The Realities Of Goose Hunting

[elkhunter11]

On Friday a good friend and big game hunting partner texts me, asking about a shotgun for goose hunting. He was going to order a black SX-4 from Cabelas, and asked if that was a good choice. I mentioned that I knew of a camo Browning Maxus with only a few rounds fired, that he could get for the same price, that was on consignment at my favorite dealer. Yesterday he calls me, and thanks me for helping him find the deal, and mentions that the reason he bought the gun, is that he met a friend that mentioned that hunters had taken quite a few geese off of his land last fall. He was under the impression, that you just buy a few decoys, set them in a field that is handy, and then wait for the geese to show up. I started by explaining scouting to find where the geese were feeding, and exactly where in the field they are feeding, how they only feed in certain crops, and how farmers rotate crops, so a field that may have been good for geese last year , might be in canola this year. I mentioned that I spend 6 to 8 hours per week scouting and obtaining permission, to set up one good hunt. I then went into how important blind and decoy placement were in order to have the geese actually come into range. I also explained brushing in a blind to blend in with the field. In the end, he was shocked to find out how much was actually involved,and how expensive it is to get started with a basic blind, and a couple of dozen decoys. He was actually quite deflated that he wasn't likely going to go out to his friends field and set up a few decoys, and bring home some geese his first time out, until he learned a lot more. When he receives his gun, I will fine tune the fit,and he will join us at skeet, and once he is comfortable with the gun, and can actually hit the majority of the targets, I will take him scouting to show him what to look for, and then help him set up for a hunt. If everything goes well, he should get some geese this year, but it will take a lot more effort than he assumed.

[grouse_hunter]

It's highly commendable of you to serve as a mentor, even if it is to a hunter who is experiences in other facets of the hobby. Most people do not understand the complexity of most tasks out there, regardless of their pertinence to hunting, until they are confronted with the ponderous details.

[oilngas]

Elkhunter; I am constantly amazed on here and trying to mentor a few new hunters, and explain that the most important things about hunting are; you really don't need a firearm for a year or two, it takes $ to buy the gear i.e. vehicle, fuel, bino's, maps, app's, decoys, blinds, time to scout, interpersonal skills to meet folks and gain info., documenting folks info and land details, firearm fitting and familiarization with that firearm (i.e clay shooting, target shooting etc.) lots of time to scout, time out of city to scout, time off work to scout, time away from family to scout, put on a ton of km's scouting, build a rapport with folks that will let you access their land, add a bow wow and all that they entail, etc. etc.

The last fellow I took out to a Calgary area release site for a peek at pheasant hunting with a pointer was amazed that I really meant it when I said he could not bring his "coach" gun, kids, wife, Bow Wow, five boxes of shells, and who know what else. I had made all that specifically clear, he could come and watch, walk along and he had to stay back a bit, I would narrate what I thought Daisy was doing, but really she was in charge of most of what would happen and no she did not want a treat distraction, be best friends, etc.

Sorry just an old guy venting. You are right goose hunting is a life time of learning, contacts, and experience with the many variable of blind and decoy presentation, weather issues, etc. I'm going to miss it as I no longer seem able to physically do all that it entails.

[bessiedog]

Ya shoulda let him set up in the unswathed canola field elk...... and took pictures first.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by bessiedog

Ya shoulda let him set up in the unswathed canola field elk...... and took pictures first.

He is a good friend, just zero experience with waterfowl hunting, or agriculture. Now if he was a certain poster that used to post here about setting up his three home made decoys , in a random field, I may have done just that.

Or if he was an Oilers fan.

[sns2]

Originally Posted by bessiedog

Ya shoulda let him set up in the unswathed canola field elk...... and took pictures first.

Exactly! I never knew union members had such innovative thinking!!!

[bessiedog]

Oh the entertainment value of those pics....a lot of hunting is the stories... that’d make a good one.

If your gonna mentor him.... make sure when you pre scout the field... you sprinkle them Old Dutch white colored cheesies.... spread 2 or three where them geese have been feeding.

Next morning you teach him about how to tell if the feeding geese were actually there the night before by doing the ‘scat freshness taste test’... you grab n sample a cheesy.... let your buddy sample some too.........

Ahhh.... rookies.

[Savage Bacon]

Sounds like he got his bubble bursted. Let me know if he's got a shotgun for sale at a smokin deal!!

