USA: Conservation Goose Hunt NY 2023

[Dinsdale]

Stick around to Saturday and early antlerless deer and bear open near the area you are hunting.

 

[BeeMaa]

Stick around to Saturday and early antlerless deer and bear open near the area you are hunting.

That would be nice but I’m being pulled back to the real world for obligations at work. Plus it gives IGS a chance to reset his gear for the new season and do a little scouting.

 

[BeeMaa]

8 SEP – It’s been a couple of days since I’ve been back and I thought I’d go over a few gear items that stood out on the hunt.

First would have to be the Federal Black Cloud TSS BB/7. The effectiveness of this ammo can NOT be overstated. We watched several times as other hunters banged away with steel shot, only to wound birds. The TSS knocked them down hard. Did we have cripples, sure…but they weren’t flying anywhere. We lost a couple of birds for sure, but it’s my opinion that it was kept to a minimum in large part to the hard-hitting ammo.

And I can’t talk about ammo without mentioning the vessel used to deliver the devastation. The Benelli SBE3 never hickuped despite having being dunked in the river on more than one occasion along with hay from fields and other debris in the action…it went BANG every time I wanted. Of course, it was properly field stripped and cleaned at the end of each day.

Other top performers were the Dive Bomb Blind Bag, Simms waders, Korker’s wader boots and the Havalon Piranta knife with replacement blades. They worked as they should even when not treated in the best manner. Seems like waterfowling is particularly hard on gear and I’m happy to give them the credit they deserve.

I’m trying to remember now, but I don’t believe there was any gear that we (IGS and myself) were using that had fallen short of expectations. There were a few instances of other hunters who had waders with leaks or shotguns that jammed…etc, but it also seemed like they didn’t take care of their kit either. Have to expect problems if you don’t take care of things.

 

[BeeMaa]

Now for the new gear and their first hunting test…

TETRA Custom Shield – Were awesome for about 15 minutes until the batteries went dead because I had neglected to change them prior to the hunt. Obviously not their fault, and totally on me. I used my backup custom molded plugs for the remainder of the trip out of laziness. Didn’t feel like going to the store for “hearing aid” batteries when I knew I had some at home. Maybe next time.

Leica CRF 3500.com was in by bag or around my neck at all times. An invaluable tool. I tried it out on several occasions when it was foggy to range a bank on the river, perfect every time regardless of the weather. The 7x zoom combined with being so compact made it perfect for the job. I wouldn’t leave for another hunting trip without it.

Drake Side Opening gun slip worked as advertised. Excellent protection of my SBE3 while riding in the bed of a truck or being carried into a field. After the hunt, I was able to hang it up, open the Velcro closure to brush out any debris and let it dry overnight. By morning it was ready to go do it all again.

Lastly is an honorable mention because it didn’t make the trip. A “Rookie Edition” Big Kahuna Goose Call from Big Sean’s Championship Calls didn’t arrive until after I’d left for NY. Since I’ve been back, I’ve been making some killer calls with this thing. By no means am I pro caller, but this call makes it much easier. After just a few minutes I was able to really start sounding like a goose. Of course, I’ll need a lot more practice, but I’m hoping by next season to hone my skills to a higher level.

All of these will be making the trip next year.

 

[BourbonTrail]

I use the gear reviews from your hunts to make my list of must buys when I finally get around to goose hunting. Thanks again for another great water-fowling report.

 

[BeeMaa]

Enough about the gear, time for some self-reflection…how did I perform on this hunt? In all honesty, I would have like to have done better. I was certainly better than most of the people I hunted with, but that is not the standard I hold myself to. There was one time on the river when I took a passing shot on a goose that I thought was a stretch…and it was. I hit the bird in the body with the first shot, not the head. Second shot was a complete miss. IGS and I ended up chasing that bird about a mile downriver to recover it, then had to row upriver to the takeout point. A tiring lesson on top of a long opening day of hunting. Did we recover the bird, yes…but that’s not the point. I can make better decisions about when to shoot and when to hold. I have to be honest with myself about my skills and do better in the future. It also shows that I need to practice more. If I were to grade myself, I’d say a B- or C+ by my standards. Definitely a lot of room for improvement.

@HankBuck - Gonna need some pointers from you on the clays range.

The last thing I’d like to say in wrapping up this thread is a big thanks to IGS and the entire crew I hunted with in NY. The way everyone works together, helps each other and all continue to learn from one another. Calling, scouting, shooting, gear…it’s just awesome to hunt with people like that. Waterfowling seems to bring a lot of hunters together to enjoy the experience all at the same time, which can be in sharp contrast to other hunting like whitetail or bear. It was a really good time. I’m looking forward to possibly going back for the migratory goose season in December or January.

