So yeah I think I might suck at finding geese

Smoky buck · #1 09-22-2021, 04:07 PM

So not the greatest bird hunter basically know how to shoot a few ducks over water and walk through the bush for grouses. More of a big game hunter

I want to get into field hunting geese. I went with a friend in the lower mainland hunting cropped corn fields years ago but that doesn’t apply here.

So far I have I have come to the conclusion I am not very good at even finding fields with geese. Basically have tried driving around farm land near lakes with not a lot of luck. The few flocks I have found are either too close to the road or no hunting allowed

Starting to think I would have more success elk hunting lol

So what wisdom can you guys offer? Right now driving around clueless is not working too well

It would be nice to at least take my decoys out of the box and scare a bird or two with some bad calling

marky_mark · #2 09-22-2021, 04:09 PM

Start driving In farm country around 5 ish
Look in the sky for birds
Follow birds to field
Get permission on field
Blast them the next morning

MountainTi · #3 09-22-2021, 04:19 PM

Look for a water body with water in it. Most dried up on the prairies. I was south of Stettler on the weekend and hardly any birds around. Tough year

No water, no birds

Smoky buck · #4 09-22-2021, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marky_mark

Start driving In farm country around 5 ish
Look in the sky for birds
Follow birds to field
Get permission on field
Blast them the next morning

Any particular kind of farm land?or other general things to look for

Was trying around Wab yesterday but the only field I found with geese was a no go

MountainTi · #5 09-22-2021, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Any particular kind of farm land?or other general things to look for

Was trying around Wab yesterday but the only field I found with geese was a no go

Peas

oilngas · #6 09-22-2021, 04:36 PM

I big clue might just be "where are you?". Then maybe some specific info can be given.

Smoky buck · #7 09-22-2021, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oilngas

I big clue might just be "where are you?". Then maybe some specific info can be given.

Drayton valley

oilngas · #8 09-22-2021, 05:08 PM

This is an Wild Guess but it would seem to me you are on the cusp of the Pacific / California and Central fly way. So if I lived in Dreadful Valley I would look for smallish shoots coming off of Pidgeon and Sylvan Lakes. I have noticed in the past that both of these big bodies of water have shoots, but it seems to me to be a little later in the season. Sorry thats all I can offer. But what I have done is drive until you see birds going somewhere and then stop and listen. I have found a number of goose / duck shoots by following the racket.

KegRiver · #9 09-22-2021, 05:10 PM

I'm going goose hunting for a week, you're welcome to join me.

A bit far I know but it's one option.

My advice, go out mid afternoon and park within a mile or so of one lake after another, sit with everything off and listen. If you don't hear geese within half an hour move on.
If you hear geese scout the area for wheat and pea stubble, then park close to one or more if possible and listen for geese to start moving around supper time.

Just driving around you will miss a lot. The geese could be landing just beyond a hill or bluff of trees and you wouldn't even know they were there, unless you can hear them.

Things to keep in mind, peas are king of the goose attractants but they'll go for wheat too.
You can hear a goose long before you can see them.

Geese like to return to a place they have fed previously, when they can.

Shooting geese where they rest will drive them out of the area. But they will return to where they feed if shot at there, or move to another field, often close by.

One last thing. Geese are very good at spotting movement. Remember that when they drop into you decks.

Best of luck out there.

Smokinyotes · #10 09-22-2021, 05:12 PM

Probably the closest grain fields to you may be north of evansburg. I haven’t noticed any big flocks around yet, just small family groups. Still a lot of standing barley around.

pintail flyer · #11 09-22-2021, 06:37 PM

Geese roost on water then fly out to fields to eat.I normally start driving around at 5pm early season to find birds on ponds or lakes.Then wait and try and follow them to see where they land.Ask for permission.Then set up the next morning for the hunt.I live in the Pincher Creek area and am looking for a waterfowl hunting friend if you are interested.

