Jennifer

I wanted to get out this season down here in Catt. county but I still haven't been able to find permission anywhere. A bit jealous of you guys that have a place to go. I want to hunt them for the meat-- yeah, really. I'm also a bit baffled about those that don't like goose. I normally cube it up, sear, and put it into stew in the slow cooker or dutch oven... I treat it like beef. My dad, who dislikes "fowl", thought it was beef or good venison. I've also cooked up a breast medium rare sous vide and it was very good. It's not strong (I'm not a fan of strong tasting meat/liver/etc).

Mature puffballs are fun. Kids love to poke them and see the smoke puff come out (spores). Heck, adults do, too. I admit to stopping and nudging them with a toe while hunting, sometimes.

If you can't find one here, you might try the taxidermy.net forums. Sometimes those folks have birds to legally gift. Sent in an insulated box, frozen, with some freezer packs overnighted is the way to go.

Here's the gateway drug goose from last year. The guides had me pose with my duck stamp, they got a huge kick that I was using my own stamp on my first waterfowl hunt. Only the top goose is mine; the others are from the good shooting from the rest of the group. Foolishly I didn't think to test the nontoxic shells I was using that day in my shotgun, and my gun didn't like to eject them properly and jammed after the first shot. I will still tickled as could be to have been there honestly so I wasn't even mad! CRCS is who sponsored my hunt and I am very thankful. This was in Allegany.

Thank you all so much for the kind advice! Most of my family thinks I am a fool but I just can't stop dreaming about waterfowling! Thanks so much for the recommendations! I'll look into those. Fortunately I birdwatch enough and have lived here long enough not to have grand dreams of waves and waves of birds coming in! Any waterfowl hunting is pretty exciting to me so I'm okay with not being on a major flightpath. I'm not looking to be wading in any moving water, nor anything that I know is more than a few feet deep now that it's winter. I'll be safe and my husband will be with me. Neither of us are a fan of taking a swim! Getting soaked can be just as easy as getting soaked in a river, if I get clumsy in a flooded field. I suppose the only difference is there's no change to get swept away in a puddle. The sealed pack with a change of fresh clothes is a great idea even if we will be near shallow water. I appreciate that bit of advice! The goose I took last year was just a few feet before landing, I would rather watch the birds circle and leave than take long shots on them, especially without a dog. I love these beautiful birds too much than to needlessly cripple them. Thanks all again for the advice. It's probably unlikely I'll be going out before the 15th of Jan rolls around just because I haven't gotten permission anywhere yet but we'll see. Maybe I'll find someplace before the March goose season.

I am not new to hunting but I'm new to waterfowl hunting. My dad taught me to hunt but he hates the water so this is just something I never learned. Last year I was gifted a guided hunt (from a blind). It was a slow day and only one small group of birds came in, but I shot my first goose and I loved it. Waterfowling is so much different than the deer/turkey/squirrel hunting I grew up learning, and it's very gear-intensive, which is new to me as my gear to date has pretty much been limited to some hand me down hunting clothes and a firearm. I live in a small place and have no way to have a dog nor a boat in my current situation. I don't have a garage/basement/attic or even a closet so storing a lot of gear is a bit of an issue for me. I just saved up for a few months, and bought my first set of neoprene chest waders, and I can probably afford a handful of decoys (will have to store them in the living room.. maybe I'll name them, haha). I know that without a dog or a boat I'm mostly limited to field hunting to minimize losses, and I'm okay with that. For now I'd love to goose hunt, I find the meat on par with good venison! Am I nuts for trying to do this on a very small budget and with very little gear? They say that you find a way to do what you love despite hurdles. I'm trying, with my limited resources. I'm also having trouble finding a place to hunt. In the past year I've approached several farmers with fields but no luck so far. I'm a member of DU but I feel it'd be rude for me to ask someone to take me along so I can learn the ropes. I know people are very protective of their spots, which I understand. The state lands around here are wooded; great for deer, squirrel, turkey, but not so much for geese. I'm feeling a bit daunted. I don't know anyone within many hours drive that waterfowl hunts. Any advice? For reference, I live in Southwestern NY, near Olean.

