Hunting Canada geese is exciting challenge Adult birds test hunters’ skills

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Each hunter and angler has a special quarry that stirs his blood with the challenge of the chase more than any other.

For many fly casters it’s the high leaping, hard fighting Atlantic salmon, and for other anglers it’s a 100-pound plus tarpon, the silver King of salt water. This archer may live fall to fall for the chance at a regal whitetail buck ghosting through a snow- lined fir thicket.

That black powder gunner has the breath catch in his throat at the thought of finally bringing his sights to bear on a magnificent bull moose barging through a pond side cedar bog.

For me it’s the unmistakable calls and set-winged approach of the majestic Canada goose that makes my heart swell and flutter like young love in the spring. Had I to pick only one outdoor pursuit for the rest of my life – fish, fowl or big game – without question it would be the wary, wily Canada honker. Over the years I’ve traveled to Maryland’s eastern shore, New York’s Finger Lakes, Connecticut , Quebec and New Brunswick for great goose gunning.

I never thought I’d see the day Maine would have a huntable population of Canadas. Much to my amazement, and immense delight, Pine Tree populations of native geese, and numbers of flight birds stopping over to rest, feed and fatten up during their trip south, have hop scotched higher each fall for the last decade. During the height of the season, from the Crown of Maine to the southern sea shore, goose gunners can enjoy action of enviable standards throughout New England.

Native goose season

Thanks to transplanted seed stock, Maine has a thriving population of native geese so healthy and widespread that waterfowlers have been able to enjoy a short but fruitful and action-packed early goose season since 1996. Generally this early hunt gets under way the day after Labor Day and runs through Sept. 25.

For various reasons, shooting success is somewhat higher than throughout the regular October and November season, so this would be a great time to initiate a neophyte honker hunter to the sport.

Adult Canada geese are renowned for their extremely sharp eyesight, intense wariness and cunning nature, but during this month’s hunt a lot of the birds will be young and uneducated.

Don’t take this to mean stupid, because few geese can be painted with that brush, yet geese born in the spring gain a good deal in size, but less in caution, experience and survival skills by September.

Within a month, honkers that survive errors in judgment during the early season will be far wiser and more difficult to hunt. Geese migrating from the north will have been hunted and shot at during their entire flight, so these birds will be extremely suspicious and vigilant, and difficult to hunt with constant success when they stop over to rest and feed.

Set routines, proximity to humans, and inexperience are the factors that will work against the geese and in favor of the hunters during this early season. Many geese inhabit waterways near houses, roads and even parks, where humans are passing by or visiting all summer.

The birds let down their natural guard somewhat and young geese get used to seeing people around. This particular advantage is short lived however once the shooting begins and within a week of opening day most geese are much smarter or in a freezer.

Summer routines such as using the same roost pond, resting on the same lake or river at midday and flying a regular route to food plots in a particular region are all habits a smart September sportsman can use in his favor.

September strategies

Just as during the regular goose season, field hunting is very productive this month due to ingrained habits of local birds. Each day the geese will leave the water just after dawn and again in the late afternoon to visit nearby fields with abundant food.

As days grow colder the birds will spend longer periods eating, but currently a feeding visit may last only an hour. If honkers are visiting a certain field in the morning, chances are good they will return in the afternoon, and afternoon feeding flocks will likely be back bright and early the next day.

Once a favorable food plot is located, it’s just a matter of being on hand an hour before the geese are expected, to set out decoys and arrange a blind. A great plus to hunting the early season is that geese will respond to fewer decoys.

Whereas later in the fall when birds are much more skittish, it may take more than 100 decoys to bring geese into range consistently, one or two dozen dekes will do the job this month.

Field gunners can use lay-out blinds such as the Final Approach Top Gun or Eliminator models to conceal themselves, or a two- or three-man hay bale blind that resembles the real large rolled bales of hay seen in many fields.

Goose chairs are reclined back rests that lay on the ground and are covered by a huge goose decoy the hunter lays under. These sit among the spread of decoys and flip up to allow shooting. Goose chairs are lightweight, fairly inexpensive and very effective, but not much protection in nasty weather. Fast, easy and least expensive of all is a 7- by 4-foot blanket of camouflage cloth that matches the colors of autumn grain fields, which can be spread out to lay under. Don’t gun a field more than twice per week and geese will keep returning until the food is gone.

Waiting for geese to leave their roost or rest water on a feeding spree, and setting out decoys in their absence is also effective. A dozen floating dekes and a dozen full bodies or silhouettes along the shore, on the tip of a nearby island or on a gravel bar will work like a charm. Then shooters need only throw together a makeshift blind in the bank-side trees and brush, or lay in the island’s deep grass to hide and wait. Without fail, the geese will follow their summer routine and return to their favorite locations after feeding, only this time good scouting and pre- planning will have you waiting.

Another water hunting option that’s very productive during midday, when geese are resting and digesting in the warm sun, is floating likely rivers and streams. One man steers and paddles from the stern, quietly keeping the canoe close to the shoreline and tight on inside curves, corners and twists. In the front of the boat the second hunter sits, shotgun ready, eyes scanning, just waiting for birds to flush. Once a goose is downed, the two sports change positions and continue the float.

On long open stretches of river, especially where islands or bars are present, use binoculars to scan far ahead for groups of relaxing geese. If a flock is spotted, it’s best to put the boat ashore and sneak up on foot through the shoreline brush. Try to get one man below the honkers and one above before moving in. Executed properly, both hunters will get some shooting when the geese flush.

Goose gunning gear

Although a 12 gauge is the most popular shotgun for these big-bodied birds, closer shots are likely during the September season and many youth and small-framed female hunters get the job done with 16 and 20 gauges. Steel shot or a non-toxic substitute is a must, and although the price is higher, bismuth or Hevi-Shot is far more effective than steel. Size 2 pellets give a perfect combination of pattern density and penetration for September shooting.

Camouflage clothing will greatly improve the odds of coaxing geese into close range. Even in the best cover, gloves and a full face masks are great assets, since these parts of the body move and stand out the most. Call or use a flag to get the attention of distant flocks, then let the decoys do their job. Call less as the birds approach and remain motionless until it’s time to shoot. Geese have the eyesight of a 10-power rifle scope and inadvertent hunter motion flares more birds than any other shortcoming.

Before you head afield this month, remember that besides a regular hunting license, each waterfowler needs a state duck stamp from the town office ($8) and a Federal duck stamp from the post office ($15). There are two weeks left in this year’s native goose season, and it’s a comfortable and productive time to be afield. September goose season is perfect for newcomers to the sport and old veterans alike, so gear up and get out there while the early season honkers are flying strong and steady.

Outdoor feature writer Bill Graves can be reached via e-mail at bgravesoutdoors@ainop.com