Way up north, beyond the haunts of the Mohicans, and not all that far south of where the Battle of Quebec took place, is an unsung haven for waterfowl. We all know about the wildfowling around the Louisiana Coast, California's Central Valley, Maryland's Easter Shore, Tennessee's Reelfoot Lake, Wisconsin's Horicon Marsh, the Crab Orchard area in southern Illinois, but how many of you have known about the duck and goose sport in, of all places, New York? The area I'm speaking of is a short distance east of the renowned Thousand Islands.

"Can you see me?"

I was surprised, too, when I went up there for a short two-day Canada goose hunt last September. That timing meant it was the tail end of our so-called nuisance goose season, although this area north of the Adirondacks is way up there, so we expected to see some of the big birds migrating in – from Ontario and Quebec. We were not disappointed. What makes this far north New York area so special for ducks and geese?

It's the same word that appeals to waterfowl everywhere – the first part of these birds two-part name – water. Of course, there's a lot of water in some places that don't have all that many ducks and geese, so what's different about the New York area I'm talking about?

One main reason is the giant St. Lawrence River, which is just to the north–our border with Canada. The St. Lawrence is so big that it can act as a refuge because hunters cannot get to the birds. Further, a myriad of clean water streams flow northward out of the Adirondacks and into the area in question. A few of the streams (rivers) that flow north out of the Adirondacks would be the Oswegatchie, the Grasse, the Raquette and the Saint Regis. These waters are fast flowing in and out of the Adirondack Mountains – until they reach the relatively flat lands a few miles south of the St. Lawrence. This is where the flow slows into a lot of marshes, the type of shallow water habitat that ducks and geese love. Coupled with these marshy areas is plentiful surrounding farmland. Corn is king here, with a lot of dairy farms. So the corn is cut up into silage, and the combines leave plenty of corn kernels on the ground for all those birds. Now this might sound like I'm talking about something that is pretty far fetched – since you probably have never heard of this waterfowling spot – but I'm not kidding. An area ideal for ducks and geese is there – and it's a big area.

One local who has a lot of land leased up around the little hamlet of Canton, New York is David Forsythe. These surrounding waters and lands spell marshes galore, cornfields near unending and that massive St. Lawrence only a stone's throw away. I didn't find all this out the day of arrival, but this "North of the Adirondacks" story began to sink in over the days of shooting there.

The first morning guide Nick McNamara showed up where we were staying (one of David Forsythe's three lodges) just after four o'clock. A swig of milk and two chocolate covered donuts later we were loading our gear. The drive was 25 minutes, to a cut corn field that Nick had been scouting for several days. After opening and closing two gates the truck with trailer full of decoys bumped down the ruts for a half mile – to the exact spot Nick said the geese had been feeding.