By Mac Arnold
MAHFS Editor

Hopefully, an hour or so after first light this Sept. 1, I will be blasting away at a "V" formation of geese at Dairy Farmer Dave's in the Thumb section of Michigan.

I always see the early goose season as the initial hunt of fall.

As I've posted previously here and on Mac's Online Hunting Magazine -- www.macshuntingmag.com -- what I like about this gig is it gets me out of my late summer slumber of late morning sleep-ins and somewhat prepares me for the big daddy hunts that come up later, such as fall turkey and deer archery.

I have to set the alarm and ... um ... actually respond to it. Throw on the hunting garb and find the right gear without screaming blindly into a dresser and wake up the wife, which will actually get me out of the house faster but maybe not with all the necessary equipment, if you know what I mean.

Then be where I need to be in time to be set up on the ready for when the game of the month comes flying over my blind or dashing past my tree stand.

The main thing tomorrow/today is being on the north side of the central woods on the property by 8 a.m. or so. Hopefully it will be much earlier than that. And it's an easy 200-yard stroll down a two-track road, so no sweat.

I've pretty much patterned these birds from last season and this past spring's turkey season, so I've got a decent idea of what to expect.

One bad point about this spot is it's near where the turkeys like to fly down off the roost in the morning and the season for the dirty birds doesn't come in until Sept. 15.

So I'm gonna have to be careful not to blow this for that opening day albeit I will likely let the area cool down prior to Sept. 15.

Pretty much everything is in the garage ready to go except for putting the blind in the Jeep.

And I have to make sure I don't blow off the alarm by hitting the snooze button a dozen times, another thing that annoys sleeping beauty.

Here we go!