Just so you can see IGS in his element, here’s a pic of him making us breakfast on opening day between the morning and afternoon hunts.

I’d also like to thank everyone for following along with this hunt. It’s been a good trip, although I need to incorporate more pictures next time. I vow to do better next time. Cheers.

 

[BeeMaa]

I use the gear reviews from your hunts to make my list of must buys when I finally get around to goose hunting. Thanks again for another great water-fowling report.

There are a few more items I'm looking at getting. First is a layout blind. I had to borrow one from one of IGS's friends, it worked very well but I may want my own in the future.

Second is maybe contributing some $ to split a dedicated waterfowling/fishing kayak (like a NuCanoe Frontier 12) for this type of hunting. Could be a worthwhile investment but we'll see. The inflatable kayaks that he has were OK, but there are advantages to having a hard-sided one.

 

[HankBuck]

Enough about the gear, time for some self-reflection…how did I perform on this hunt? In all honesty, I would have like to have done better. I was certainly better than most of the people I hunted with, but that is not the standard I hold myself to. There was one time on the river when I took a passing shot on a goose that I thought was a stretch…and it was. I hit the bird in the body with the first shot, not the head. Second shot was a complete miss. IGS and I ended up chasing that bird about a mile downriver to recover it, then had to row upriver to the takeout point. A tiring lesson on top of a long opening day of hunting. Did we recover the bird, yes…but that’s not the point. I can make better decisions about when to shoot and when to hold. I have to be honest with myself about my skills and do better in the future. It also shows that I need to practice more. If I were to grade myself, I’d say a B- or C+ by my standards. Definitely a lot of room for improvement.

@HankBuck - Gonna need some pointers from you on the clays range.

The last thing I’d like to say in wrapping up this thread is a big thanks to IGS and the entire crew I hunted with in NY. The way everyone works together, helps each other and all continue to learn from one another. Calling, scouting, shooting, gear…it’s just awesome to hunt with people like that. Waterfowling seems to bring a lot of hunters together to enjoy the experience all at the same time, which can be in sharp contrast to other hunting like whitetail or bear. It was a really good time. I’m looking forward to possibly going back for the migratory goose season in December or January.

Just so you can see IGS in his element, here’s a pic of him making us breakfast on opening day between the morning and afternoon hunts.

View attachment 556074

I’d also like to thank everyone for following along with this hunt. It’s been a good trip, although I need to incorporate more pictures next time. I vow to do better next time. Cheers.

BeeMaa, did you have Fun on your goose Hunt? - sounds like you certainly did so “enjoy that”. So what if you wounded a goose - then had to finish it off later, happens to every waterfowler on every hunt - unless they are holding off and only taking the easiest of shots —- or lying/“omitting” that part the story during their hunting recaps. Nobody “head shoots” ducks and geese on a consistent basis - thats why Labrador Retrievers exist. As for the term “Conservation Goose Season” - thats a politically correct term for “kill a bunch of geese - there’s too many”.....nothing “conservation” about it. The State on NJ also conducts Spring nesting eradication, they hire people to disrupt & destroy nesting Canada geese, “paint” the eggs with oil so that they do Not hatch, round up molting geese & euthanize them. There are so many resident geese that they are damaging habitat and driving away other nesting waterfowl on small lakes & ponds. Canada Geese are both a success story and a population problem - it’s a good problem to have but they must be closely managed by Fish & Wildlife. Nothing in nature ever goes to waste - a wounded goose that escapes the hunter is later food for osprey, eagles, fox etc..
As for your shooting - you shoot fine, it’s hard to gauge yourself in a duck-blind as every shot is different and live targets often more difficult then clay birds. I think that shooting Sporting Clays and keeping score ”helps” to gauge how you’re shooting and if you’re improving and what types of shots you may want to practice. Guessing that less than 50% of all hunters practice regularly on clay targets so you might already be in the “upper 50%”.....either way it never hurts. Since You already shoot Low Gun - that helps develop a style closer to “real hunting situations”....and judging by the amount of geese you pile up — you’re shooting is already good !!

