814-Lancastsr Farming, Saturday, Saptambar 25,1W3
Codarus Duck And Goose Guides Water Fowl Hunts
JOYCE BUPP
York Co. Correspondent
YORK (York Co.) A flock
of geese winging overhead in Sep
tember stirs various emotions:
admiration for their beauty, sad
ness for the ending of another
summer, or anticipation of cooler
weather and the hectic pace of the
harvest season.
At Codorus Duck and Goose, a
flock of geese winging overhead
generates excitement, expectation
and likely some calls from clients.
Codorus Duck and Goose is the
year-old business established by a
trio of York-Adams area out
doorsmen who have teamed
together to provide guided water
fowl hunts. The three are currently
filling their schedules for this
year’s lineup of hunting trips.
Lee Irwin, Frank Plewa, and
Mark Flaharty are all local
conservation-organization
employees. Irwin and Flaharty
work for the York County Conser
vation District and Plewa is with
the Army Corps of Engineers
Adams County office. Though
their conservation work, the three
have become quite familiar with
the terrain and wildlife popula
tions of southcentral Pennsylvani
a. Plus, they’re all avid hunters.
“My dad and I used to hunt a lot
on the Eastern Shore with guides,”
explains Irwin of his background
in waterfowling. “As we did more
hunting, people used to ask to go
along with us, so we knew there
was interest”
“All three of us spend a lot of
time outside and cover a lot of ter
ritory,” he adds. “So we knew the
areas where there are concentra
tions of ducks and geese and con
tacted landowners to lease hunting
rights.”
The Adams-Lancaster-York
area is in the Eastern flyway of
many species of waterfowl
migrating between summer breed
ing grounds and wintering loca
tions. And, large flocks of Canada
geese grazingin fall grain fields
have become commonplace in
recent years, as increasing num
bers of the big waterfowl winter in
the area, rather than on the tradi
tional grounds of the Eastern
Shore.
According to Irwin, the Eastern
Shore, “the goose capital,” has
been hunted extremely hard in the
last IS or so years. More of the
birds are “short-stopping” from
that traditional destination, mak
ing southern Pennsylvania water
fowl hunting increasingly
Decoys set up In an alfalfa field help lure flocks of Canada
gsese to within shooting range of the guides, waiting In a
linsup of round bay bales.
attractive.
The number of local private
ponds has also increased consider
ably, according to these conserva
tion professionals, enhancing the
area’s desirability to waterfowl.
Milder winters and geese return
ing to their place of hatch further
add to the higher waterfowl popu
lation in the southern zone of the
state’s hunting regions.
But, while picturesque to
watch, dozens in some cases,
hundreds of geese nibbling
away at wheat, barley and winter
ing alfalfa stands can wreak eco
nomic havoc on those acreages.
Overgrazing by flocks of feeding
waterfowl may result in thinning
or complete elimination of large
sections of crop plantings. Codor
us Duck and Goose is interested in
making contact with landowners
who have such crop problems
from waterfowl and who might
consider leasing hunting rights.
Dabbling ducks, primarily mal
lards, wood ducks, black ducks,
plus some green-winged teal and
occasionally widgeons are the
most likely targets for the duck
hunting side of the guide service.
The dabblers favor the shallow
water and wetlands-type locations
more prominent in the areas where
Codorus Duck and Goose con
ducts its hunts. Diving ducks are
not usually offered on these hunts,
because diver species favor large,
deeper bodies of water. For hun
ters favoring other game birds,
pheasant and quail hunts can also
be arranged.
Because weather and seasonal
conditions affect the feeding and
flight patterns of geese and ducks.
Codorus Duck and Goose aims for
a minimum of six locations from
which they can select to hunt
Either above-ground blinds or
field pits are used, based on ter
rain, Weather and feeding
conditions.
Buried pit blinds, of either
wood or concrete, are a more per
manent hunting location con
structed on some of the land used
by the guide service.-They also
utilize temporary, moveable
blinds, which can quickly be set
up in weeds and hedgerows.
Weather, time of year, and loca
tion all factor into the need for
hunt flexibility toward the end of
the season, when birds have
grown more wary.
