that my Trigger was not worth a hoot and 30 years later I found out he was right and had the trigger replaced on my Remington Model 660. That gun had a problem with the trigger and had an law suit filed about it against Remington so they had a recall and fixed my trigger for free. It's a lot better shooting gun now and much safer too. Bish is a great guy and I was not aware that they had a Mumford Hunting Club. But if I lived closer to him I'd check that out. Unfortunately these days you have to work hard to find hunting land or pay to lease a farm for that purpose. I don't do either as I am not that rich that I can afford to pay to go hunting. I 'll just stick to asking friends if I can hunt on thier land and or hunting public property like everyone else. I know that's not the best solution but it's all I have right now. One thing that should help is that IDNR has come up and got the IN legislature to pass new legislation that helps protect farmers from liablity when they allow hunters onto their farms. That should help hunters get permission to hunt a lot more farms. Take away the liabilty and it opens up a lot more hunting opportunies. Still some farmers may not want strangers on their properties. From what I heard a lot of disrespectful people have opened gates while hunting on farm property in the past and allowed the livestock to escape. Or the hunters didn't respect the land or animals on the farms and caused other problems like leaving trash on the property. Would you want someone to come to your house and make themselves at home and mess up your house or yard? Probably not. I was lucky when I grew up as I had a farm right behind my parents house and then there was this big woods behind the house as well. I was able to hunt the wood and fields behind the house for years until it was sold and developed into a subdivsion. Now there is a lane that runs back into the middle of the woods and a home was build there. And the farm land behind the house is full of houses now. Before that I could shoot a shotgun out in my back yard and it was more than a mile to the next road or house behind the property. Those were the good old days and I miss them dearly. What's even more intresting is that the owner of said pond won't let you hunt unless you are a member of the mumferd farm hunt club it says in the article that the geese are destroying their own habitat but those won't get blasted unless you got the dough. or you find them on the river and can call them in. That always frustrates me about good hunting land it's usually leased up and not even hunted because the people who have the lease don't waterfowl hunt and don't want you anywhere near it. just mt 2 cents Funny this came up again I was just talking to someone about the Mumford property today, I believe leasing is BAD for hunting all it does is take land away from the middle classed hard working American I still feel that Mumford should open things up a bit, I even hear today that they may close the hunt club all together and not allow hunting at all. I'm not about coming into some ones yard, home or field and messing things up infact I ALWAYS pick up a bit when I find trash or old fallen trees in the fields. The days of knocking on one's door to ask permision to hunt are fading quickly because the highest bidder wins. Case in point. "Bish" may be a hell of a guy but he's still keeping a whole lot of ground to a few with a whole lot of money. FACT. |
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Post by onewhoknows on Nov 22, 2011 21:12:22 GMT -5
Bish isn't the owner of the gravel pit shown in the icture. The article never says that he is the owner. Besides, that article is probably 2 years old
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