[32-40win]

Has the makings of an interesting year. See how the harvest goes over the next few weeks, people were talking about getting out on the fields and getting busy this wk. Fair amount of rain around though.Take a run next weekend and see what there is to see, check to see who's farming what and who bought what new property. Just working on decoys and the trailer this weekend, adding heads to socks, grease the wheel bearings on the trailer, make sure the trailer plug is working, fix the topper door frame, new batteries in the trailer interior lights, check out the mojo and e-caller batteries, go get the truck serviced so it's good for the season.
Almost qualifies as work. And I should finish painting the front of the house, which actually does qualify as work, yuck.....

[Justfishin73]

I have a feeling will be a short goose season. Late getting crops off combined with early winter.....

Ton of ducks around though

[ganderblaster]

I think it will be a long beautiful warm fall with geese being around till mid November

[pikeslayer22]

Peas starting to come off lots of green feed baled be a good opener

[1bowhunter12]

Originally Posted by bessiedog

Ya shoulda let him set up in the unswathed canola field elk...... and took pictures first.

This made me chuckle because I went goose hunting for the first time 2 years ago and didn’t realize there was so much involved with goose hunting either but went out and found a huge flock landing in a wheat field but couldn’t get permission because of an outfitter hunting it ... so we set up in a canola field we had permission on on a tiny pond ... limited out in an hour and ****ed off the outfitter at the same time hah.. we were the only 2 idiots set up in a canola field on opening day in alberta tho I bet lol

[Big Lou]

Originally Posted by bessiedog

Ya shoulda let him set up in the unswathed canola field elk...... and took pictures first.

You know, I’ve got pictures of this scenario somewhere. I will try and dig them up. Any who, some folks rented and moved onto a place that borders some family land that I hunt deer on. The set up was in canola, opening in the trees maybe 100 yards wide. I’ve never ever witnessed geese land there with the best of crops. Coffins in the swaths. I had a chuckle and snapped a few photos. Actually had intentions of asking if they’d like some help in the right direction by inviting them on a shoot.

Those intentions faded quickly as they rapid fire emptied a .22 in the general direction of the several hundred Canada geese feeding on my side of the fence. Obviously hoping to flush them up and maybe get a passing shot or two.

Anyway, off topic. I will look for pictures.

[DSD Addict]

Goose hunting is certainly more challenging than people realize and not a particularly forgiving form of waterfowling. I would always recommend people try starting with ducks first.

I saw a post on here recently where a guy was mentioning getting into waterfowl hunting through snow geese and I couldnt help but chuckle. They are the most expensive and difficult waterfowl to hunt and it's not particularly close.

[RACKER]

The toughest part of goose hunting now is obtaining permission. I’ve hunted for 30 yrs around Bittern Lake ,Hay Lakes and the last 5 have been really frustrating as farmers are not letting hunters on now. I get told the usual story of clubroot but then I see hunters on there the next day. Thankfully I know a lot of farmers around there but it seems like there are so many more waterfowl hunters now. I also have noticed guides getting exclusive permission on land as well.

[hal53]

Originally Posted by RACKER

The toughest part of goose hunting now is obtaining permission. I’ve hunted for 30 yrs around Bittern Lake ,Hay Lakes and the last 5 have been really frustrating as farmers are not letting hunters on now. I get told the usual story of clubroot but then I see hunters on there the next day. Thankfully I know a lot of farmers around there but it seems like there are so many more waterfowl hunters now. I also have noticed guides getting exclusive permission on land as well.

^^^^ This...there seems to be a lot more bird hunters vying for the shoots these days. I don't even bother trying to line up a shoot on weekends anymore, also with the increase in hunters a lot of land owners are just saying no unless they know you very well. Their stories of people's disrespect seem to get worse each year

[slough shark]

Originally Posted by RACKER

The toughest part of goose hunting now is obtaining permission. I’ve hunted for 30 yrs around Bittern Lake ,Hay Lakes and the last 5 have been really frustrating as farmers are not letting hunters on now. I get told the usual story of clubroot but then I see hunters on there the next day. Thankfully I know a lot of farmers around there but it seems like there are so many more waterfowl hunters now. I also have noticed guides getting exclusive permission on land as well.

Guides are the biggest threat to regular guys field hunting imho, you almost need to find 3-4 hunts in order to get permission these days as guides have a lot of them tied up already. It’s hard to compete with someone who follows the birds everyday, you almost need to find a landowner ****ed off at guides

[nimrod]

Not about the topic, but is anybody seeing speckle belly geese in great numbers yet. They seem to be late coming down

[sns2]

Originally Posted by nimrod

Not about the topic, but is anybody seeing speckle belly geese in great numbers yet. They seem to be late coming down

Similar question being asked on FB. Very scattered sightings by the few who said they had.

