I Went Hunting stories, tips & techniques

  • Skip to content
  • Jump to main navigation and login

Nav view search

Navigation

  • FEATURED ARTICLES ➤
  • BEAR
  • MOOSE
  • ELK
  • TURKEY
  • FISHING
  • WATERFOWL
  • ANTELOPE
  • ARCHERY
  • HUNTING

Search

You are here: Home WATERFOWL

Latest Stories

  • Bucket List
  • Old Scar Face
  • Birds of a Feather
  • Skunked
  • In-My-Lap Buck
  • Our Old Haunt
  • Chasing the Bugle
  • Buck Hit
  • 3rd Time's the Charm - Desert Turkey
  • Multi-State Turkey Hunt
  • Ringing in the New Year – Basic Techniques for Geese
  • From the Arctic to the Freezer
  • It’s a Coues Thing…
  • It's a Coues Thing...Part II
  • Chasing 200
  • A Rare Find
  • A Near Miss - A Perfect Shot
  • Ribeye-In-The-Sky
  • 2020 Pandemic Turkey Hunt
  • A Bearded Hen
  • Back for More – Coues Deer Part I
  • Back for More - Coues Deer Part II
  • Fall - Chasing Birds
  • Rutting Bulls -- Herded up Cows

Categories

  • Home
  • Bear
  • Moose
  • Elk
  • Turkey
  • Fishing
  • Waterfowl
  • Antelope
  • Archery
  • Hunting
  • Print
  • Email
Details
Category: Waterfowl
Published: Monday, 01 February 2021 22:14
Written by Greg

Ringing in the New Year – Basic Techniques for Geese

Just when I thought our hunting trips were over for the 2020-2021 season, the winter gods smiled upon us and we got the chance to go after late season geese a few times -- and also managed to squeeze in a turkey hunt.

  first banded goose

                        Soloed on his first banded bird 

I don’t know about anyone else, but we made a New Year’s resolution to eke out as many hunts as possible before the end of the season as our way of ringing in the New Year. Like everyone else around the globe, Covid impacted our plans in ways that were unforeseen just a year ago. But we got creative with our schedules and decided to head out of state for a few hunts before the end of the waterfowl season. Luckily for us, driving to Wyoming and Colorado is an option since those states aren’t too far away and offer additional waterfowl opportunities.

 double duck retrieve  decoy setup on frozen pond

Dropped two greenheads on ice, made double retrieve                  Decoy setup on frozen pond worked

Not surprisingly, the difficulty for us on these goose hunting adventures was finding fields with geese and then successfully obtaining permission to hunt said properties. While there was a lot of competition from fellow hunters who already held leases to hunt many pieces of private property, we did manage to obtain permission to hunt a few distinct fields. And that permission most definitely dictated how we planned to hunt.

 hooded merganser  limit of mallard ducks

              Another first...Drake Hooded Merganser                            Decent number of mallards hit our decoy spread

Our setups varied wildly. At times we had no other option than to set up in the middle of a plain dirt field or next to a pivot or in a snow covered pasture or on the shore of a frozen pond. Each situation presented unique challenges, but with minor difficulty we adapted and came away with birds!

 goose hunting next to pivot  dusky goose, dusky canada goose

     Hid layout blinds in brush at base of pivot, limited on geese             Looks like a Dusky Goose among the bunch

I’d like to believe that we learned some valuable techniques from each particular situation encountered, but I cannot say that I have any earth shattering tips to reveal. In fact, we had an instance were we found roughly two thousand geese sitting on a field, luckily got permission, set up on the ‘X’, but maybe 50 birds total came back to that field. Those types of days are humbling to say the least -- just when you think you’ve figured out the magic, the birds behave unexpectedly.

 goose hunting the X  various species of Canada geese

                Made the most of the birds that did visit the X                     Clearly shooting various species of Canada geese

The constants for our success came down to the basics: finding geese, concealment, call volume adjustments, timely flagging and decoy rearrangement for those times when the pesky birds didn’t want to finish.

 hunting geese in dirt field  hunting geese in dirt field

              Not much of a hide in dirt field, brushing-in blinds worked                        Success in another dirt field setup

  goose hunting winter wheat, canada geese and drake greenhead mallards

                   Hunting winter wheat produced lots of geese and greenheads 

Last but not least, the boys and I did get the opportunity to go after some late season turkeys. We had done a fair amount of scouting and found a few areas where the turkeys liked to feed in the late afternoon. Unlike the spring hunts where ‘love is in the air’, these turkeys were less interested in our calling and more intent upon being where they wanted to be. While the flock was very vocal at times, they certainly didn’t appear to come toward us because of our calling and/or decoys but instead methodically fed toward us.