 

[BeeMaa]

BeeMaa, did you have Fun on your goose Hunt? - sounds like you certainly did so “enjoy that”. So what if you wounded a goose - then had to finish it off later, happens to every waterfowler on every hunt - unless they are holding off and only taking the easiest of shots —- or lying/“omitting” that part the story during their hunting recaps. Nobody “head shoots” ducks and geese on a consistent basis - thats why Labrador Retrievers exist. As for the term “Conservation Goose Season” - thats a politically correct term for “kill a bunch of geese - there’s too many”.....nothing “conservation” about it. The State on NJ also conducts Spring nesting eradication, they hire people to disrupt & destroy nesting Canada geese, “paint” the eggs with oil so that they do Not hatch, round up molting geese & euthanize them. There are so many resident geese that they are damaging habitat and driving away other nesting waterfowl on small lakes & ponds. Canada Geese are both a success story and a population problem - it’s a good problem to have but they must be closely managed by Fish & Wildlife. Nothing in nature ever goes to waste - a wounded goose that escapes the hunter is later food for osprey, eagles, fox etc..
As for your shooting - you shoot fine, it’s hard to gauge yourself in a duck-blind as every shot is different and live targets often more difficult then clay birds. I think that shooting Sporting Clays and keeping score ”helps” to gauge how you’re shooting and if you’re improving and what types of shots you may want to practice. Guessing that less than 50% of all hunters practice regularly on clay targets so you might already be in the “upper 50%”.....either way it never hurts. Since You already shoot Low Gun - that helps develop a style closer to “real hunting situations”....and judging by the amount of geese you pile up — you’re shooting is already good !!

Had a load of fun hunting. In part it was the hunting, but mostly it was being around like-minded people and learning together. Having moments like IGS sinking up to his shins in cow poop can make things a little more light hearted.

Yes, conservation season is a PC way of saying "kill 'em all" to stop from being overrun. My friend IGS and our friends in NY have kept up the good work, downing another 30 birds since I left. I see goose sausage in the future. It's been a good season so far.

My shooting is still up for debate and I'll continue to work on it. I know I bailed on you and the tournament this weekend, but I can't justify the money to compete against others when I really need to be concentrating (my money) on those shots I'm not so good at. I wish you all the best and hope you get 100 birds tomorrow! Knock 'em down!!!

Related to my shooting are the injured birds that need finishing. I always try for head shots because if I miss a little behind, at least I hit feathers and hopefully they go down. I will refuse to omit this part of a hunt. It happens a lot, especially with birds. I do everything I can to find the birds I've shot at and dropped but not taken cleanly. Sometimes there are lost birds and that happens, I won't deny it. But seeking out every bird I possibly can is how I was raised. It's not everyone's way of doing things, but it's how I do it. Everyone has their own code of ethics and I'll not criticize others for theirs when it comes to waterfowling. It's tough out there sometimes.

 

[HankBuck]

Had a load of fun hunting. In part it was the hunting, but mostly it was being around like-minded people and learning together. Having moments like IGS sinking up to his shins in cow poop can make things a little more light hearted.

Yes, conservation season is a PC way of saying "kill 'em all" to stop from being overrun. My friend IGS and our friends in NY have kept up the good work, downing another 30 birds since I left. I see goose sausage in the future. It's been a good season so far.

My shooting is still up for debate and I'll continue to work on it. I know I bailed on you and the tournament this weekend, but I can't justify the money to compete against others when I really need to be concentrating (my money) on those shots I'm not so good at. I wish you all the best and hope you get 100 birds tomorrow! Knock 'em down!!!

Related to my shooting are the injured birds that need finishing. I always try for head shots because if I miss a little behind, at least I hit feathers and hopefully they go down. I will refuse to omit this part of a hunt. It happens a lot, especially with birds. I do everything I can to find the birds I've shot at and dropped but not taken cleanly. Sometimes there are lost birds and that happens, I won't deny it. But seeking out every bird I possibly can is how I was raised. It's not everyone's way of doing things, but it's how I do it. Everyone has their own code of ethics and I'll not criticize others for theirs when it comes to waterfowling. It's tough out there sometimes.

BTW BeeMaa, so IGS makes You “fresh pancakes” for breakfast during these Hunts?? No wonder you love goose hunting - the gourmet meals alone are reason to go, !! Plus that guy scouts and checks out places before the season to find the best spots for geese, that’s some TOP service that any Lodge or Guide would be bragging about - take good care of that friend.

 

[BeeMaa]

For a little inside information…IGS stands for Indian Guide Service. Keep it on the DL.

Friends like him are once in a lifetime. His efforts are not lost on me.

 

[BeeMaa]

Gear update on the SBE3...

My version of field cleaning is to take off the barrel and swab it a couple of times with CLP, use compressed air to blow out the action, bolt and trigger group, use just a wee bit of CLP to lube it up, blow it out again with compressed air to make sure there isn't too much lube...put it back together. Takes me about 5 minutes from start to finish. Pretty simple and keeps it hunt ready for the next day.