The kind folks from CRCS Outdoors (Cuba Rushford) took me out on a waterfowl hunt yesterday. It's always been my dream to find someone to help me learn how to waterfowl hunt, as I find it very different than any deer, turkey, or squirrel hunting I've done all my life. It's also something I was afraid I could never do, since I can't have a dog and our car is not good for carrying a boat. After I won the Duck Stamp, CRCS did an interview with me and asked me along on a waterfowl hunt locally with Southern Tier Outfitters, we thought it would be neat for me to hunt waterfowl for the first time while using the stamp I painted! I felt very honored. We were finally able to get out yesterday during the second season in Allegany. The outfitters said that this area has been tough due to the unseasonably warm weather we've had and they've been able to get very few ducks to come in at all. We were in a large blind (these guys even have a mini kitchen) and were well concealed. We had a few mallards scope us out and circle out of range, and one pair of common mergansers fly high without even giving the wetland a second look. Around 11, I believe, we saw some geese far off along the Allegany River, and the guides called them in to us. I took one as they came in, but my 870 wouldn't cycle the rounds and jammed as I ejected the first shell. Stupid of me not to check beforehand, but lesson learned. Turns out the bird I shot was banded, and the group lit up with excitement. We were being filmed for the CRCS show and they urged me to call the band in on camera. I did, and as soon as I got through on the band reporting hotline and got to giving them my info, a pair of mallards came in, of course! I got low and tried to finish the call quietly and quickly. By the time I got off the call the mallards were still around but had moved out of range. I was embarrassed that they waited for me instead of taking them, but I appreciated the gesture, it was really kind. Anyhow, it was amazing and I feel super honored to have been invited and enjoyed it very much. I'm very thankful to CRCS, Scott Jordan, and thank you very much to Craig Southard and Patrick Stayer of Southern Tier Outfitters! I can only claim the top goose, but am so thankful for even one! They have more photos on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/391324224291983/photos/pcb.956512284439838/956512234439843/?type=3&theater

Yikes, reminds me why I don't post here often. Regretful, given that on this forum there can be good information shared and a sense of brotherhood (or sisterhood; whatever). It's sad because I catch flack from other women because I hunt; I catch flack (and the wrong kind of attention) from guys because I'm a woman. I have few to turn to and talk about hunting without feeling like, well, the odd woman out. Doubly sad because I am deeply involved in conservation issues with the FWS, and I do public outreach to try to garner support of hunting and sustainable conservation on a regular basis now. Despite often feeling unwelcome by BOTH sides. Anyhow, it doesn't do much good to post this stuff but I really do hope that everyone is careful about ticks, Lyme disease, and other tick-borne diseases (as there are a few others, and all are nasty). Best wishes, all.

I contracted Lyme over 20 years ago. Back then not many doctors knew it even existed. My dad found the bullseye rash on my neck and took me to the Dr and actually had to educate much of the hospital staff via his issue of Outdoor Life that had a photo of the rash and a description of the disease. Unfortunately I was not treated properly due to doctor ignorance and I have suffered chronic problems since. It's nothing to mess with. The only thing I can possibly relate it to is having an autoimmune disease, I have okay days and also really bad days. I am only 33 but my joints often feel like I have advanced arthritis and I often feel very weak and tired when I shouldn't. If you can catch ticks before they attach or shortly after, all the better. Please use an approved removal method to help further prevent infection.

I appreciate the humor in threads like this as we all poke fun at ourselves and our SOs, but the more serious comments always bum me out a bit, I admit. I know it might blow your mind, but some of us wives have a mutual respect with our spouses. In other news, my brother just took his hunter's education course and reported that around 50% of the kids taking it were girls. I won't be surprised to see threads the reverse of this in 20 years.

I am nearly 100% sure I already signed, but have been so busy that I can't recall for sure, so I signed. Apologies if I signed twice.

I have, and actually my unexpected publicity has put me in contact with a lot more local folk. Unfortunately the story is often the same... either the property is said to be full or already overhunted, or leased. I do understand why people lease, especially given NYS property taxes, but it's rough when one can't swing the yearly costs. I am nostalgic for my youth when offering to help at the farm or help with property maintenence was a a fair trade for access.

I have been traveling a lot and just got the chance yesterday to get my license, and my dad likes to get his license in person so I always wait for him and go with him and my husband, sort of a tradition we have. We all had preference points, and were trying to get a DMP for the only private land we currently have permission to hunt. PP required for this DMU. My husband had 2 preference points so we thought he'd get one, but nope! He now has three Preference Points. My dad and I with one PP each also were denied a tag. The deer populations here vary quite a bit within the DMU so it's a little frustrating, especially since I really deer hunt for venison. We would have put a different unit for our second choice but none of the public land within a reasonable drive had available DMPs.

Thank you! Glad you liked it!

Yes, I signed it to Postmaster Paula Clark at the Westons Mills post office, as she is our postmaster and also did our hometown sales of the stamp.

I am, there is more info on my site here: http://featherdust.com/duckstamp/ Also if anyone buys an extra stamp that they want signed, I will do that at no cost as long as one includes a self-addressed/stamped envelope for me to return it.

