It was windy, dark and cloudy with a threat of rain around dawn Dec. 7, a perfect Saturday morning to start celebrating an anniversary and/or deliver an early Christmas present.

On this day it was both for Austin Theriot and his significant other, Leryn Quintana, who were in a goose blind with his father, Darrel Theriot, all of rural St. Martinville, and waterfowl hunting guide Brook Faulk with Southern Parish Outdoors. The goose hunt near Gueydan was a special one for each of them.

“I got that hunt for my dad for his Christmas present. We booked that hunt because our anniversary passed and we decided to make it our anniversary present,” Theriot said about the couple, who have been together eight years.

Eight speckle-belly geese in the area probably wish Theriot and Quintana would have chosen a different anniversary gift and Christmas present because there was no escaping once they committed that raw morning in a plowed rice field in Vermilion Parish. Theriot said the guide, who worked the past three seasons in Arkansas, called them in expertly.

Shotgun barrels lifted and triggers were squeezed as the waterfowlers found their mark. They got those big birds and then got out of there before the skies opened up with a heavy rain.

“It was cold, windy and overcast and the geese were flying. Everything that came in range, they all fell. We had eight, one short of our (three-bird) limit,” Theriot said.

The 23-year-old helicopter mechanic at Arrow Aviation Co. LLC was fresh from killing a huge boar late in the afternoon the day before. After that, Theriot couldn’t wait to settle into a goose blind the following morning and he wasn’t the least bit disappointed.

Quintana, who is at his side on so many trips whether in a deer stand, duck/goose blind or boat, said, “It was fun.”

Someone wondered aloud if she killed her limit with the 12-gauge Benelli Super Black Eagle shotgun she uses. She said, “Ummm, I probably missed, like, my first couple of shots. All I know is what came in the decoys never left, so somebody killed them.”

It was only her third goose hunt but she has been on beaucoup duck hunts and deer hunts with Theriot ever since they started dating in 2016. It obviously was a match made in heaven on earth as she enjoys both hunting and fishing for bass, sac-a-lait and/or bream, plus she relishes attending country music concerts and other activities.

Quintana, who has yet to bag a deer this season, although she saw a doe with two fawns two weekends ago, said duck hunting or goose hunting are similarly challenging.

“Nothing’s really easier. I think goose hunting is more fun when they start working,” she said.

Theriot agreed and said, “Talk about. It was awesome. It’s fun to see the big birds work.”

He might take at least one more goose hunting trip this season, he said, while concentrating more on duck hunting, which for him was red-hot recently in the Atchafalaya Basin, and deer hunting.

“I’m getting mad at the deer,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m after a big one I’m catching on camera by the house.”

Killing that big boar the day before the goose hunt will go a long way to increasing his chances of getting the big buck. It was spooking many of the deer in the area, he said.

The eight geese were cleaned and frozen after the memorable goose hunt Dec. 7, destined for pot roasting in the oven any day.

As for the hunters, all they can say besides let the good times roll is “Happy Anniversary” and “Merry Christmas.”