early goose season for minnesota

[PerchJrkr]

Great analogy. I think im gonna just bust roosts all season after hearing that. Really changed my outlook on the whole thing.

I guess some people like to do their homework and smash em in a field.

[GatorGetter]

SD early goose season will open Aug. 4 with a daily limit of 15. Im guessing ND will announce a very similar season soon.

[Shane Z]

The great debate about roost busting is always a sensitive subject between boardering states: Minnesota vs Nodak/Sodak

As most of you know and realize, agriculture is HUGE in the Dakotas as well as Southern parts of Minnesota. Growing up in NE Minnesota is a MUCH different ball game. Corn fields are basically unheard of and grain/wheat fields are extremeley sparse. Water is everywhere and scouting seems impossible without the proper technology.I commonly hunt fields that are no bigger than 1000 cubic yards. Geese use a field for a short window of time and move to the next due to the large number of feeders and such little ground to work with.

This argument is for people that live N./S. Dakota or for people who are well educated. Water:whether it be lake, pond, river, and EVEN sheet water is a valuable resource to all waterfowl species. This is a place of sanctity and rest. Thousands and even millions use can use 1 body of water, which maybe inticing to "jump" but SHOULD NOT!! Imagine an umbrella (the handle being the body of water and the support wires being places in which each group of ducks/geese travel to different fields).This umbrella typically opens up in the morning,closes in the afernoon,opens brifely in the evening and closes tight after dusk. People who do not obide by this rule may ruin a TON of people's hunts. Not only for the morning but a lot of times up until new birds arrive. My best advice is to PM someone who is from the area and ask some questions. Who knows, they may be willing to meet up and hunt together(often times having permission to huntable fields).

For the Minnesotans who do not have the luxery of hunting wheat/corn/soy bean fields a large amount of the time..MOVE!?! Kidding of course.

Google maps is a valuable resource that can really aid any field hunters capabilities of finding huntable numbers. Tan,brown,green, and beige rectangles or squares found on Google maps will indicate some sort of agriculture. If there is water nearby, there is a good chance that geese are using one of these fields. PM me if you'd like a some more help with this topic. I'm already writting a novel

FYI Lakes,rivers and ponds can be hunted without busting a roost up.This does take some scouting but there are common grounds where geese will reside in the night and fly to during the day. Use these spots "run traffic". if you can meet these ducks bewteen point A and point B, you'll often times have great decoying success. Goose calling is deadly on water. They can hear you from a long ways away and a lot of the times, are curious enough to check your decoys out.

To summerize this all up, and I hope I shed a little light on th subject: A large majority of Minnesotans need to be more informed on how to hunt in North and South Dakota: NOT because were supid, but because hunting is WAY different over there!! It's no fun going on other forums and being bashed just because you ask a few questions on how to hunt over there. A word of advice to people who may not know how to hunt fields. Please feel free to PM me or others who travel to the dakotas or hunt there on a regular basis. Most people will be more than happy to give you some info on the migration, crop harvesting, ect.

[PerchJrkr]

This is the best post Ive seen all day. Some people tell me they just cant get on fields. Know how I get on fields? Drive. I put miles and miles and miles and MILES on my truck until I find fields with birds in them. Buy a plat book. You're gonna get turned down 9/10 times, but thats part of the game and then you drive some more.

[jparrucci]

Getting permission is becoming nearly impossible, especially anywhere near the cities. I've driven many, many miles and have gained permission once out of a ton of door knocking. Unless you know someone or live well outside the cities it is becoming a lost cause. Patterning geese is real easy from hundreds of miles away as well. Then of course, the sheer amount of gear you need to hunt fields compared to water, puts me out of the fields and on the water.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Oh I don't know. I live in SW MN and we hunt both sloughs and fields.

Early goose has always been a bin buster. We've shot plenty on the sloughs just to see them come back later in the day. Fields work too.

Isn't the early season set up to thin the ePP flock? In other words, see em, shoot em, eat em?

To answer the question of of How'd i like to be shot while eating breakfast? Well, I'd rather not be shot at all so it might as well happen while wolfing down some Frosted Mini Wheats.

[Gordie]

This is the best post Ive seen all day. Some people tell me they just cant get on fields. Know how I get on fields? Drive. I put miles and miles and miles and MILES on my truck until I find fields with birds in them. Buy a plat book. You're gonna get turned down 9/10 times, but thats part of the game and then you drive some more.

I agree that was a great post Otterwild218

But for some it is not always possible to put miles and miles on that truck or what ever you drive.

Early goose season is about getting the local bird numbers cut down and pushed out of here because there is to many and one of the reasons they opened up water is help with that.

In a land with 10,000 plus bodies of water they will just move to where they won't be botherd and I have seen them get shot up three days in a row on one body of water then move 2 mikles down the road to the next body where another group shot at them for a couple of days then they were back to the first place.

