Iowa Field Goose Hunt

January 9th, 2022

Mentor, Jacob Heumphreus has been hunting since he could walk. He enjoys nothing more than getting new folks out hunting. He has been a Waterfowl Guide for 11 years and he loves being a part of getting others goose hunting! That is why he hosted and mentored a youth goose hunt for athletes from the Iowa City Trap Club and the Cedar Valley Shot Gunners. It was awesome to have two different teams getting along and having a great time! A big part of our initiative to bridge the gap between target shooting and hunting is to build the social support aspect for the young hunters. We have found that it is a great team building activity!

Kaeden is part of the Iowa City Trap Club. Kaeden is not new to the sport of hunting, but does not get out as much as he would like. One of the best parts of this hunt is that it took place not too far out of the city limits which made it easy for Kaeden to get to.

We setup the decoy spread early and all went to McDonalds for lunch to wait out some of the cold. They guys set back out to brave the cold and we invited Kaeden's dad to join in on the goose hunt. Program Coordinator, Steph Lane, gave up her last spot in the blind. Steph stated, “With Kaeden's dad in town I thought it would be awesome to let him hunt with his son. Jacob had extra clothes and we got him set!” Kaeden and his dad plan on joining Jacob for a Snow goose hunt in the near future. Having two different teams committed to this hunt in the bitter cold was awesome to see as a mentor. By the end of it everyone had a giant smile on their face and were pretty proud of sticking it out! And I sure was proud too !

Kaeden said that, “The most memorable part of the hunt was the company.” Kaeden was able to ask his mentor, Jacob a lot about the decoy spread and strategy. They had a great plan as they were able to knock down 12 geese despite the -15 wind chill!

Days like these are what’s it’s all about, friends!