Outfitter Review On Black Goose Outfitters

OUTFITTER REVIEW ON

Black Goose Outfitters

Part 1: THE HUNT

Canada Goose Hunting The Sandhills-Nebraska Style With Black Goose Outfitters
by dan wennerlind

Driving through the Sandhills of north central Nebraska on a warm December day was about as beautiful, and desolate as a place you’re going to find in all of the country. In fact after about two hours of nothing but a couple small “ghost towns” along the way, I was starting to wonder is there really a chance I am going to even see a Canada goose on this trip let alone shoot one.

At around sunset, we pulled into the Black Goose Outfitters camp located in north central Nebraska and I saw my first flock of Giant Honkers overhead. Then another, and another… until I was more than satisfied that we were in the right spot.

We met outfitter Larry Frimann, owner of Black Goose Outfitters and his head guide Mike Meyers at the BGO Lodge and got settled into our rooms and got comfortable in the lounge area, which was most rewarding after our long trip, before they gave us the scoop for the next day’s hunt. Although the recent cold snap that hit the entire upper Midwest over the past couple weeks had frozen up most of their prime duck hunting lakes, the Canada goose numbers continued to build on Larry’s 5 “Private Refuges” located in the immediate area.

After getting to know Larry’s overall operation a little better, I learned that he grew up in the area and has ties will all of the major land owners in the area and has set up a little monopoly if you will, for his goose hunting operation. In fact Larry is so tight with his landowners that he has 5 designated roosting sites for the birds, that stay open year round. Larry can and does leave these important roost sites untouched for the entire season to ensure a “First Class” Canada goose hunt from the start of the season in November, all the way through the end of the season in January. And to top it off, having the ability to harvest a limit of 5 big honkers per day in Nebraska was an added bonus!

After Larry clued myself and my hunting and UWC partner Brandon Crowley in on the Canada goose hunting set up, the conversation quickly turned to spring snow goose hunting. As soon as we started talking “Snow Geese” Larry’s head guide Mike’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree!

Come to find, Larry has an equally unbelievable set up in SE Nebraska where they hunt the migrating spring snow geese in February and March each year. In fact, Larry runs what sounds like one of the most impressive water set ups for spring geese that I have heard of. He floods a 5 acre parcel of agricultural land every spring and sets a spread of the 600 new Avery full body snow goose decoys on the back side of his pit, with about 6 – 12 inches of water across the flooded parcel, and then puts out 500 Avery snow goose floater decoys in front of the pit in knee deep water. Larry said he is located about 90 miles from the Squaw Creek NWR right in the middle of the migration path north and they are VERY successful all season long pulling in large flocks of migrating snow geese.

A Quick Peak At Larry’s Unbelievable Spring Water Spread In SE Nebraska

After a long evening of talking goose hunting with Larry, Mike and the rest of the hunters in camp that evening it was off to bed at the Black Goose Lodge- which was a very comfortable and relaxing set up. My pup Brandy was even welcomed into my room, so she didn’t have to fend off the cold December night temps in the truck, which was an added bonus.

The next morning we were up bright and early as the 5:00am alarm went off. After a quick breakfast, we all piled into two trucks and made our way to the field. I would come to find Larry has his own style of hunting these birds, that is very different than I had experienced before. Larry’s spread of over 100 full body Big Foot goose decoys was not unusual, but his blind- a handmade portable hay bale blind that fits 5 hunters comfortably with room for the guide as well was unique. This seemed to fit in well today as we were hunting a large hay field that Larry said the birds had been using as a loafing field over the past week consistently. We soon found out that with the full moon, the birds were on the move early and with full bellies already they were headed our way right off the bat.

Larry new exactly where the first batch of birds were coming from. Within an hour of getting set up and situated in the blind, we were covered in geese! Not just one or two flocks, more like 5 or 10 flocks. It was very clear these birds had not been hunted much. We had singles and doubles landing within yards of the bale blind, as we patiently waited for the big flock to swing in front of the blind giving all 5 hunters a clean shot.

Finally we couldn’t take it anymore and the shot was called. Guns were blaring and geese were falling! We quickly covered back up and didn’t skip a beat as more geese kept pouring out from the north east. It wasn’t another 5 minutes then we has a flock of 25 birds actually land about 30 yards to the right side of the blind, which drew even more birds over to us. The shot was called again and more geese hit the ground. Talk about a thrill! I was very happy I had brought as pair of ear plugs along for this hunt as guys were shooting in every directing- the geese were all over us.

For the next 2 ½ hours we had geese coming from three different directions, all to a loafing hay field. It was clear Larry had done his homework on this hunt. By the time the smoke cleared and the geese started heading back to the roosts around 10:30am we had a pile of geese on the ground.

For the first time we had a few minutes to relax and Larry broke out the frying pan and cooked us all a HUGE breakfast burrito with fresh eggs and bacon. I watched in amazement as Larry crack 2 dozen eggs and added over a pound of bacon into his huge frying pan. My gosh did that hit the spot when it was done!

While we ate I had to ask Larry what he did to be able to keep the hunting this consistent all season long. I would have thought that with the goose hunting being this good, they would get smart quick. Larry said he has sole permission to hunt the entire area and with 5 different roost sites in the area holding over 20,000 Canada geese all winter, he is careful to only hunt each area once a week.

In fact Larry stated that this isn’t even his full time job. He simply runs his guide service as a part timer gig since he loves the sport so much and doesn’t want to get burned out. He only guides for geese in the fall 3 days a week. But with all of the effort and equipment Larry has tied up in his operation you could never tell. In fact Larry said he will let the geese sit in a field for up to 2 weeks sometimes before hunting it so his clients are assured to be covered up with birds during the entire hunt!