I've been back for over a week and haven't done a deep clean of the shotgun because of obligations at work. I felt a deep cleaning was necessary because of the abuse I put it through in a week of waterfowling. The bore was a little dirty from not being cleaned from the last hunt, very minor buildup found in the bolt body and the action. Dried grass from our field hunt in nearly every crevice and even in the magazine tube. Ironically the magazine tube had the most gunpowder residue, even more than the action or the barrel. Not sure why that is, but it's a good reminder of how important a deep clean can be after a hunt. Everything was cleaned, lubed, blown with compressed air and put back together pretty easily.

The exception to this was getting the nut off the back of the recoil spring tube. For those that haven't done it, but need to...send me a PM and I'll go in depth. Let's say it wasn't easy but I'm glad I went to the trouble of getting it out. There was dirty water still inside the tube...shocker after submerging my shotgun a number of times over the week in silty river water. It wasn't a lot of water, but enough to cause rust if I'd left it much longer. I may look into getting a stainless steel Sure Cycle recoil tube and spring in the future, but for now I'll stick with the stock one.

Total time for the deep clean was less than half an hour if you don't count the trouble getting off the recoil spring tube. Disassembly of this (inertia drive) shotgun for a deep clean takes about 3 minutes if you have the tools handy and there's no more loctite to free up.

There are a few more scratches on the finish, more wear marks and even a couple of dings, but nothing major. It did get knocked over once when it was leaning against the truck and banged on the gravel...it happens and was totally my fault. I never should have put it where that could have happened, even if it was someone else who knocked it over...still on me. Such is life when hunting and I won't concern myself with minor cosmetic issues.

Despite the abuse and debris, the SBE3 went bang every single time I pulled the trigger, never hiccuped. It ran when it was dirty, soaking wet, after falling in the river and submerging it, with grass in the action and dirty water inside the recoil spring tube. Crazy how reliable this shotgun is.

 

[HankBuck]

Gear update on the SBE3...

My version of field cleaning is to take off the barrel and swab it a couple of times with CLP, use compressed air to blow out the action, bolt and trigger group, use just a wee bit of CLP to lube it up, blow it out again with compressed air to make sure there isn't too much lube...put it back together. Takes me about 5 minutes from start to finish. Pretty simple and keeps it hunt ready for the next day.

I've been back for over a week and haven't done a deep clean of the shotgun because of obligations at work. I felt a deep cleaning was necessary because of the abuse I put it through in a week of waterfowling. The bore was a little dirty from not being cleaned from the last hunt, very minor buildup found in the bolt body and the action. Dried grass from our field hunt in nearly every crevice and even in the magazine tube. Ironically the magazine tube had the most gunpowder residue, even more than the action or the barrel. Not sure why that is, but it's a good reminder of how important a deep clean can be after a hunt. Everything was cleaned, lubed, blown with compressed air and put back together pretty easily.

The exception to this was getting the nut off the back of the recoil spring tube. For those that haven't done it, but need to...send me a PM and I'll go in depth. Let's say it wasn't easy but I'm glad I went to the trouble of getting it out. There was dirty water still inside the tube...shocker after submerging my shotgun a number of times over the week in silty river water. It wasn't a lot of water, but enough to cause rust if I'd left it much longer. I may look into getting a stainless steel Sure Cycle recoil tube and spring in the future, but for now I'll stick with the stock one.

Total time for the deep clean was less than half an hour if you don't count the trouble getting off the recoil spring tube. Disassembly of this (inertia drive) shotgun for a deep clean takes about 3 minutes if you have the tools handy and there's no more loctite to free up.

There are a few more scratches on the finish, more wear marks and even a couple of dings, but nothing major. It did get knocked over once when it was leaning against the truck and banged on the gravel...it happens and was totally my fault. I never should have put it where that could have happened, even if it was someone else who knocked it over...still on me. Such is life when hunting and I won't concern myself with minor cosmetic issues.

Despite the abuse and debris, the SBE3 went bang every single time I pulled the trigger, never hiccuped. It ran when it was dirty, soaking wet, after falling in the river and submerging it, with grass in the action and dirty water inside the recoil spring tube. Crazy how reliable this shotgun is.

View attachment 557868

Smart move BeeMaa taking out that recoil spring - the original springs that come with the SBE are regular steel and do rust over time....I found that out because I never cleaned mine in 20 years of hunting over salt water marshes. I always striped the action, bolt carrier & trigger assemble but only sprayed oil down where the bolt retracted into the spring/plunger. I noticed in started to “sound funny” when loading, ejecting shells. Took it apart and spring so rusted - shocked it worked at all. Replaced with a stainless steel version. That area doesn’t need to be cleaned often but certainly after submerging in water or at least once a season. Beneli makes a great semi auto for hunting and charges “plenty” for that gun ($2000) so you’d think they would include a stainless spring? Fortunately that part can rust & fail and still easily be replaced — helpful for hunters like me that waited 20 years to figure that out !!