Christmas was two days ago as I write this column. It is a very cold morning with a heavy white frost. That reminds me of a goose hunt a number of years ago during the Christmas holidays. My son Matthew was at Texas Tech University at the time.

The previous summer, we attended the annual Hunter's Extravaganza in San Antonio. While visiting the various exhibits, we talked to a guide with Blackfoot Guide Service out of Lubbock, and we decided to book a two-day goose hunt for just before Christmas.

Unknown to most people, the farming area around Lubbock and the South Plains has become a prime waterfowl hunting area. It is odd that the dry, dusty plains are a haven for geese, ducks and sandhill cranes.

The people at Blackfoot outfitters said it was the best hunting secret in the country.

A day before the hunt, I traveled to Lubbock and spent the night in my son's apartment. On the first day of the hunt, we awoke about 5 a.m. and met our guide, Brian, in the parking lot. I can't recall his last name, but he was a courteous young man who was very helpful, and he was an excellent guide.

We drove east for about 10 miles to a harvested peanut field. On the radio, a local weatherman said the temperature was 16 degrees. The three of us then put out about 100 goose decoys in a semi-circular pattern facing east.

Brian dug three long pits in the ground, and we lay down in the them. Then we covered up with a camo blanket and face net, and placed a decoy on our chest and waited for the sun to come up.

Even though we wearing insulated coveralls, wool socks, gloves and caps, we got colder and colder, until the first flight of geese appeared, and we forgot about the cold.

Our guide began to call the geese and waved a goose flag up and down. The geese responded and came to the call. Then we heard what all waterfowl hunters want to hear: "Take 'em!" Brian said.

We threw off the decoys and blankets, sat up and began to fire. To our surprise, we dropped several birds.

Matthew was shooting a Remington semi-auto shotgun, and I was using a Mossberg pump. Both were 12 gauges, and we shot three-inch Magnum shells with BB steel shot.

In several hours, we had killed our limit of five birds each. We killed both lesser and greater Canada geese. I dropped one large Canada goose that weighed over 15 pounds and seemed as big as a turkey.

Later, I had the bird mounted, and he hangs now in my storage shed.

The next day, we set up in a grain field west of the city and, like the first day, we quickly took our limit of birds. Brian was a master at calling birds.

We also downed several sandhill cranes.

After we got our limit, Brian continued to call, and as we lay on the ground looking upward thousands of geese were flying around and honking.

The sky was black with geese. It was one of the most amazing sights in nature I have ever witnessed.

We had a wonderful time and brought home several packages of goose meat. I tried various ways to prepare the meat, but no matter what I did I could not eat it. My dogs, however, loved it.

Even though it was a great hunting experience, I have not gone on another goose hunt, as I do not like to kill anything I cannot eat.

Maybe I just did not find the right recipe.

If you would like a unique experience, consider a goose hunt on the South Plains of Texas. Blackfoot Guide Service has a website where hunts can be booked.

The goose season on the High Plains usually runs from November through January.

Why are there so many geese that winter around Lubbock? There is an adequate food supply of grains, and there are a number of playa lakes where the geese roost at night.

Happy New Year's, and enjoy the outdoors this year.

Former Soil Conservation Service employee and longtime writer Mat Taylor offers his outdoors column for Dispatch Record readers. He can be contacted at (254) 518-2262 or via email at mntaylor@agristar.net.