Smoky buck · #12 09-22-2021, 08:14 PM

Thanks for the advice everyone

Thanks for the offers KegRiver and Pintail flyer if I was closer I would take you up on it

Penner · #13 09-23-2021, 06:44 AM

Cut and harvested wheat fields or peas with significant water nearby will be your friend. Scout the day before and get out well before sun up for decoy placements and the shoot. Blinds recommended.

wildalberta · #14 09-23-2021, 07:17 AM

im hearing in some areas its a tough year. i am in NE alberta and its been good thus far, and i dont think a major migration has come down yet with our mild temps. specks have started to come down, not much for snows at all yet. the best fields i have found were early cut oats/peas that have since regrown upwards of a foot tall. most of the birds in the field are very close to the day roost water holes.

Smoky buck · #15 09-23-2021, 07:25 AM

I definitely seen more geese in the air last year but thinking I might just be early from talking to others

I will continue my search

elkhunter11 · #16 09-23-2021, 08:03 AM

Over the last two days, I drove from Camrose to Saskatoon and back, and goose numbers are strong from Lloydminster to the Battlefords, with snows just starting to show up in decent numbers. We have far fewer geese in Alberta, but the numbers should increase, as the migration gathers momentum. I drive the country spotting, and I don't worry about being really close to water, geese will fly a few miles to food.

Big Grey Wolf · #17 09-23-2021, 09:59 AM

Smokey, Chip lake is a good goose lake. Do your spotting both north and south of the lake. Farmers generally more friendly to hunters in that area. Get on a high hill, then drive like hell to follow them to their field. Set up your decoys only on the best poop area or they will land just out of range. Good pair of glass your friend.
Little early, we need some cold weather up north to bring more down.

Red Bullets · #18 09-23-2021, 01:59 PM

Burtonsville rec area on the NS river northeast of Drayton used to be an important fall goose hunting camp called Goose Encampment back in the 1800's. Not sure if there are many geese now. Another lake to maybe watch would be Genesee lake west of the power plant.

fordtruckin · #19 09-23-2021, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Any particular kind of farm land?or other general things to look for

Was trying around Wab yesterday but the only field I found with geese was a no go

A sugar beet feel is a gold mine! (At least it is here in MT). I think any good field that had a crop like corn wheat sugar beets etc… gives them something to come into vs a hay field or pasture etc…

OL_JR · #20 09-23-2021, 10:31 PM

Peas, barley and wheat are the main ones with peas being the most desirable. Canola is a no go and if you find birds in Canola they aren't there to feed and will be gone asap.

I'm not sure what is normal around Drayton but I doubt there is a lot of northern birds that come by that way as we usuallydon't get a pile around Caroline. With that said this year might be better than most as it's been pretty dry out east and a little more moist out west and these are the years that we see more northerns. For what it's worth I generally see a few birds in the Stauffer area and the area around Honeysuckle lake. Not going to be huge number hunts but if you are a solo guy with a limited amount of decoys local birds are what you are after. By the time the northerns get down this way they are generally in pretty big groups and harder to decoy.

270person · #21 09-23-2021, 11:00 PM

Drive north to where I was hunting elk the past few days. Dodge ridiculous numbers of bears, jump out of truck and strafe geese at 40 yds from fenceline. Dodge bears while retrieving geese

Thinking the Canadas up there are either domesticated or the bears are using them as bait.

Smoky buck · #22 09-24-2021, 05:51 AM

Going to try my luck scouting a shoot again today and if no luck going duck hunting the next morning

32-40win · #23 09-26-2021, 12:09 AM

This year in southern AB, you may have a tough time finding roosts that are holding birds, unless you have some reservoirs around and something that still has water in it. I found some places this year that have water, but, no birds. And then there are some of the more traditional roosts, that have about 2" of water in them, or maybe just enough to cover their feet, and they are using them, it is strange out there. But, this last week, we worked essentially two flocks of specks, there were about 5-6 flocks of the local honkers around, one was up around 100 birds, rest were 25 or less, there were two or three small flocks of specks around, maybe 20 birds per.. And we worked an area about 40km x40km. The two big flocks were about 30km apart, and one was flying as far as 25-30km from the roost to get to the field group it was feeding in, the other was about 1-1/2mi.. We were lucky that there was only about two other people hunting there this week, or we may not have had much in the way of shoots available to us due to competition. There are areas the birds like to hang in, and 2-3 miles away, you may not see them if they're not in the air going in, have to be on the glass to spot them. Most of this week they didn't leave water til near sunup, and didn't leave for the evening feed til 5;30, somtimes as late as 6;00pm. The one flock only worked two fields most of the week, the other hit 3 all week.
That's what I observed this last week, in an area we've hunted for about 12 yrs now.