I am thankful that this conversation is even occuring, Doc. It gives me hope and shows me that we are thoughtful on this subject, even if we don't all agree.

This is true; in the long term things would swing back and forth then balance out. But the long term- in terms of ecology- is not within a human lifespan. Sometimes it is not within many generations. If we (admittedly, selfishly) want to conserve what we have and not let things get worse before they get better, management is important. Humanity has altered enough natural processes through habitat destruction and fragmentation, predator loss (I know we have yotes by the handful now, but trust me it's still a very different picture than predation 300 years ago), invasive species, logging of yesteryear, agriculture, etc. We're talking about a lot more than overpopulated deer eating ornamental flowers and gardens in the suburbs. Overbrowsing of native species is already a problem in some areas, and long-term will change the forest ecosystems for centuries (Not that we haven't already). Add in the invasive species that are quick to take over deer-disturbed areas (that deer seem to ignore) and our ecosystems change even more rapidly. In time... centuries, yes, it would balance. Animals would adapt or get wiped out. Same with plants (which are an important part of the conservation picture but are often overlooked). Earth has gone through countless cycles like this. Selfishly, I want it to slow down (for, we have artificially accelerated it!) so that more species have time to adapt, and that future generations of people can enjoy some of the things I do. Anyhow I don't want to debate much, just wanted to toss in some cents. Hunters were the original conservationists, and I think to continue being conservationists is important to our future, both as hunters as well as nature-lovers.

Many thanks to you all... I was browsing back through archives to find a different topic and stumbled across this. I apologize that I missed it before now! I sure wasn't trying to ignore you all. I'm really honored, thank you.

Yes, it is the first $25 stamp. This seems like a harsh jump, but the last time the stamp went up in price was 1991. Inflation is a nasty beast, and $15 in 2015 is just not as powerful as it was in 1991 for doing conservation work, much of which is land acquisition and easements. If it kept up with inflation fully, the stamp would actually be at around $26.

A very sincere thank you goes out to Gabe and the rest of the folks that could make it to my hometown celebration! If anyone couldn't attend but wants a signed stamp (etc) just drop me an email.

The stamp is now officially released! You can get the self-adhesive (shown above) from most post offices (call first, some don't carry it) and sporting goods counters. If you are a collector and prefer the gummed style, you can order them: http://www.fws.gov/birds/get-involved/duck-stamp/buy-duck-stamp.php If you want an artist-signed stamp and aren't local, get in touch with me and I will help you out! We're also having a hometown event to celebrate the stamp release here in NY. It will be in the Olean/Westons Mills/Portville area on July 18th. It's free and open to the public, and we'll have special cancellations available, signing, and some pretty nice raffles. Bass Pro donated a bunch of really nice stuff to this so we have stuff like a nice trailcam, a nice goose call, some hunting gear, etc. Cutco also donated a really nice hunting knife.

In my experience permetherin isn't really a repellant for quick bite-and-go insects like mosquitoes or flies. It acts a bit more slowly and kills critters that stay on you for more than a few seconds, due to the way it impacts their biology. I'm not sure if the Sawyers has a repellant in it (if so it's not listed in the active ingredients, but maybe it's an inert ingredient) to help with mosquitoes. Maybe it does? For fast bugs, DEET is probably your best overall choice as it works well as a repellant.

Make sure you use the liquid kind to soak and then dry clothing. I find Sawyer's very spendy, and instead I buy this http://www.amazon.com/Martins-Permethrin-10%25-32oz-Quart/dp/B00061MSS0/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1432318174&sr=1-1&keywords=permetherin+10%25 I get a gallon of water and mix 6.5 oz/gallon of the 10% solution to make the 0.5% mixture equivalent of Sawyer's. I always spray my clothing with this solution in a spray bottle, to the point of saturation, that way I don't have any leftover permethrin mixture to discard (it's very toxic to aquatic life). The Martin's brand of permetherin I have does NOT contain petroleum distillates, unlike some brands. I highly recommend that if you use this method, you seek out a band that does NOT contain petroleum distillates. This is off-label use, so use at your own risk. I find it works very, very well but your mileage may vary. Use common sense and follow all label warnings.

If you (or anyone else reading this) has trouble with GeoCachers on public lands during hunting season, you might consider signing up for the Geocaching.com website and politely notifying the owners of the caches on that property that there are active hunters using the property as well, and the durations of the seasons. Most cache owners will 'close' the caches during hunting seasons (both to be polite but also because they may see it as a safety risk) and most GeoCachers are courteous.