As birds move from place to
place, depending on changing
conditions, the guides conduct
ongoing field scouting and fre-
Their yellow lab retrievers are as vital wildlife “conservation” tool for Codorus
Duck and Goose guides, from left, Mark Flaharty with Sandy, Lee Irwin with Oakley
and Frank Plewa with Sheena.
Part of the guide service of Codorus Duck and Goose is providing and setting up
decoys to lure the birds within shooting range.
quent consultations as to where
the waterfowl action is the best.
“We try not to hunt the same
place too often,” notes Mark Fla
harty. Though he has the least
waterfowling experience of the
three, Flaharty has adapted to the
sport quickly. He has found one of
the most exciting hunting tech
niques to be simply stretching out
on the ground garbed in
camouflage of course where
birds nearly land on the hunters
calling them into feeding.
Hunts can be arranged for either
half or full days, six days per week
during the season; combined hunts
for both ducks and geese are avail
able. South Zone seasons on ducks
runs October 18-23 and Novem
ber 18-2 S. Canada geese season in
the South Zone is October 18-2 S.
November 17 to December 31 and
January 1-17,1994. A special late
season for resident geese in cer
tain areas along the Susquehanna
and Juniata Rivers runs January
20 through February S, 1994. Bag
limits on geese and ducks vary
with species and the season’s
progression.
Utilizing guides provides hun
ters with a service aimed at a more
productive hunt. The service
scouts out the farms, to determine
the locations’ uses as flyway* or
feeding spots. Decoys and their
set-up, as well as calling in birds,
are all part of the service.
Each guide also relies on his
four-legged partner as a vital part
of the hunt Irwin, Flaharty and
Plewa all have yellow labrador
retrievers, dogs which they
emphasize arc a “conservation”
tool of hunting. Codorus Duck and
Goose clients with their own
retrieving dogs are encouraged to
bring them along on the hunts, too.
“If a hunter is allowed three
ducks, that hunter’s probably
going to take home three ducks if
at all possible, regardless of how
many have been shot and lost,”
says Frank Plewa. “A dog can go
out and find a downed bird that a
person would never be able to
spot. Every bird retrieved is a bird
that won’t go to waste; the dogs
are so much better at conserving
diem in that way.”
Plewa’s four-year-old Sheena is
a retriever trials champion; most
of her recent litter of puppies were
sold even before she gave birth.
Irwin’s dog, Oakley, and Flahar
ty’s Sandy are younger dogs with
great enthusiasm for the outdoors
and the hunt.
Codorus Duck and Goose conti
nually emphasizes safety as part
of its guiding service. In fact, dieir
promotional brochure plainly
spells out the rule that a guide
reserves the right to ask a hunter to
leave if either unsafe or unsports
manlike practices occur.
“We brief our hunters on safety
and on what to expect during the
hunt,” emphasizes Lee Irwin. “We
tell them when to take their gun
safeties off, too.”
“We will terminate the hunt if
any unsafe conduct occurs,” he
repeats, adding, “the large percen
tage of hunters are very good
sports.”
In keeping with its safety and
sportsmanship emphasis, the
guide service forbids techniques
like “sky-busting.” the blasting
away at flocks of fowl high out of
shooting range.
Pleased with the first year’s
success, Codorus Duck and Goose
already has several bookings for
fall.
Since Maryland has reduced the
limit of birds that may be taken
this year, the guides expect
increased interest in Pennsylvani
a’s waterfowl hunting, with its
more liberal bag limits.
Last year’s reservations
brought hunters from Washington,
D.C., Baltimore, central and
northern Pennsylvania, as well as
some local shooters. Their success
rate was about 80 percent on the
more than two dozen hunts
through the season.
“We had one hunter from Eng
land. He was here with the Izaak
Walton League and did a program
for our chapter so we took him for
a hunt,” recalls Irwin of guest who
came from the farthest distance to
hum with them.
Fees for the guide services pro
vided by Codorus Duck and
Goose range from $B5 for a half
day of duck or goose hunting to
$125 for a full day of combination
hunting, for parties of up to four
hunters.
For more information, contact
Codorus Duck and Goose, R 2,
Box 50, Glen Rock, PA 17327, or
phone (717) 227-0212 or (800)
484-7457-0313.