They say the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

This must be true because as I drive down my street in beautiful Winnie, Texas, I can see cows stretching their necks and poking themselves with barbed wire to eat that seemingly greener grass. As outdoorsmen we often have that same mentality!

Many nights I have laid in bed watching hunting shows on TV and find myself dreaming of these far-away places. Prettier scenery, more abundant wildlife, better trophy quality … surely all of this awaits in some distant land.

This year I found myself on an airplane headed to one of these dream locations!

I was flying to California to meet a great friend and then we were driving up to Oregon to hunt speckle-bellied geese and I could not wait!  Not only was I going to a part of the country I had never seen, I would be hunting with my buddy and even better my former hunting dog Coal!

Coal is the best dog I have trained in my entire career, and his new owner and I had become great friends. The three of us were looking forward to this hunt with eager anticipation!

As we drove north through California and into Oregon, the scenery was beautiful. From the rice fields to the hills and eventually mountains, we saw it all.  By the time we arrived at our lodge there was about 6 inches of snow on the ground.

Snow is something this southern swamp dweller was not used to at all, and to be honest not that crazy about.  However, a goose hunt in a snow-covered field next to an icy river had “dream hunt” written all over it!

Three-thirty came early the next morning and I was ready! We had a quick breakfast, loaded into the Ford and headed down the icy roads to meet our guide.  Let the adventure begin!

The guide had already meticulously placed a group of decoys on the ground as well as several floaters in the water.  He told us stories of seeing well over 1,000 geese in the field the day before!  We slipped into floating layout blinds on the river bank and waited for action.  The sun rose and we saw a few geese but none seemed even the slightest bit interested in what we had to offer.

The snow began to fall and the temperature hovered around an icy 20 degrees. Not cold by our guide’s standard since it was minus-20 weeks before, but miserable cold compared to the 75 degrees I left back in the Lone Star state!

That morning I never fired a shot! Over the next two days we killed four geese, and while I had a great time with Richard and Coal, a reality began to set in. The more I thought about it the bigger my smile grew!

Just like Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz,” I finally realized that there is no place like home!

In fact I left more geese in Winnie, Texas, than I traveled to in Oregon!  My friends were killing 25-50 geese a morning in the mild weather while I froze to death shooting nothing.  I realize that there are good days and bad days no matter where you hunt, but I have written this article to say this: Texas is as good as it gets!

In fact, over the last year in Texas, I had killed limits of ducks, killed several free-range trophy axis deer, several whitetail, numerous hogs, and a turkey all with my bow!  Not only had I personally been successful, I had also taken my kids hunting and they had done the same! Right here in Texas!

While we are bragging on Texas, let me mention the bass! We had caught numerous trophy bass over the past year including two over 8 pounds!  To be honest, I realize that there are always hunting and fishing skills involved, but the truth of the matter is that Texas is just that good!  You can’t catch big fish or shoot animals where they don’t live!

Lucky for us Texans, ours is the state where they live! From coastal waterfowling to duck hunting ponds in north Texas, rice fields, flooded timber and lake hunting you name it and Texas is diverse enough to offer it! Ducks, geese, dove, cranes, quail, pheasant, whitetail deer, free range exotics, turkey, small game, mule deer, predators, and even elk can be found in our great state!

Let’s not forget about the awesome fisheries this state has to offer!  Marshes, bays, rivers, and two of the top five bass lakes in the country!  From redfish to red ear perch if it swims in the water, you can probably catch it somewhere in Texas!

Not only do we have awesome hunting and fishing opportunities, I feel that our temperature is much more bearable … especially in the winter time!  I don’t know about you but there is not much appealing about the minus-20 degree weather I heard about in Oregon!

If you can’t tell by now, I am in love with our great state!  I encourage you as you plan your next fishing or hunting adventure to consider keeping it in Texas, and keep in mind that each mile you drive away from this great state might well be a mile farther from some awesome outdoor adventures!

As I got back on the airplane in Oakland, I realized that I had learned a valuable lesson; the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence, and there is no place like Texas!

•

Brian Johnson, originally of Port Neches, is pastor of the Outdoorsman’s Church in Winnie, owner of DuckDogTrainer.com and the outdoors writer for The News.