USA: Early Season Fall Goose Hunt in NY

[BourbonTrail]

aka, congratulations.

 

[gadwallop]

We decided to do a float with a two person kayak down a river and find the geese as they are on the water after they’ve had their morning feed.

Earlier I mentioned the low water level…it’s was WICKED low. I ended up walking about 4 of the 8 miles (in waders and boots) with my shotgun on my shoulder, while @ IGS was pulling the kayak and supplies. What I wouldn’t have given for another foot of water.

I spotted geese at 400+ yards and tried to put the sneak on them from in the woods. They flew off when I reached 200 yards. Again I spot geese and try sneaky up on them, nope. Same story, flying off when I reach 200 yards.

I’m starting to get frustrated. The sun is high, I’m hot as hell and can’t seem to sneak up on anything. I’ve walked about 2.5 miles and both myself and IGS are starting to question our decision to do a float.

What’s that I hear in the distance? Honking coming towards us from downstream. About 15-20 geese flying 30 yards above the water with me in the motor the river in near disbelief as I see them. I turn my head to IGS who’s behind me to signal geese are coming.

I click the safety off and pick out the biggest one I can find. I bury the bead on the bird and pull the trigger, that bird folds up and immediately falls. I take a second shot and hit another and follow up on it with one more shot. IGS shoots as well but by then the birds had gained altitude and were out of range.

Two birds down and spirits have recovered.
View attachment 487169

You must’ve hit the one in your left hand with the whole dang wad. Good lead!

 

[Tra3]

Nice job! Heat stress in a pair of waders! Like walking in a sauna.
What is the pork ratio for goose sausage? 50/50?

 

[375Fox]

Looks like fun. September is a really nice time of year to hunt them and be on rivers. Do you not have a September nuisance goose season in Virginia?

 

[375Fox]

What is the pork ratio for goose sausage? 50/50?

If they are as terrible to eat as the geese in western PA it’s 100/0 lol. I hope his NY birds are better.

 

[BeeMaa]

At that distance, sounds like a samurai sword would be ideal!
Will you try for a two in one shot?

If the geese were on the ground/water and at that range, I would put in my TSS turkey choke and a TSS turkey load and wait for 3 heads to line up. So if conditions were ideal, yes.

Flying birds is one at a time to maintain ethical harvesting.

 

[BeeMaa]

You must’ve hit the one in your left hand with the whole dang wad. Good lead!

TSS to the head did most of the work, but when I instinctively wrang the neck…sometimes that happens.

 

[BeeMaa]

Nice job! Heat stress in a pair of waders! Like walking in a sauna.
What is the pork ratio for goose sausage? 50/50?

The waders were wicked hot but an invaluable tool for goose hunting. The Sims ones I have are really good and the treads Korker boots are great. Ankle support is vital and they saved me a twisted ankle at least a few times.

Not sure about the sausage. We will drop the meat off with the guy who makes it on Monday.

 

[BeeMaa]

Looks like fun. September is a really nice time of year to hunt them and be on rivers. Do you not have a September nuisance goose season in Virginia?

Truthfully, I really wanted to hunt with IGS. He’s a very close friend of mine and spending time with him doing things like this are what it’s about for both of us.

It’s a small vacation for me and gives him a break from his hunting buddies up here who are not quite up to snuff when it comes to hunting and fishing. When it’s the two of us, it’s just easy.

 

[BeeMaa]

If they are as terrible to eat as the geese in western PA it’s 100/0 lol. I hope his NY birds are better.

Not sure how they taste but when cleaning them, they smelled like Whitetail Deer. The flesh is a deep burgundy red, just like venison.

We are planning on marinating some of the “breast tenderloins” for dinner on Monday night…so I guess we will see.

 

[BeeMaa]

A quick pic of what I usually carry in my blind bag for this type of hunting...not much explaining needs to be done. A picture is worth a thousand words. I did forget to include snacks and something to drink, but you get the idea.

