The Hunt for "Quill Lake Geese"
Foster Bartholow for SPLIT REED
If you love goose hunting, you’ve probably heard of the elusive “Quill Lake goose”. Whether you or a hunting buddy has had the opportunity to shoot one, this rare bird will leave you in awe of their beauty, as well as your wallet a little lighter from the taxidermy bill.
A quill has several characteristics that can distinguish them from a normal Canada goose including a white bar across its chest, white primaries and other feathers in its wings, white blotches on its feet, white toenails, and a white stripe going up its neck into their face. These birds originally coined their name after being recorded in the population of geese around the Quill Lakes of Saskatchewan, Canada.
According to a post on the Minnesota Waterfowler website, Quill Lake geese are Canadian Geese that exhibit a form of leucism giving them their white characteristics. “Unlike albinism, it is caused by a reduction in all types of skin pigment, not just melanin,” says a writer on their website. “Leucism is a general term for the phenotype resulting from defects in pigment cell differentiation and/or migration from the neural crest to skin, hair, or feathers during development. This results in either the entire surface (if all pigment cells fail to develop) or patches of body surface (if only a subset are defective) having a lack of cells capable of making pigment.”
In 2019, my buddy Bret and I made a long drive and showed up at a field around 11 for an afternoon goose hunt, only to find the geese were already in the field after they had been showing up consistently around 3 pm. With permission in the field downwind as well (and wanting to make the drive worthwhile), we set out the decoys and hoped for some late groups to fly.
As luck would have it, some stragglers showed up, dropping in without hesitation. With two geese each left to shoot, the birds up north all got up after a hungry eagle dove into the flock, taking out one unfortunate duck and scattering the rest of the birds. There were birds circling all around us, some still hungry and looking for a new place to feed, and that’s when we spotted one of the nicest quills I’ve ever seen floating into the decoys. He got the hammer at 40 yards, and after that bird hit the ground, I don’t think you could pull the smile away from my face.
Fast forward to 2023, with a snowstorm coming that next day, I made the long drive to scout the same field after the landowner told me the birds were stacking up in his field in the afternoons. As the flocks started to fly, you couldn’t pull me away from the spotting scope as I watched several quills feeding in the flock. My face about melted when I stumbled upon a quill that was almost identical to the 2019 bird.
This time, I was not going to be late to the party like in 2019.
We met early AM while it was still dark, setting out the spread of 300 fully flocked SX decoys. There was only a light brush of snow when we showed up, but with 4+ inches expected that day, we gambled and threw on the snow covers hoping the flurry would start before the bird’s flight.
Sure enough, the snow came barreling. It seemed like about every 15 minutes we were up with the brushes cleaning off the snow from the decoys.
After shooting into a few flocks of ducks and geese, the first flock with a quill showed up. “Take ‘em” I said when we heard a click from Joel’s gun. Luckily, my buddy Corey was ready to back up and put the hammer down on the first quill of the day. After a quick congratulations and a few decoys brushed off, we got back into the blinds for the next flock coming our way. With a good layer of white on the ground, the birds were eating up our spread. “Quill on the right... Joel, take ‘em!”.
This time his gun didn’t click, and that quill folded. Like with the last bird, we were all up for another round of congratulations, blown away that we shot two quills on the same day with more to come.
As we were cleaning off decoys, my dad came up to me and asked, “we usually get in and out of the field as quickly as possible, but do we want to make an exception and wait for that big quill?”
I replied “well, this is the perfect storm. If it’s going to happen, today is going to be the day. I’d say yes!”
The group huddled together and came up with a new game plan. We’re passing on birds until that big quill comes in. The guys all said, “Foster gets the first shot at the big quill since he did all the work scouting and getting permission in the field.” I replied “thanks guys, but if I miss or he comes in on the opposite side of the spread, I want everyone shooting... this bird HAS to hit the ground today”.
With the new game plan, we sat in the blinds with binoculars up waiting for that quill. After an hour and a half of waiting and passing on two smaller quills, I spotted the bird of a lifetime! He was coming in with a flock of 50 birds when they took a wide swing. I thought we had lost all hope and the flock was going to land outside the decoys.
In a moment of desperation, we all lifted the flags, catching the flock’s attention and pulling them back on track to our spread. “No way, it’s actually happening,” I thought to myself as the moment of truth was nearly upon us.
He set his wings, coming in on the left side. Watching that bird float in felt like it was all in slow motion. I said “I’m taking him” as I started to pull up on the bird at 32-35 yards, hands frozen and adrenaline shooting through my body. Being on the left side, I had the perfect shooting lane to swing. The first shot hit him hard in the body/wings and he locked his wings sailing down, second shot followed up quickly, hitting him in the body again, and third shot I lead him a foot more and he dropped! I ran out to him as everyone was high-fiving back at the blinds. With bird in hand, my dad came over and gave me a huge hug as I had just won the world series. “Congrats son, I’m so proud and happy for you!” he said.
With the hit list bird down, we finished off our limit, having one more quill come through that was on the edge of being able to shoot, so we passed on him for another day. We all went to lunch after the decoys were picked up, reminiscing of the “quill hunt of a lifetime”.
That night I sat back thinking how incredibly lucky I am to have amazing friends and family that would give me the first opportunity to harvest this bird. We all have a deep passion for goose hunting, but to shoot a quill of this caliber with my dad and best friends is something I will remember and cherish forever.
The Hunt for “Quill Lake Geese”
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