Smoky buck · #24 09-26-2021, 05:36 AM

I will be stuck waiting for my next set off now. Only found small groups of geese around half dozen at a time so nothing worthwhile. The morning we wanted to hunt the lake for ducks we forgot life jackets and had to turn around.

Worm · #25 09-26-2021, 07:36 AM

I'm having challenges too, just learning how to hunt these things. Had one great shoot early this year. Saturday was a total bust. Had a pea field they were in all week. Friday night had 70 to 100 honkers there. Saturday morning not a single bird showed up. Lots of feed left in the field so don't know if he oddly warm morning was a factor? Not much activity for us at all. Friday night the sky's were full. I'm guessing they found a different water source Friday night and patterns changed. But really don't know.

Goose experts just curious how often this happens and any advice to avoid the skunk? Was just north of edmonton btw.

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elkhunter11 · #26 09-26-2021, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worm

I'm having challenges too, just learning how to hunt these things. Had one great shoot early this year. Saturday was a total bust. Had a pea field they were in all week. Friday night had 70 to 100 honkers there. Saturday morning not a single bird showed up. Lots of feed left in the field so don't know if he oddly warm morning was a factor? Not much activity for us at all. Friday night the sky's were full. I'm guessing they found a different water source Friday night and patterns changed. But really don't know.

Goose experts just curious how often this happens and any advice to avoid the skunk? Was just north of edmonton btw.

Sent from my SM-A715W using Tapatalk

I look for fields that have the geese coming in multiple flocks, preferably from multiple roosts, which means that you have to watch them arriving at the field. That way, if one of two flocks move, the rest may still show up. I had the first no show in five years last week, some of the geese had moved about 600 yards to another field, and the rest left the area, as the crops seem thinner this year, and the geese are eating the available feed much quicker. Yesterday morning, I had a field with 400-500 geese, and one with 800 geese, but last night neither field had geese feeding, so we ended up with no hunt today. I personally don't bother with 100 geese, preferring a least 300 or more arriving over at least a 30 ,minute period, so we get a good shooting window, but it can mean less hunts, as some days, I just can't find the hunt I like. Peas are actually my favorite, as the feed seems to last several days, but this year, there are very few peas in the area that I hunt.

Worm · #27 09-26-2021, 08:47 AM

Thanks for the insight! I need to be a little pickier on the hunts I guess. The area I've been scouting has been really hard to find those conditions. Might have to look elsewhere.

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32-40win · #28 09-26-2021, 10:07 AM

Ya, there were fields of honkers building that disappeared suddenly, when numbers got to an OK level to shoot. Smaller fields of honkers are ok if they come in small bunches like 5's and 10's over a period of time like 1/2hr or so in the evening and they're comfortable. Not my first choice, but, may be better than no shoot. The one field of specks held pretty steady in numbers over the week, birds coming in from 3 directions, about 3-5000 or so, maybe 10 ponds for them to roost on, only 2 or 3 they were using steadily.. The other built up from say 10 to about 20,000 over the week, and it was somewhat closer to a fourth major roost in the area, that has water.
If the rest of southern AB is like here, for duck ponds, it might be tough sledding for local ducks for the next few years. Felt sort of guilty shooting one shoveler for a frozen training duck for the pup. Ponds that usually hold thousands of ducks are bone dry. Looked good up til July, then the ponds started disappearing in the heat wave.
You don't know tl you look, and you have to be out there to find them.