 

[BeeMaa]

Those of you who know me well, know I'm a gear head. Chokes, calls, ammo, bags...the list is endless. However I will say that the Havalon Piranta Edge folding knife made cleaning the meat a breeze. A small thin (and very sharp) blade is essential doing birds and this made life after the hunt much more enjoyable. Changing blades is simple, but I would recommend using a Leatherman or similar to assist with this.

 

[BeeMaa]

5 Sep - We awake, have some coffee and start to sort through our gear. Anyone who has goose hunted knows how important it is to have the right gear at the right time. Carrying all of it is the challenge.

We load an inflatable kayak and a fishing pole into the truck and head for the river. We are looking to scout a few locations and find put boat launch points with "floatable" water between them. The weather is cloudy and the forecast is for light rain starting in the afternoon.

First order of business is to check and see if the geese are where they were yesterday. The kayak slides easily down the bank from the road. IGS will do some fishing while I walk down the rocks and bank to one of the many islands on the river where we saw geese the previous day. It's about a mile and a half to the island...no geese but there is good sign. We scout a few other locations as we make our way back to the truck, but ultimately this spot would have to wait for higher water levels to be of much use. Maybe IGS can use it during the migratory bird season later this fall.

Kayak loaded up, we head down river. The water levels here look much better for floating. We find a few public boat launches on the internet and start to investigate each one. Did I mention that it's Labor Day? This little NY town is having a craft fair at the county fairgrounds, right next to the river and the launch spot. The gate attendant lets us in and we find it...with 5 geese on an island about 100 yards upstream.

We find an area where I can try to stalk them from a field on the bank, but it looks to me like a looooong shot. I gear up and start stalking, IGS stays at the boat launch. I reach the bank and from the cover of a tree I range them at 72 yards. The SBE has a turkey load in but not the TKY choke...damn it. If I can slowly get down the bank I can easily shave 10-15 yard off of that and have the opportunity to make an ethical harvest. Nope, not a chance. The sentry goose spots me as I start to ease down the bank, honks twice and the 5 geese fly downstream. That's how it goes sometimes, but we are gonna have to learn how to stalk these birds...successfully.

 

[BeeMaa]

After lunch more scouting is done (with several birds spotted) plans are made for the following day cast and blast down the river. We pick up the harvested goose meat from the previous day and deliver it to a friend who just got back in town.

We talk about our busted stalks and he mentioned that he's heard of people putting a pine tree (Christmas tree following the holiday of course) in the middle of the kayak or canoe as they float, staying low behind it and the geese really don't care. Then when they are within range, pop up and blast away. I'm thinking about this now and maybe we can better camouflage the kayak in a similar way...maybe to resemble just floating debris. It will be a work in progress.

It's later in the afternoon now and light rain has started to fall. IGS has a blind location on a military base that he would like to sit and see if the birds come in. Not a problem. The kayak is traded for a couple of mountain bikes (one is battery powered) and we head out. Now you are asking "why do you have bicycles?" On this military post, only authorized vehicles are allowed to drive on the roads...we are not one of them. It's just barely spitting rain at the moment, but we see it as a good thing. This will keep the geese flying low, hopefully right to us. The blind is set up and we wait.

I'll make the assumption that you have figured out that we didn't harvest anything because there aren't any pictures, and you would be correct. A little soaked, we picked up a pizza pie (or just pie where I grew up) for dinner and head back to the house. Probably cliche, but being born and raise in Upstate NY there is NOTHING like pie from here...and it's not a REAL visit until I've had some. We feast while looking at the forecast for tomorrow...rain...heavy rain at times. I don't really care about the rain, but I'd like my next post to have a few pictures... I'm staying positive and upbeat, lots of time left.

 

[BeeMaa]

Anyone who has spent some time in Upstate NY will recognize this weather pattern…humid, overcast and rainy.

Temps are a little cooler so waders should be more comfortable. We are heading out to see where they are at.

 

[BeeMaa]

6 Sep - Rain, rain and more rain.

I woke up this morning at 4:30 am to the sound of rain hitting the roof. It's POURING, with no end in sight for the rest of the day. We had coffee and went scouting. It didn't look promising. Mostly single geese sitting near the grass with little opportunity to put a stalk on. We make a stop at the local outdoor store and we each buy Gore-Tex shells (a very important detail) and are back at the house to gear up for a float with the 2-person kayak.