[elkhunter11]

Back to my friend, he showed up at skeet with the Maxus, and it could pass for new. It functioned flawlessly, but my friend was definitely not ready to hunt geese, his first round of skeet resulted in 2/25. However, after a couple more rounds of instruction, and round three produced a 12/25, so a couple of more sessions, and he should a lot better prepared to start hunting.

[drake]

Going scouting in the same area filled with competition and expecting to find a hunt is a recipe for frustration......I hear so much complaining every year. If you know what you’re doing and are flexible with your locale you could shoot a new field everyday for an entire season. It’s not that hard guys.

As far as shooting goes....if your gun safety is on point, you can hunt in my spread any day. You don’t need to be an orange disc expert to get an invite....you just need a thick skin to take all the ribbing when you miss birds in the hole

[Pixel Shooter]

Still a little early. Local birds for first week 😊

Originally Posted by sns2

Similar question being asked on FB. Very scattered sightings by the few who said they had.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by drake

Going scouting in the same area filled with competition and expecting to find a hunt is a recipe for frustration......I hear so much complaining every year. If you know what you’re doing and are flexible with your locale you could shoot a new field everyday for an entire season. It’s not that hard guys.

As far as shooting goes....if your gun safety is on point, you can hunt in my spread any day. You don’t need to be an orange disc expert to get an invite....you just need a thick skin to take all the ribbing when you miss birds in the hole

I never seem to have an issue finding fields or getting permission, and I seldom go more than 20km or so from home to scout. As far as a person's shooting, tonight was his first time firing a shotgun, and nobody gets invited to hunt with us until they are familiar with their firearm, and skeet provides a good opportunity to become familiar with their firearm, while learning the basics of wingshooting. Another session or two, and he will be comfortable with his shotgun, and he should at least be able to kill more geese than he wounds. I take out new shooters for both birds and big game, and I don't consider it ethical to take them out, until they are competent enough to have a good chance of making clean kills on game. They don't have to be an expert at clays, but they should be hitting more than they miss.

[drake]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

I never seem to have an issue finding fields or getting permission, and I seldom go more than 20km or so from home to scout. As far as a person's shooting, tonight was his first time firing a shotgun, and nobody gets invited to hunt with us until they are familiar with their firearm, and skeet provides a good opportunity to become familiar with their firearm, while learning the basics of wingshooting. Another session or two, and he will be comfortable with his shotgun, and he should at least be able to kill more geese than he wounds. I take out new shooters for both birds and big game, and I don't consider it ethical to take them out, until they are competent enough to have a good chance of making clean kills on game. They don't have to be an expert at clays, but they should be hitting more than they miss.

Admirable....

[Pikebreath]

To someone who just gets invited to join in on a shoot without taking part in any of the prior prep work,,, and sees some decoys being put out and then sees geese dropping in like flies,,, it is pretty easy to think that goose hunting is pretty easy (And pretty simple)!!!!

The good waterfowlers make it look easy. A goose hunt is perhaps better termed as goose shoot!!!

The hunting part took place in the prep work in the days previous to the shoot (scouting, observing, knocking on doors, finding the X etc)

[ganderblaster]

Originally Posted by Pikebreath

To someone who just gets invited to join in on a shoot without taking part in any of the prior prep work,,, and sees some decoys being put out and then sees geese dropping in like flies,,, it is pretty easy to think that goose hunting is pretty easy (And pretty simple)!!!!

The good waterfowlers make it look easy. A goose hunt is perhaps better termed as goose shoot!!!

The hunting part took place in the prep work in the days previous to the shoot (scouting, observing, knocking on doors, finding the X etc)

Takes a lot of hard work to make the dream work.

[32-40win]

And there are times when all the work you put into it is near for naught, as the birds have a mind of their own. But there are also days when everything works and you have a field with perfect cover and the birds all want to be on your spot. Some of our better shoots have also been on questionable fields that we were all in doubt about, as to how well it was going to work, and the birds actually decide to cooperate.
See a report today of snows & specks around Biggar already. Seems as though they are maybe starting to bounce south looking for cut fields.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by 32-40win

And there are times when all the work you put into it is near for naught, as the birds have a mind of their own. But there are also days when everything works and you have a field with perfect cover and the birds all want to be on your spot. Some of our better shoots have also been on questionable fields that we were all in doubt about, as to how well it was going to work, and the birds actually decide to cooperate.
See a report today of snows & specks around Biggar already. Seems as though they are maybe starting to bounce south looking for cut fields.

The specs were flying over Wainwright this morning.