 white wild turkey, white turkey  hunting turkeys in snow

        Lousy pic doesn’t do the almost-white turkey justice                Hunkered down while awaiting feeding turkeys

Interestingly we spotted three almost-white turkeys among the flock of 68, something I’d never seen in the wild before. All three of the white birds remained packed tight within the main flock as they approached. And since we weren’t about to miss an opportunity by being finicky, we picked off the vanguard once they were within range. While we didn’t get a shot at the white ones, I did manage to get a low quality picture of one of them from about 150 yards away.

 winter turkey hunting  turkey hunting in snow

        Spent several cold hours going after these ones                   Done without much time left in the day

In the end we filled all three of our tags, due in large part to our productive scouting trips. Next up for us will be the spring turkey hunts. Yes hunts, we will be heading out of state in order to maximize our opportunity to be out there amongst those thunderous gobblers!

 

  • Print
  • Email
Details
Category: Waterfowl
Published: Sunday, 02 December 2018 17:03
Written by Greg

Committed to the Dekes – Tundra Swans

“Am I going to shoot at these”, Carson asked as the tundra swans approached. “Yes”, I responded, “get ready but wait until I say when”.

Swan hunt, gadwall duck                                                                Gadwall came into swan decoys, couldn't resist

 

This year both Carson and I again drew swan tags. We were excited to get out into the marsh and try our hand at decoying them into our spread. Our plan was to toss out a couple of swan decoys, supplemented with several white plastic trash bags…yes trash bags. The spread looks quite realistic from a distance and definitely helps to attract the birds.

flock of tundra swans, swan hunting  swan hunting

                                  Saw this flock as soon as we arrived                                                   Loaded up with gear/decoys

Friday, November 16th, was an early out day from school so we picked up Carson and headed for the marsh. It was early afternoon when we arrived at the wetlands. It was a bluebird day with temperatures hovering in the mid-50s, I was a bit worried that the warm temps and mild weather might make for a difficult waterfowl hunting day. However, my concerns significantly subsided when we got out of our vehicle and saw swans already in flight out across the bay. We grabbed our gear and headed west as fast as possible.

Snake river duck hunt  Canada goose hunting

                       Got after some late season ducks                                                     And a bunch of geese

About an hour and a half later we had our decoys in place. Not long afterwards we heard the familiar vocals of tundra swans. Looking out across the horizon we spotted a couple of flocks heading in our general direction. We started calling to them. They took notice and swung toward us. The dozen or so birds drifted somewhat close to us, but not quite close enough for a shot opportunity. While semi-interested in our offer, the spread of two dozen decoys 500 yards down the bay must have been more enticing. As the non-committed swans flew by the hunters to the south east, the flock abruptly flared as a flurry of shots rang out. Clearly the swans were further away from the hunters than judged, a common mistake hunters make when the 6 ft. slow waving wingspan of a tundra swan passes by at 30 mph.

mallards, greenheads  greenhead retrieve, labrador with mallard

  Carson got him some late season mallards                                    Porter made some great retrieves                     

A few minutes later we saw another flock of swans in the distance. Again we started calling to them. This time the group of four wanted down. As they made a pass overhead and swung back around, I was confident that it was “go time”. The flock which had dropped in altitude was now straight out in front of us flying low over the water and heading our way. The scene almost felt like it was unfolding in slow motion. The gentle stroke of their wings brought these enormous giants closer and closer. However, unlike the familiar sight of a duck at close range, the distance of these behemoths is harder to judge…they weren’t as close as they appeared.

i went hunting swan, tundra swan

                                                    Tucked behind the reeds, waiting for the swans

“Am I going to shoot at these”, Carson asked as the flock approached. “Yes”, I responded, “get ready but wait until I say when”. I knew that Carson was getting more anxious by the second and his knowing that the previous flock had seemed close enough to shoot but had actually been just out of range, caused him to seek surety. At my command Carson popped up over the reeds and hammered the closest of the committed swans. Not taking any chances, he quickly followed up with another shot as the swan hit the water.

tundra swan  tundra swan in the marsh

                           Carson with his swan!                                            Carson and Mark headed on the long walk back

It was just after 3:00 p.m., Carson had bagged his swan. We gathered our gear and headed for home, anticipating the delicious swan dinner we’d eat a few hours later!

tundra swan in the marsh
      And with mine...shot this the previous week, right in the decoys