Goose hunting, what do I need?

[phishy]

How many posts can one person put in one day? I'm probably setting a record as a newbie.

Anyway, I've recently moved to an area with a high resident goose population. I’ve been toying with the idea of pursuing geese. I know nothing, nadda, zilch about geese, but have been intrigued. Besides reading all I can on the subject (good reading suggestions?), what are the basic items I would need to get started. I own a 12 gauge Mossberg capable of taking 2 ¾’ and 3” shells. I may have a couple of good leads on some fields in my neck of the woods; therefore I’d be primarily hunting fields. The DNR has complicated this hunting pursuit as well, anyone know the basics of WI regulations, i.e. zones, seasons, etc. Yeah I could look it up myself, but the basic run down would be helpful before I dive into the novel put out by the lawmakers. Thanx

[Myk]

You can get by with 3" for close shots. The more expensive non-steel non-toxic shot could stretch that a bit. But for pass shooting you'd probably need 3.5".

I don't know much about field hunting. I know it takes a lot of decoys to pull down migrators.
You should find someone to hunt with. The mulitiple calls will sound better, there will be someone to share the workload and they can teach you what works locally.

[phishy]

Would it be worth my money to possibly get rid of the gun I presently own an upgrade to a 3 1/2"? (been looking for a good excuse anyway, my other half hasn't seen any good justification, but if someone says I need to do it, then by golly I better listen the the advice of someone who knows :) I bought the gun for a song, it has another barrel for slugs; which I never have used, and multible chokes. I don't hunt upland game birds or ducks, but I do go after turkeys. Would more gun be a warranted added bonus? Lots of decoys, EESSH! that could get a bit pricy.

How about choke type, I assume full? Any good reading on the subject?

Nothing like planning ahead a bit, eh?

[scott]

Hey phishy, I don't know much about waterfoul hunting other than it's pretty expensive so I hope your loaded.

[phishy]

UMMM, you mean money right? Not beer, cause I can do the later quite well, thank you very much, but the former, is not my forte.

How expensive can it be? I mean come on, its a goose, not a prairie chicken, they're everywhere, vermin almost, greasy, loud, grass eating poop machines. A few shells (okay alot of shells), some deaks, a call, camouflage, which I have plenty of, a new gun, maybe - still thinking about that one, it's all about technique, I think :unsure:

[Mossyhorns]

LOL.......

Well you don't have to go out and spend a fortune your first time out.But yes i can get expensive when you consider the many dec's you would need to buy goose/ducks,the line and weights,waterproof garments,chest waders,several calls,blinds/boat, dog.It all depends on how much you are willing to get into it.Three inchers will work close on a dec spread-flooded timber or crops when the birds are in close.But a 3 1/2 is a better weapon of choice, .Less cripples.I'm amazed at how hard they can be to bring down sometimes.

[Myk]

There are some affordable 3.5" guns. I think you need to keep the one you have and grab a spare :)
It is legal to have two loaded guns with you, at least in IL (unless you have someone without a license there, then you may have a hard time convincing the game warden they weren't hunting and that was your spare).

Field decoys can be wind socks and silhouettes. They don't all need to be $20 Bigfeet. But you would want some full body decoys for them to focus on. The large numbers are to catch their attention from far away later in the season. Early in the season you may get them to check you out with six decoys.

[scott]

You fellas are right, i should have said it can be expensive over time. Iv'e seen some of those calls run in upwards of $500.00. I guess it depends how much you get into it and how good you become. I would say I would have to do it for a living to warrant spending that much on a call.

Later, Scott

[Myk]

I agree that it's expensive. Figure $10-$20 each for plastic decoys, even more if you want to spend that much. Even getting cheap calls can add up trying to find one that works right for you, then you're lucky if that one will do it all, at least $20 a try. Even the steel shot is costly. The extra stamps add cost.

That's why I say find a friend and live off his decoys while you slowly get your own stuff.

[phishy]

Advice well taken, now all I have to do is find a friend that hunts geese, but still no good reading on the matter eh?

hunting in general isn't cheap, but once the big purchases get out of the way, it starts to pay for itself, until another interest creeps in. i think the cost of my veni in the frezer has been holding at about $5/lb for the past few years if I were to actually figure out the time, gas, shells, camo, guns, bow(s), arrows, liscense, etc, etc. but I know where it came from and who cut it up, plus it was my time, I didn't have to work overtime to pay somebody to bioengineer, hormone inject, antibotic force feed and euthanize my meal.

thanks again, I'll dabble with the idea some more, I have quite a bit of time before season, but I'm sure I 'll give it a try, there's just too many geese around here not too.

[Myk]

There's a lot of good reading. I just don't pay attention to field hunting for geese because I don't have any fields to hunt. There's probably more to read about hunting for them in fields than there is about hunting them over water.

[Wildcat]

Hell we used to goose hunt in the prairies, just headed out before daylight with a 12 guage mossey pump, no decoys, nothin. Get in a good spot of swamp grass where they are known to be flying up, and come daylight fly at er. Now we were unsophisticated high school age redneck farm kids. Cost was gas in the car(often from dad's big tank a purple gas) and umm a few of dad's shotgun shells, nothing more. We had a blast and got our geese. Oh ya, once the hunt was over for the morning there was the beer cost..........hell it was noon somewhere :D Mostly shot with 2 3/4 inch shells, nothin fancy at all. @black

[Jerry]

phishy - did you get to get out and do any goose hunting.

I do know the bigger the decoy the better chance of getting them to come in. Someone used to use a call that was really good for calling them in. I'm going to have to do some research to find which one it was.

[Merle]

Phishy,
I know I'm several months late.*!@! You started this thread several months ago and I did not catch it.*!@! I have a little different opinion.*!@! I suggest you start by doing a lot of scouting and spend as little money as you can get by with until you find out if you like watefowling.(you will)*!@! If you have camo and a shotgun you just need to check your local regs. and get a duck stamp and get a couple of boxes (50 rds.) of Hevi-shot or Hevi-steel (more expensive than steel shot) in BB size.*!@! I suggest the Hevi-shot or Hevi-steel because you will be pass shooting, the distances are usually greater than shooting over decoys. By following the flights of birds you will find the fields where they are feeding, they usually go out to feed in the early morning.*!@! Once you find their feeding fields get permission to hunt from the land owner. Getting permission to hunt from the land owner usually will be easer than hunting other types of game, because around where I live (Willamette valley, Oregon) They do a lot of crop damage. After getting permission to hunt, position yourself in a fence row out of sight and wait for them to pass over you.*!@! You will need to repeat the scouting every couple of days as once the geese have been shot at a couple of times they will be looking for other fields to feed in, but keep your eyes on the fields where you have gained hunting access within a couple of weeks other flocks will start using that area also. *!@! ;) :) :laugh:

[Spreafico]

We always use small white trash bags for decoys just tie a knot on one end and stick it in the ground.This only works for snows and specks,but its cheap.