BeeMaa
AH ambassador
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2017
- Messages
- 7,367
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- Location
- Alexandria, VA USA
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- 148
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- 1
- Member of
- NRA Life Member, SCI Member
- Hunted
- Eastern US & RSA
I will be doing a Goose hunt with a good friend in NY. For the purposes of internet anonymity, we will call him IGS. The two of us have been hunting, fishing, motorcycling and doing wood projects together for nearly 10 years. He has a place not too far from me in VA and another house on a lake in Upstate NY, and it's in NY that this hunt will take place.
This will specifically be an early season (September) hunt to remove non-migratory Canada Goose. Because they don't migrate, they have lost their fear of humans and in many cases can be seen chasing them in parking lots or on the golf course. They have become a nuisance. As a result of this the daily bag limit is 15 per person per day for the zone we will be hunting. This is in stark contrast to the migratory bird season limit of 1 bird per day per person. The message is clear...fill your freezer early and let the migratory birds fly on.
When I was up there in May of this year for a trout fishing trip, we did some early scouting to see what may look good come fall. Geese were everywhere and as I mentioned earlier, have no fear of us whether we were walking through the marsh or floating down a stream. Getting them within 15 yards was easy. If conditions are even close to what they were in May, we will have Goose sausage on the smoker before the week is out.
Methods of take will vary. IGS is doing more scouting now and figuring out the patterns they are using. As hunters, we both understand the importance of having the latest intel. We are looking at 3 places to do blind hunting and depending on water levels could be doing floats down some of the waterways on kayaks or a float boat. Of course doing a float presents an opportunity for cast and blast, but we will see how things progress. The multiple blinds are for rotation purposes so we don't over-hunt one place and scare all the game away.
The gear we will be using is pretty standard stuff. I'll be using my SBE3 while IGS will be using his Browning Maxus and Browning Cynergy. All of the shotguns are capable of shooting 3.5" shells and have Carlson's chokes rated for TSS. Of course the Black Cloud TSS I received from @Mark Biggerstaff (aka @R&M FIREARMS) will be making the trip along with some Turkey loads I have laying around. IGS has some Hevi-Shot leftover from last season, but we are both really interested to see how well the TSS performs. I'll link the TSS thread I started below and post some of my findings there.
One interesting note is that the Browning Cynergy that I bought (before IGS bought his I might add) came out to the sporting clays range with me yesterday. I shot both the SBE3 and the Cynergy on 3 different stands in preparation of this hunt. The fit of the Cynergy really didn't work well for me and it showed in the lack of broken clays. The SBE3 came up naturally and broke nearly everything that flew using a FULL choke. I've said it before and I'll say it again...gun fit matters, especially for instinctive style shooting. The Cynergy will be staying home while the SBE3 will be going on its first Goose hunt.
Chest waders, boots, blinds, gear bags...bla, bla, bla. It's all pretty similar stuff to anyone who has gone waterfowling and found what works. I have less than 2 weeks before I leave, so I've started laying out my gear and getting stuff ready to go. The only new thing I've purchased is a dry-line blind bag from Dive Bomb Industries and it looks like it will work nicely. Trying to keep ammo dry with everything around you being wet is a challenge, this should make it easier. Any other gear suggestions are welcome as well.
I'll do my best to keep this thread updated while in NY, but given the choice of being on the computer or hunting...it's not even close. Thanks in advance for your understanding about this. I'm holding off on any pictures because I know the first one I post will be the "cover photo". I want it to be a good one.
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/tss-ammo-is-it-worth-it.66788/
This will specifically be an early season (September) hunt to remove non-migratory Canada Goose. Because they don't migrate, they have lost their fear of humans and in many cases can be seen chasing them in parking lots or on the golf course. They have become a nuisance. As a result of this the daily bag limit is 15 per person per day for the zone we will be hunting. This is in stark contrast to the migratory bird season limit of 1 bird per day per person. The message is clear...fill your freezer early and let the migratory birds fly on.
When I was up there in May of this year for a trout fishing trip, we did some early scouting to see what may look good come fall. Geese were everywhere and as I mentioned earlier, have no fear of us whether we were walking through the marsh or floating down a stream. Getting them within 15 yards was easy. If conditions are even close to what they were in May, we will have Goose sausage on the smoker before the week is out.
Methods of take will vary. IGS is doing more scouting now and figuring out the patterns they are using. As hunters, we both understand the importance of having the latest intel. We are looking at 3 places to do blind hunting and depending on water levels could be doing floats down some of the waterways on kayaks or a float boat. Of course doing a float presents an opportunity for cast and blast, but we will see how things progress. The multiple blinds are for rotation purposes so we don't over-hunt one place and scare all the game away.
The gear we will be using is pretty standard stuff. I'll be using my SBE3 while IGS will be using his Browning Maxus and Browning Cynergy. All of the shotguns are capable of shooting 3.5" shells and have Carlson's chokes rated for TSS. Of course the Black Cloud TSS I received from @Mark Biggerstaff (aka @R&M FIREARMS) will be making the trip along with some Turkey loads I have laying around. IGS has some Hevi-Shot leftover from last season, but we are both really interested to see how well the TSS performs. I'll link the TSS thread I started below and post some of my findings there.
One interesting note is that the Browning Cynergy that I bought (before IGS bought his I might add) came out to the sporting clays range with me yesterday. I shot both the SBE3 and the Cynergy on 3 different stands in preparation of this hunt. The fit of the Cynergy really didn't work well for me and it showed in the lack of broken clays. The SBE3 came up naturally and broke nearly everything that flew using a FULL choke. I've said it before and I'll say it again...gun fit matters, especially for instinctive style shooting. The Cynergy will be staying home while the SBE3 will be going on its first Goose hunt.
Chest waders, boots, blinds, gear bags...bla, bla, bla. It's all pretty similar stuff to anyone who has gone waterfowling and found what works. I have less than 2 weeks before I leave, so I've started laying out my gear and getting stuff ready to go. The only new thing I've purchased is a dry-line blind bag from Dive Bomb Industries and it looks like it will work nicely. Trying to keep ammo dry with everything around you being wet is a challenge, this should make it easier. Any other gear suggestions are welcome as well.
I'll do my best to keep this thread updated while in NY, but given the choice of being on the computer or hunting...it's not even close. Thanks in advance for your understanding about this. I'm holding off on any pictures because I know the first one I post will be the "cover photo". I want it to be a good one.
https://www.africahunting.com/threads/tss-ammo-is-it-worth-it.66788/