HuntTheNorth’s Dan Wennerlind With Outfitter Larry Frimann Of Black Goose Outfitters

That evening Larry took me out on a scouting mission to showcase the area. Larry wasn’t kidding, he had geese all over the place. And would normally have very good numbers of ducks as well on his permanent lake set ups if they hadn’t froze over the week before. Larry can usually offer an unbelievable duck and goose combo hunt under normal circumstances.

The next morning, we split up into 2 groups. Each hunting a different field from the day before. Today we were hunting a harvested corn field with goose crap and feathers everywhere. The hunt started off very similar to the previous day with birds coming from several directions. We had a couple singles land in the spread right away and our partner for the day, Jim made quick work of those for us.

Then the action started to heat up with geese in all directions. If there was a downfall to the hunt it was that the blinds were a little hard to see out of and with geese circling in all directions, sometimes it was hard to tell when to call the shot. But we did our best, and ended up with another pile of geese by the end of the hunt. The birds stopped flying around the same time as they did the day before and by 10:30 we were out picking up crippled geese and taking photos again with smiles from ear to ear. Mike had showed us another fantastic day in the goose blind!

After the hunt, we met Larry and the other group back at camp and shared some war stories while we got packed up and ready to head back to civilization. What a trip, I couldn’t thank Larry enough for the great hospitality and incredible Canada goose hunting. When he offered to have us come down and check out his spring operation in a couple months Brandon and I both jumped all over it. Until then….

Part 2: THE REVIEW

OUTFITTER KNOWLEDGE / PERSONALITY Score 5 / 5

We really like the fact that Larry guides stricktly part time, meaning Larry only guides 3 days a week Thus, Larry is just as enthusiastic the first day of the season as the last day and it also gives the birds a chance to rest 4 days out of the week without being shot at. Larry has been guiding goose hunters successfully in this area for over 15 years and does an amazing job. His attention to scouting and resting the fields he has allows him to provide a First Class hunt every week throughout the season 5 / 5 for sure!

QUALITY OF EQUIPMENT USED Score 4 / 5

Larry runs a standard spread of 10 – 12 dozen decoys with a mixture of full body Big Foot Canada goose decoys and several dozen shell decoys. This was more than enough decoys and the birds responded well to Larry’s spread. The big X factor that Larry brings to the table though is his custom built hay bale blinds that comfortably seat up to 5 shooters. Larry has been using these blinds successfully since he was a kid. They are mobile, so he can move fields daily as needed and it allows Larry to hunt larger groups of hunters and never be seen by the birds. The only downfall we saw to this set up was that it was tough for the hunters to see the incoming birds before the shot was called and ear plugs were a must! We scored Larry a 4 / 5.

OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE GAME Score 5 / 5

The opportunity to harvest Canada geese on both day’s hunts was incredible. The fact that Larry has 5 private roosts sites that no one has access to, that hold up to 20,000 Canada geese throughout the season and he is the ONLY one hunting them is AMAZING! Larry has the ability to rest fields full of geese for up to 2 weeks ensuring they are going to show up on time, every time. 5 / 5 for sure!

QUALITY OF MEALS AND LODGING Score 4 / 5

We really liked the fact that Larry offers a one nights stay with every daily hunt package. This aspect of the hunt, although not Five Star Lodging by any means, really made a difference in the overall enjoyment of the trip for us. We all stayed under one roof and had access to full kitchen facilities and were also just minutes away from the field we were hunting the next day. The ability to bring the dogs inside and all of our gear was an added bonus and with a big screen tv and comfortable living room arrangement everyone was happy! Although meals are not included, Larry does provide an outstanding hot field breakfast burrito for his hunters and we did have access to a full kitchen set up at the camp. 4 / 5

HUNT PACKAGES AND ADDITONAL FEES Score 5 / 5

Larry’s standard package is $300 per hunter, per day with a one night’s stay at his lodging establishment included. It is also standard for Larry to cook up a hot and fresh breakfast burrito in the blind every morning that really hits the spot. With the caliber of hunting that Larry has to offer and the fact that a standard hotel room is at least $100 per night now a days, we felt that Larry’s daily hunt package was very reasonable and well worth the money. 5 / 5!

OVERALL QUALITY OF THE TRIP Score 5 / 5

Overall we felt the trip was absolute success! Both Larry and his head guide Mike were very friendly, knowledgeable and hard working. It was very evident that a lot of hard work went into the hunt well before we arrived and the results showed that. In addition the area where Larry guides is truly a mecca for Canada geese all season, and ducks according to Larry earlier in the season. We felt it was an unbelievable hunt all the way around! 5 / 5!

Overall Black Goose Outfitters Scored 28 Out Of 30 Giving Them An “A” Rating. We Would Not Hesitate To Refer Larry For His Spectacular Nebraska Canada Goose Hunting Adventures! Final Score 28 / 30

Part 3: Booking Information

Contact Information For: Black Goose Outfitters

Outfitter: Larry Frimann
Phone: 1.888. 373.0008
Email: bgo@huntthenorth.com
Website: blackgooseoutfiitters.com

Additional Hunts Offered

In addition to Larry’s World Class Nebraska Canada Goose Hunts. He also offers:

  • Nebraska Fall Duck Hunts
  • Nebraska Spring Snow Goose Hunts
  • Nebraska Spring Turkey Hunts

For more information on any of these hunts be sure to give Larry a call ASAP as many of his hunts are pre booked each year from his repeat customers.