You can bust a roost but the birds will roost again just a bit down the line.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

It sucks to do all the work setting up in a field only to hear those shots ring out over the water at sunrise and see "your" birds get up and blow out, but that's part of the game sometimes. It's probably happened to most of us. I think a lot of guys don't realize that their water hunts can sometimes actually be more effective if they didn't blow the birds off the water, but let them fly out to feed and hunt the birds as they return. Some guys just don't even think about field hunters or even realize there could be guys trying to hunt those birds, and some guys could care less even if they did know. Hunting is hunting, on the water, in the field, sneaking a stock dam, its all legal regardless if we all like to use those methods or not.

[Shane Z]

Thanks for the kind words. Unfortunately the sport of waterfowl hunting has become a game of $$$ signs similar most everything it seems these days. There have been some GREAT threads about restoring old decoys and with a little ingenuity, you can be in the field or on the water (whichever you prefer)for a quarter of the price. Steel has gone way up but with that being said it, it should make EVERYONE aim a little better rather than squeezing off 3 blind shots eh?!?! I personally believe that waterfowl hunting can be for everyone and should be for everyone who is interested in the sport. Sure it's nice to hunt over 9 dozen Fully flocked goose decoys, all equipped with motion stakes, blah blah blah. When I started out, I was hunting over some L&M specials that I touched up with a can of matte black spray paint which produced some of the best memories still to this day.

I perceieve my level of success based off taking a new person hunting and seeing their eyes light up when honkers or greenheads are on the deck. Especially when they are still talking about that ONE HUNT or that ONE TIME when everything seemed to fall in place. The worst thing I hear day in and day out when talking to others who are interested in the sport is...I wish I had enough money to do that. Don't let this great pastime (or obsession to others) handcuff you by money. There are PLENTY of hunters out there who are looking for hard working people to share their passion with because in the world of waterfowl hunting, HARD WORK PAYS OFF...PERIOD. All it takes is ONE farmer to give you permission to his land. Treat him and his land with respect and the word gets around quickly!

[HunterLee]

I will add to the roost hunting thing. Before I knew better we would hunt them on water alot.

We now have the field hunting down and the equipment, but we still pound them on the water.

We don't barge in a sunrise, I work nights anyway so we get to the pond around 8 ish and wait until they are all gone on thier own and then get set up. We then only try to hunt until about 11 or so depending the temp and cloud cover.

By doing this I have shot birds off and on all season on some ponds.

For us its not so much on we can't hunt fields, but we are not in a real hot goose area, and by hunting water we get more birds, as setting up our field spread for a one and done is not that much fun.

[dan z]

Great analogy. I think im gonna just bust roosts all season after hearing that. Really changed my outlook on the whole thing.

I guess some people like to do their homework and smash em in a field.

trust me buddy I put miles and miles and miles on my truck also. I must not be doing "homework" just driving around. theres enough water for them to move down the line as others have posted. I hate this deabte and I love hunting water!

[jparrucci]

I don't understand the whole hatred field hunters have for water hunters. I have access to NO fields.so now I'm not supposed to hunt? I have also driven miles and miles and miles, have plat books, and have knocked on countless doors. Maybe they should find another field away from the water I am hunting. I don't have any friends, relatives, or coworkers who farm. I live in the cities. I can't drive a couple of hundred miles daily to find which fields they are using which day and THEN beg a farmer to let me hunt. Farmers haven't been willing to give me permission even when I have tried the above. Not only have I been shot down countless times, more often than not they have been very rude to me while doing so.

[PerchJrkr]

Its simple. I can hunt fields ALL SEASON LONG, and hunt the same geese. You know where they sleep, you know where they eat, and you grind em all season. People go and hunt that roost, the geese leave. One and done. Ya it was cool, you shot your limit of geese in an hour, big whoop. I hunt the same geese the whole season and kill 20 limits out of that flock. I just dont understand how people in north and south dakota understand this and minnesotans JUST DONT GET IT. PS, if I dont have a field with birds, correct, I dont hunt. Run traffic. Go fishing.

I dont have a problem with people hunting water. Just have no appreciation for roost busters.

[jparrucci]

No, we get it. We just don't think you shooting birds is more important than us shooting birds. If I had fields to hunt I would hunt them. But I do not, and many hunters like myself do not. So am I supposed to quit hunting so you can continue to shoot the "same flock" over and over again? What gives you more right to those birds than me? From the sounds of it the field hunters are mopping up. For the handful of geese I shoot every year, pretty sure you out pounding the fields daily has a bigger impact on their movements than the couple of time a year I target them specifically. I also think the whole roost busting thing is a joke anyways. The birds roosting are long gone by the time the first decoy hits the water. No shots fired. We usually get the geese on water around the 9 oclock hour anyways.

[RuddyDuck]

No, we get it. We just don't think you shooting birds is more important than us shooting birds. If I had fields to hunt I would hunt them. But I do not, and many hunters like myself do not. So am I supposed to quit hunting so you can continue to shoot the "same flock" over and over again? What gives you more right to those birds than me? From the sounds of it the field hunters are mopping up. For the handful of geese I shoot every year, pretty sure you out pounding the fields daily has a bigger impact on their movements than the couple of time a year I target them specifically. I also think the whole roost busting thing is a joke anyways. The birds roosting are long gone by the time the first decoy hits the water. No shots fired. We usually get the geese on water around the 9 oclock hour anyways.

