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GEESE!!!

Lawdwaz

By Lawdwaz,
in Waterfowl Hunting

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Lawdwaz Grand Master

Lawdwaz

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I got a call this morning from a friend in Pendleton who informed me that a flock of 80-100 honkers was set up in his rye field.  Thats the good news, the bad news is I have obligations morning and evening until Wednesday evening, bummer.

 

I grabbed a Migratory Bird stamp at the PO this afternoon, now I need a HIP number.  Cigars are in the truck..............

 

Hopefully they are still in the area and nobody else gets into them by the time I get there but doubtful.  I'll dig out the full body dekes from the loft, dust off the goose call, hunt down some triple B's from the cabinet and grab the SBE. 

 

Wait till the dog gets wind of this caper. :D

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covert Newbie

covert

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Man I think that would be fun as balls, someday I gotta try it.

On a whim I decided to get a duck stamp this year, never done it before.  A fellow stopped and got permission from my father to hunt on his place and they were good enough to let me join them.  I haven't had that much fun in years!  My wife told me to go and try it to get it out of my system.  Fooled her though because now I need some decoys, a layout blind, new shotgun and a dog.  I don't even like dogs... :rolleyes:  :cheese:

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mike rossi Newbie

mike rossi

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On a whim I decided to get a duck stamp this year, never done it before.  A fellow stopped and got permission from my father to hunt on his place and they were good enough to let me join them.  I haven't had that much fun in years!  My wife told me to go and try it to get it out of my system.  Fooled her though because now I need some decoys, a layout blind, new shotgun and a dog.  I don't even like dogs... :rolleyes:  :cheese:

Hunt waterfowl for a year or two, you will start to like dogs...

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Lawdwaz Grand Master

Lawdwaz

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I hunted yesterday morning.  I missed on the setup as the wind was nil..........I should have remembered that when it is dead calm, they will usually come in from the north east due to the south west prevailing wind. (at least in my experience)

 

The first group came in just outside of shooting range and totaled about 25 birds.........damn.  They landed and hung around for a few minutes before Wonder Dog sent them packing.  I gave her the green light as I figured any other birds would just land there and present no shot.  They flew off and about 10 minutes later about a dozen came in.  Bam, bam and bam........nothing.  Nice shooting stud.

 

WTH, I was excited. 

 

The next group came 10-15 minutes later and to be honest I don't recall how many were in that group.  One fell to my second shot.  (the first shot was just a warning shot. :cheese: )

 

At that point I grabbed a couple more shells and found I had been using my 3" BB and in my bucket I had some 3.5" BB loads.  I know, I know.......who needs 3.5" loads ??  Well I emptied the chamber and magazine and reloaded with the Roman Candles!!  At least that was the plan!! 

 

I moved a bit further down the hedge row to the north to see if I could get a better angle as they came in and it worked.  A pair came in and gave me the PERFECT shot opportunity; I pulled up as they were just about to touch down and CLICK.  SOB what they frig???  Oh yea, when you reload the gun you should toss one into the chamber too.   UGGH!

 

They flared and were never seen again.  Word got out to the rest of the resident birds and no more came in.  All I saw after that were a couple very distant flocks of geese, some mosquitoes and a ship load of doves.

 

All in all it was another great day to be alive.  The weather was stellar and we had a great time Miss Jenny and I.

 

I'll see if I can get a pic or two up from  my phone.

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Lawdwaz Grand Master

Lawdwaz

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In the pic of the gees. If they were that close you should have just thrown rocks at them...lol

 

Dekes..........

 

I only have a dozen and a half goose decoys, 12 full body and 6 shells.  I figured for this little jaunt 6 would be fine since I didn't know for sure if I could drive in or not.  In hind site I could have taken a tractor trailer load as the farm lane was perfect for the job!  I have them rigged so I can carry a dozen, six over each shoulder if I have to but its awkward.  

 

Its been close to 15 years since I've really hunted geese specifically IIRC.  We used to hit them pretty good back when they first started the Nuisance Season all over Niagara County and a little down in Cattaraugus County near Rainbow Lake.

 

After I started dove hunting in PA something had to give as the month of September only afforded just so much free time and the dove were/are more fun than a barrel of monkey's!

 

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mike rossi Newbie

mike rossi

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When you hunt off your back you can only use so many decoys. The trend among waterfowlers has been realism - full bodies and flocked heads and tails but I go with the lightest weight, Off course the lightweight dekes are always as durable either, another trade off. When I was in the Midwest, were the wind always blows, wind socks were great. With that wind, even if you could use full bodies the motion trumps. They make some that stay half open without wind, but for me, I just don't feel confident looking at a pile of garbage in the field. I compromise with silhouettes, but lugging the stakes isn't that easy. I found a few foam shells, but when the wind does blow, you sometimes have problems, plus you have to attach the heads in the dark, another step. They came out with a full body foam, but many people have complained the shape doesn't bounce back. People also have complained about the carry lite shell deforming and geese flaring from the slotted appearance. I am thinking of trying a few inflatables (Cherokee sports), at least a few for motion with the silos. IMO inflating them at 3 am isn't an option, so carrying them out inflated may be lighter, but the bulk is still there. So I am thinking a few mixed in with the silos for motion. Another problem with the silos is the mud accumulating on the stakes, but I haven't found a better compromise. Forget about assembling/disassembling the stakes from them as well, that would be impractical if not impossible in the cold/dark. Gotta be careful with those stakes though, including the dog.

 

Don't kid yourself with more and more guys learning to kill 50, 60, 100 Canada geese a weekend it will make interest in dove hunting in NY harder. You know bag limit on doves 15; bag limit on September geese 15....  With the limit on snows even more (25 a day) as more guys learn to hunt them fewer will have a desire for doves. But as you know, 6 dove decoys fit in your pocket or you can hunt dove without decoys, so dove hunting would open up more opportunities for more people or just give goose hunters an occasional break from a more rigorous hunt. Since the DEC wants populations of both Canada and snow geese reduced, that is another reason they may not be as enthused about a dove season - it might reduce the harvest of geese, especially the September canadas... I know I will continue to hunt both. As a matter of fact, I often hunt with a dove shell in one barrel and a goose shell in the other barrel, set both decoys and use the barrel selector...

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