A Fishing Guide’s Waterfowling Side Gig
The following appears in the November issue of California Sportsman:
By Mark Fong
You might ask the question, “What does a fishing guide do in the offseason?”
The answer is that he goes hunting, of course. In the case of Dakota Townley, he does more than simply hunt; he leads guided goose hunts for Blosser Outfitters.
Townley is a member of the four-man guide team employed by Blosser Outfitters. Tomas Blosser, the principal operator, is headquartered in the Sacramento Valley community of Willows. Blosser has been organizing guided goose hunts for over 15 years. He performs all of the bookings and works closely with local landowners to secure and prepare the hunt properties. His specialty is specklebelly and snow geese hunts.
WHERE THEY HUNT
“We hunt from five main locations,” says Townley, who runs his own Dakota Townley Guide Service for fishing expeditions. “Each guide has his own location. Each property has four stationary two-man pit blinds that are dug into the ground along a check and camouflaged to avoid detection. Each group of pits has nearly 600 full-body decoys. We always do our best to accommodate our clients. For example, if we have mobility-impaired hunters, we’ll give them an ATV ride out to the blind. Our pits are very comfortable; they are made of concrete so they don’t leak; we have stools that are set to the right height; and we have ladders for getting in and out.”
Townley works tirelessly to ensure his clients receive a great hunting experience. His day starts out early, as the first order of business is to meet up with his party and to make introductions. In addition, he ensures that each hunter has their hunting license, gun, shells and anything else they may need for the day. From there, he’ll escort them to the hunt location and then out to the blind.
“Once at the blind, I’ll load everyone up and then I’ll go over an extensive safety talk,” says Townley. “Safety is the number one priority, but it doesn’t end there. I’ll make sure that everyone is following safety protocols throughout the day. And then I’ll go over what we’ll be doing for the morning and then we’ll get in the blinds. Usually we have about 15 minutes to hang out and get everybody settled and comfortable. Then shoot time rolls around and we get to hunting. Shoot time is 30 minutes before sunrise. We start our day at shoot time and our day ends at noon.”
GET TO KNOW THE BIRDS
“Geese are very smart and detail oriented,” Townley adds. “A lot of the groups of geese that I call in are 10, 12, 30, 40 or sometimes we have a couple hundred birds that are coming in at a time, and it only takes one bird to spook the group. There’s a certain noise they make, and when they make that noise, and only one bird has gotta make it, it is no good.”
“Ideally, what I want to do if there are multiple groups of birds working, I’ll land a group of birds in the decoys; if they are nice and comfortable, I’ll let them stay there, and if another group of birds starts circling and gets ready to land right on top of them, I’ll usually call the shot. When the group lands it will freak out the other birds and they will try to lift up. When they cross, that’s a high-percentage volley. I always call the shot; clients aren’t allowed to shoot until the shot is called, and that is (done) for safety first, and secondly, because I have a better understanding of when to optimize the shot.”
WHY ATTENTION TO DETAIL WINS THE DAY
The hunt is only a portion of Townley’s day. Once the clients have departed, he’ll spend his time making sure everything is set up for the next day’s hunt.
“Preparation is one of the keys to success. I am pretty meticulous; the blinds have to be set up just right. I’ll brush and redress the blinds to ensure the cover (camouflage) on and around the blinds is perfect,” he says. “If the geese see you, they will not come in. Also, the field around the blinds needs to be pristine, meaning the decoys are always nice and straight and nothing is down. I’ll walk the field and pick up all our shotgun wads or any trash. I’ll always check the wind, because you have to move the decoys according to the wind. My wife can attest to this: There are times when I’ll spend three or four hours moving decoys just to make sure everything looks perfect for the next day. All the guides will do a check-in to see if anyone needs help with something. We’re a really tight-knit group and that works out really well.”
It’s all about providing an experience hunters leave impressed with.
“We get a ton of return clients,” Townley adds. “I’d like to think we are really good at what we do, and we just do our very best to provide a good experience. Over the years, I have met a lot of really great people and many of them come back to hunt with me every year.” CS
Editor’s note: To book a hunt with Blosser Outfitters or to learn more, visit Facebook at Blosser Outfitters or contact Tomas Blosser directly at (530) 966-3513. Dakota Townley’s Guide Service is also on Facebook.