Well put. Goose flys, Goose gets shot, it's Goose friends get smarter. Doesn't matter whether it was shot over water or over a field.

[PerchJrkr]

Case in point. you dont get it.

[booger]

^ You don't hunt close to the cities do you?

[Black Bear]

You guys got it all wrong. You are WASTING your time on this HSOforum bickering with each other. If you feel that strongly about it, start contacting your elected representitives. It's time we have mandated selective protected roosts. There is a reson you cannot hunt water in the Swan Lake area. One of the above posters is 100% right. Many in the Dakotas do not and will not hunt water. Where I hunt the most-- North of the Border....every land owner will tell you NOT to hunt the water cause "it only scares the birds away". If water hunting is completely blowing birds out of an area...its not right. Protect enough water to keep local birds local. The MN DNR designates everything these days---why not protect some gooose roosts.

[TylerS]

You guys got it all wrong. You are WASTING your time on this HSOforum bickering with each other. If you feel that strongly about it, start contacting your elected representitives. It's time we have mandated selective protected roosts. There is a reson you cannot hunt water in the Swan Lake area. One of the above posters is 100% right. Many in the Dakotas do not and will not hunt water. Where I hunt the most-- North of the Border....every land owner will tell you NOT to hunt the water cause "it only scares the birds away". If water hunting is completely blowing birds out of an area...its not right. Protect enough water to keep local birds local. The MN DNR designates everything these days---why not protect some gooose roosts.

+1,000,000. Solid post Black Bear.

[theharvester]

why not cancel this season and have a ten goose limit the first week of the regular season. the harvest with all the extra hunters should be high and the first week would be great for ducks and geese, and you would let the young get a little older. just my thought i dont hunt early season because i dont believe in hunting birds that young .besides the duck season opens sept.

[TylerS]

I will expand, however. Growing up in the cites, I know how hard it can be to find fields. Every farmer's brother's son's cousin has a quarter tied up all season long, so getting permission can be next to impossible. Hunting public water is about the only other option, and even that can be a war zone with little to show for all the effort.

I will say this: comparing the Twin Cities to North Dakota is a big stretch. While a roost is a roost, accessibility is MUCH easier up here than down there.

Also, depending on where you hunt near the cities, I strongly doubt geese are roosting on public hunting grounds. More often than not, they're loafing in city limits and out of hunters' reaches. At least that's what I've often found. Resident Canada geese in the TC are SMART. They know not to roost on places like Pelican Lake. They find comfy, cozy lakes and sloughs that don't get pressured and never will. Generations of geese will continue to do this, leaving the only option for hunters to catch them heading out of town...if they ever do.

That's where field hunting or hunting transition sloughs can be your best and only bet.

Now, North Dakota (and maybe northern parts of Minnesota as another poster eluded to) is a different thing entirely. Unless you are hunting near some city and the geese have found a sewage lagoon to roost on, chances are good the ponds you find with birds on them in high concentrations are roosts. These are the places that can be busted and burned out in short order, depending on several factors such as weather and hunting pressure. You might not burn the roost in one morning, but how often does a hunting party gunning for a solid week not hit the same place more than once if the shooting is good?

That's why field hunting is promoted and accepted so much more than water hunting in Nodak, and why if you hunt water, guys will just ask that you do your homework. I like hunting water just as much as the next guy, but I'm very careful to scout a spot and make sure it's not a roost before hunting it, namely because I tend to hunt the same areas and I know if I gun too hard in the wrong spot, I ruin my chances at successive hunts.

Anyway, that's my take on the whole deal. And I hold nothing against people who hunt water. I mean, it's called "waterfowl hunting" for a reason. If I didn't shot a pond a few times a season, I'd feel a bit slighted.

[RuddyDuck]

Case in point. you dont get it.

I am talking about the Metro and areas of Minnesota that have quite a bit of hunting pressure where access to fields in the early season is limited, so lakes provide access to hunting for some of us. But, I think most of us(yourself included) are considering a lake as not so much of a roost as say a 100 acre or less secluded pond would be.

Yes I am sure the Dakotas are different since there probably is less hunting presssure and more fields to hunt. Then there wouldn't be a need to hunt the lakes and it would not be the brightest to chase them off the small ponds.

Field hunting sure can move birds out of an area here in the metro. I have seen geese leave the lakes, never get shot at, then get pounded in the fields and overfly the lake they came from and head straight to the city areas such as parks and rivers. Luckily not all flocks do this, but some definately do. Now they may come back in a few days and hopefully everyone can get some shooting in again whether they are in the fields or on the lake. Thats how it goes around her anyways.

Yeh, I don't care how people hunt around here, Fields or lakes it is all good, keeps em moving around a bit. It's all fun.

How many days til opener? I think we are just bored and having withdrawals!

[PerchJrkr]

[Finlander]

Now why would you want to have refuges? We raise them, other states shoot them! That's Minnesota Nice!

[Quackaddict9]

+5,000,000 Theres a reason theres more birds in the dakotas. They dont get pushed away from roosts. They have refuges. Birds need a place to be able to rest without being harassed or they will move on to the proverbial greener pastures.

Really?.... There's are more reasons why...I'm sure you can figure it out.