One would ask how is constant rain is a good thing...remember back to the 4th of Sep and not enough water? Not the case anymore. The float today is looking much better. Spirits are high despite the fact that our scouting report isn't the best. Mostly fueled by the fact that we can actually "float" instead of having to walk and drag the kayak over rocks. Even the constant rain can't douse our spirits.

We put in for a 5 mile float and about 2 miles into it, there are 6 geese on the far left bank. Conveniently, an island is in the middle of the river that can provide us cover. The geese do see us, but aren't in full alarm mode because we are going behind the island. From our estimation, we should pop out at the bottom of the island with the geese about 70 yards away. Once out of sight of the geese, we both switch our first shots to TSS turkey loads, followed up with Black Cloud TSS BB & 7.

IGS is in the back of the kayak paddling with me in the front, gun mounted to my shoulder. We reach the end of the island and there they are...right where we expected them. A short conversation between IGS and myself determines who's taking which bird and I count it down...3...2...1...TAKE 'EM!!!

At 70 yards a Federal Heavyweight TSS Turkey load folds my bird on the water. I see the one IGS had lined up is down as well. I take another shot and injure one that heads for the shore. IGS puts the turbo paddle to use and closes the distance to 20 yards as the goose reaches the bank. Federal Black Cloud TSS BB & 7 does the rest...maybe you can tell by the look on my face, I couldn't believe it either.

I've never seen this kind of devastation on birds. The Federal loads are living up to the hype.

EDIT - Range was verified at 70 yards with a laser rangefinder after the shooting was done. At the time we were estimating between 65 and 75.

 

[BourbonTrail]

Wow, stellar performance from the Black Cloud.

 

[Tra3]

With this successful hunting, if I average the approximate totals of my and @375Fox pork butt additions to the goose sausage you are about to make, you will need to 50 lbs of pork!

 

[BeeMaa]

The float resumes and the rain continues. The foresight to buy Gore-Tex shells was a good decision. Without these and our waders, this would have been a miserable 3-4 hours. The gear you choose makes a difference. Both IGS and I recognize this and have chosen wisely.

The river twists and turns. Every now and then we come upon a goose, but again with no cover or camo...they fly or swim away well ahead of even our TSS turkey load range. These weather conditions have relegated the geese to the edges of the river, up little creeks and into the reeds. We press on over a good set of rapids that has us both out of the kayak for fear of being dumped out.

We are about a mile from the take out point, floating by another island that's on our right side. I see movement in the tall grass about 50 yards away and alert IGS...it a single goose. I bring up the SBE3 and a head shot later it's on the kayak with the others. It was pouring at the time so we didn't snap a picture until the end of the float, but we totaled 4 geese today. A day that most people would have gladly sat home and watched TV while it rained. This just proves, you can't get them from the couch...gotta put in the time even when conditions are not the best.

 

[BeeMaa]

The drive home is spent discussing a plan for tomorrow and how we will adapt to the ever changing water conditions. Most likely it will be a float on the pontoon boat. Water levels are expected to continue rising, making the 2-person kayak a less stable option and the pontoon boat a better one. Adding a blind to the front of it with interwoven grass for a bit of camo is also in the works.

We arrive home to hang stuff up for drying and clean the guns. It's really nice to be dry again. A hearty meal of linguini and sauce was thoughtfully provided by the wife of IGS. She even included the crabs we caught a couple of days ago on West Point! A lot can be said for having a hot meal after a long and wet day hunting. My thanks go out to her.

Scouting notes - What we have discovered is the geese fly off the roost to feed in the morning hours and move to water around 10-11 am. At this point they will spend most of their time on the water until they head for the evening roost. To catch them at first light, it would almost be necessary to put the geese to bed in the evening to be able to accurately predict where they will be flying from in the morning. Could you guess? Sure, but not with accuracy. The river is the best chance for a good harvest. Opening day would be a different story, but that game is over now. It's time to observe, adapt and put a plan into action without being stuck to what "everyone else" is doing. This kind of hunting is fluid...and I'm not just talking about the rain.