By Collin Dalley
We arrived Monday evening in Ft. Collins, Colorado to start our three day hunt with Stillwater Outfitters. Stillwater Outfitters has been around for 26 years, but Travis Teinninger and Chris Guccione have been hunting geese their whole lives. They have a total of 32 private areas throughout the Ft. Collins and Denver area, to ensure that you have plenty of opportunities of filling your daily limits.
Chris Guccione hurriedly sets up the decoys as the first groups of birds start to dot the morning skies.
I had the pleasure of joining fellow Pro-Staffers Mike Deming, Kent Danjanovich and Kevin Orton on a trip in early December to see just what all of the talk about goose hunting in the Colorado flyways was all about.
The first day was started by driving 15 minutes from our hotel to meet up with the crew from Stillwater for some breakfast. Upon arrival Travis and Chris, the owners of Stillwater Outfitters, were there to greet us. We sat down and had a quick bite to eat before the hunt started. After breakfast, we followed our guides to our hunting location, which was conveniently located just outside the city limits. We would be hunting in a corn field today.
Chris and Travis filled us in on what was in store for our morning hunt. Their trailer was packed with decoys and as the anticipation grew, we got things rolling by setting the decoys up in that magical position to hopefully entice some geese within shooting range. As we were busy setting up the decoys, I was greeted by more help: Two labs named Remington & Gage. Throughout our trip we really got to see these dogs do what they love. If only I had known what was in store for us, I would have started hunting geese a long time ago. Once things were set up in the field, Chris and Travis went through a few safety points and made sure we understood the importance of staying safe and having fun while hunting. We would be hunting out of pits today, which were about five feet deep and 15 feet wide with individual openings for each person, about 3’x 3’. We each had a metal framed cover made out of burlap and camouflage to help conceal us from our prey.
Stillwater Outfitters offers great "Father and Son" opportunities for a perfect day in the field.
As the sun started to rise our forecasted sunny skies were soon filled with geese and before I knew it Chris yelled out, “Get down and cover. Here comes a group”. This group was a giant flock of geese that looked more like a black cloud from afar, but as it got closer our cool, crisp morning was filled with that infamous “Honking” sound from above. I looked around trying to get a peek outside to see how close they were. I could hear them getting closer and closer as our guides started their calling sequence. I took a deep breath and looked around at everyone sitting there anticipating the first arrival. However, I wasn’t sure who was more excited, us or the dogs. This was an all too familiar situation for them.
Again, I started looking to the sky and spotted what looked like small planes coming in for a landing, with their wings spread out, coasting down in elevation. They were going to land right where Chris and Travis had anticipated. I kept looking to Chris, waiting for the go ahead to take them; what felt like an eternity was a mere couple of seconds. Then, I heard it! Okay, take ‘em! As fast as we could stand with what was supposed to be an effortless process of removing the cover, turned into my cover being thrown an extra two feet due to excitement. As I looked up, the birds were 15 yards in front of us and what we’ve been waiting for began. BOOM! BOOM! I managed to get a couple of shots off before the sharpshooters around me had taken down everything in range. The excitement was over, but just for a little while.
As the feathers cleared, the dogs were anxiously waiting their chance to join the action and start retrieving the birds. The dogs made quick work, retrieving the five birds as more geese were flying over our heads and more soon to arrive from the north. The dogs made their way back into the pits as we hurried to conceal ourselves, anxiously awaiting more birds.
Stillwater Outfitters use pit blinds exclusively and as you can see, with great success.
Before we knew it, Chris and Travis were hailing sounds of geese again, with an occasional goose silhouette flag raised to get the birds’ attention, locked on the social paradise that we had created with our decoys.
The birds circled around and around, managing to get closer with every pass until finally they made the commitment to set their wings and land. This time it looked like they were going to land east, but at the last second they changed to the southwest. Each one of us readied ourselves as to attempt to be the first one out of the box. I placed my hand carefully on the gun going through the steps to be the fastest in my mind; slide the lid off or better yet just throw it like the first time, pull up your gun, take the safety off and shoot. As I was running through the scenario of the first round I heard it, “Ok take ‘em!” We all stood up and started shooting. With only three birds that made it into range we managed to get them all. What a day it was shaping up to be and to think it was only the first day of three.
Throughout the morning we had multiple geese all around us. Some would fly by and look interested, but kept moving on while other flocks would not even budge out of the notorious flying V formation, but if every flock would come in all the time, it wouldn’t be fun. That’s why it’s hunting. It’s the excitement, the uncertainty, the challenge that makes hunting so rewarding and fun, not to mention having great company.
It was still early in the morning and each hunter had almost filled his limit as we had a few singles fly into range that were taken. A couple of us only needed one or two birds each to be done for the day, as more and more birds flew in, we all filled our limits for a great day of urban goose hunting.
The next two days were nothing short of pure excitement as we were constantly bombarded with geese floating into gun range, all the while just waiting for those special words… Ok, take ‘em!
Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned bird hunter when it comes to hunting geese, you’re missing out if you don’t try the Stillwater Outfitters experience. I can see why they have so many repeat customers with no shortage of geese, laughs and camaraderie between everyone. It was truly an amazing time.
The easy access for this hunt was a huge convenience. The Denver and Ft. Collins area both have airport’s with affordable flights for those of you that are not within driving distance and everything we hunted was within a quick drive from there.
The "Boys" start the decoy set as the sun starts to rise in the east.
Colorado really is the best kept secret for goose hunting in the west with no shortage of birds and very affordable license fees for people living outside Colorado. This is a must-do trip for hunters of all ages. So, give them a call today to experience Stillwater Outfitters and give your bird hunting stills a true test. And I promise that by the end of your trip, you will be booking another hunt and another and another.
The Sportsman’s News proudly welcomes Stillwater Outfitters as our newest Platinum a Approved Outfitter. Check them out on the web at www.stillwateroutfitters.net and give them a call at 303-659-8665.
Join the forum discussion on this post
